User Reviews (206)

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  • seeyounext2sday17 December 2006
    I find it hilarious that so many people are gnashing their teeth and saying,"it's just a copy of The Lion King". This type of story didn't start in 1994 - the plot is ancient, with even Disney admitting that it was based on some of their earlier films, Hamlet and - get this - Exodus from the Bible (not including the fact that it was alleged that the whole movie was stolen from "Kimba the White Lion, but that's another matter). So, the genre is several millennia old. If people are going to accuse "Barnyard" of plagiarism, they should at least check the original source material before throwing stones.

    Anyway, onto the film. I thought it was lightweight, but had some very funny parts. Thankfully, my children (13 and 8) are able to separate fact from fiction, so the images of bulls with udders, getting loaded on milk, stealing a car and evading the police whilst joyriding probably won't have too much of a negative impact on their lives. However, if, when they're older, they fall into the company of a gang of cows with attitude and a propensity for car theft, I'll know who to blame.

    Some people really need to lighten up.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    This is actually probably the second movie I ever cried watching, after The Spongebob Movie (2004). I was eight when this movie came out, and I remember crying my eyes out when Otis' dad died. Gawd just thinking about it is making me choke up again. This ain't no animated masterpiece, but boy did it have some heart, and I still remember it to this day.

    Be right back I've gotta get some tissues cause I am crying just thinking about Otis and his dad in that one scene :''(
  • Bing525322 October 2006
    Barnyard is an animated movie about life on a farm. It may not be as good as many other animations but overall I think that this movie was not a great disappointment. The animation is less detailed and more comic and cartoony but is still reasonably enjoyable. It has some good old slapstick violence and some hilarious creatures in. I agree that it should not be ranked along side Finding Nemo or The Incredibles however it does have some hilariously funny moments.

    This movie stars Kevin James (King of Queens) and Courtney Cox (the woman we all know from "Friends"). It also has some performances from Danny Glover and Sam Elliot.

    Overall, if you are looking for a mind blowing animated movie jam packed full of hilarity then this movie probably isn't what you are looking for but if you are just looking for a decent laugh then this is worth your while.

    -7/10
  • Warning: Spoilers
    My daughter and I....ages 8 & 55 saw this over the weekend and I just don't understand why there are so many negative reviews. We both laughed most of the time...except when Ben died, and my daughter looked up with a serious look on her face and said..."that's sad isn't it dad". I wish my son would've been along to see the lesson about being responsible. I'm recommending it to everyone I see! Udders on bulls, cows stealing a car...I say let's not look to deep and just sit back and enjoy the stupid humor....farmer under the tree...to funny. Do we really need to be so critical of the quality of animation? I didn't even notice anything about it, I was too busy just enjoying what I thought was a good movie.
  • busymom_x_414 August 2006
    Warning: Spoilers
    I cannot believe the number of people referring to the lead characters as 'boy cows'!! there is no such thing people!!!! There are cows and bulls and all males in the bovine species are bulls and do not have udders!!!! There was even an actual bull but it was like it was another type of animal completely! my god this is like drawing human ears on a cat, boobs on superman, or mickey mouse with blond shirley temple curls - even in animation it just doesn't work! giving human qualities to the animals is nothing new & to be expected, but changing their actual bodies into basically a transsexual figure is bizarre for a family cartoon - how many people- editors, writers, producers, animators saw this and didn't know any better or didn't say anything- it is completely astounding! i'm no snob & I luv animation- simpsons, beavis & butthead, south park, even ice age & all the other new ones out there - over the hedge was great- but this is nuts - totally nuts- i could not accept that that many people are that ignorant & i kept hoping for a reason for the udders in the film - an explanation - none came - and at the end when they hold up this little newborn calf & half its belly is udder & they pronounce 'its a boy' i nearly choked!!!! please, writer/creator let us in on the joke!
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Yeah, I'll admit, after a glut of recent animal-centric CGI productions ("Over The Hedge," "The Wild," "Ice Age 2," "The Ant Bully," "Chicken Little," etc.), I had little hope for this Paramount effort, but I gladly admit I was wrong.

    This was actually a pretty decent animated feature; and while the artwork wasn't the greatest (do male cows really have udders, and if so, do those udders look like baby bottle nipples attached to plumber's helpers?!), the story was good and the vocal characterizations were right on.

    Ben the Cow (voiced by Sam Elliot) is the leader of the barnyard when the farmer is gone (why a cow has this role, and not a bull, a dog or a horse is never really answered). His sworn duty is to protect the animals from a pack of vicious coyotes, led by the vile Dax (David Koechner, "Anchorman").

    Ben's favorite saying is, "A strong man stands up for himself, a stronger man stands up for others." Ben's adopted son, Otis (Kevin James, "King Of Queens"), however, has no such loyalties or philosophy, and is a living example that cows just want to have fun. That includes partying all night in a literal barn dance, ice surfing off a tall mountain with his idiot friends, or going for a joyride and "boy-tipping" with some "Jersey cows." Otis is definitely one non-stop party animal.

    When his father is attacked by the coyotes while trying to protect the farm, though, Otis has got some growing up to do – real fast. His relationship with a new bovine, Daisy (Courtney Cox)- who's about to give birth - also proves to be a major complication.

    Sweetly told, "Barnyard," with more than a passing allusion to "The Lion King," stresses the importance of fathers, friends, and mustering the courage to do what's right - there's even a couple of good old-fashioned tear-jerking moments here, as well.

    Some small children may be frightened by the intense scenes with the predators, but, overall, while certainly no "Cars," this will keep both kids and their parents entertained for 90 minutes or so. And there's nothing wrong with that.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Hello - I normally love movies. I'm 19, I have seen many and dislike only one or two. This one though, the second it finished, I had to pull my sister (who had wanted to see it) out by the arm and I burst into tears of laughter as soon as I got out because it was such a ridiculously awful movie.

    Why it was awful: - all the cows had udders, especially bothersome were the MALE ones with udders - none of the characters were unique or engaging, except perhaps the main Coyote Dag - the idea of cows keeping watch against coyotes is just ridiculous - the 'funny' moments are repetitive and become simply a sequence to out-do the last one - the themes of working together, which should have been present at the end, were nonexistent. Instead, people get the impression: Well, I'll take this all upon myself, and in this case I was lucky that my friends decided to back me up without my knowledge - all the moments similar to the lion king (as mentioned below) were beyond corniness, even for a kid's movie

    and...the worst of all... IT PARALLELS THE LION KING IN EVERY SINGLE WAY Responsible father figure who is killed by Coyotes (the Coyotes are essentially the Hyenas, with Dag, the lead Coyote, being the equivalent of Scar) The farm falls into chaos, Odis (the cow, though basically Simba) wants to play around, and is shocked that his dad died, believes it was his fault (even though in this movie, it WAS his fault), confronts the Coyotes and gets an ass whooping, after which Dag tells him to leave, and on the verge of leaving, Odis somehow decides to go and save some chickens and his friends back him up (by complete surprise of course, he leaves without knowing they will come help him).

    Other things taken from Lion King: stars moving around as signs, father figures referring to stars/signs in a mystical loving way, the obviously circularness of how the father Ben found Odis and took care of him, and how at the end Odis' love interest gives birth and he has a similar experience. Birth at the end? GOOD GOD, what the hell... and even similar type music, which seems completely tacked on at the end because it is completely different from all the previous music.

    Honestly, this is the first movie I have ever seen where I really WAS rooting for the bad guys - I never understood what other people were saying, until now.

    BOTTOM LINE: Don't waste your time to go see this. Convince the kids not to see it, and re-watch the Lion King. Either that, or take them to see the Ant Bully, which was creative and artistic.
  • This film at sometimes feels like as if it were made by the Farrelly Brothers.It's slapstick humor and it's wildly nutty behaviour that makes it look like a R-rated comedy,makes it all the while more funny The story is sort of like a parody of Lion King.Farmers on a farm are keeping animals under their eye and well protected.And animals pretty much behave like,well,animals.But what happens when the farmers out.Well,the party begins,as these animals somehow behave more like humans,crazily partying around with the rest of the animals.And a carefree cow is held responsible for whatever goes on.He's in charge.And he needs to protect the farm from their enemies,the Coyotes.Otis the carefree cow,pretty much don't take it seriously.Ben ,a cow who takes it very seriously is giving advice to Otis to grow up and all that.When Ben is no longer able to lead, Otis tries to keep order but the role of leader does not come as naturally for him. Without Ben to keep everyone in line, absolute mayhem breaks loose and it isn't long before the farmer begins to get to the bottom of the animals' secret--and the scheming coyotes begin to think that the farm could be theirs for the taking.

    Just don't take this film seriously,especially not the story.The problem with the film is that ,we've seen it all before.Especially the recent animated films that are flooding cinema's.They are either about animals,or insects,or well CARS.And this film has similarities with many animated films.The story is nothing new at all.And that is its drawback.And it's approach is rather conventional with dumb looking characters that are half baked.But there are sweet moments that don't get too sentimental.Another weakness is its weaker than expected animation.It's not fair to have such an average animation to a funny movie.If the film's animation was heighten to a better quality,it would've been better than it already was.

    However,I really liked the jokes,which seem to have been aimed at adults.But the animation was passable.The film has some really outrageously hilarious moments,giving you snort out loud laughs.The animals are more human-like than actual animals,and they love partying around,all night.They behave like those characters from Ace Ventura films or other Oedekerk films.

    In short,it's simply a mindless comedy with a lot of great laughs.I would take this any time over the disappointing Talladega nights.

    You gotta moo at least once!What happens in the Barnyard,stays in the Barnyard.
  • gregmills14 August 2006
    Warning: Spoilers
    Let's see... a couple dozen Gary Larson gags, as well as his illustration style, a possibly legally difficult wholesale appropriation of an Aardman character, a more than generous sprinkling of art direction from various Pixar films, positively Lion King-esquire villains living in what amounts to an elephant's graveyard IN THE MIDDLE OF FARM COUNTRY, oh, and a stinking' Riverdance joke ten years after any possible relevance. The kids (three and five) liked it, but boy, it was a haul for dad. Just another weak attempt from Nickelodean Films to hitch on to the animation explosion. I really, really wish they had spent a little more money on character design, on rendering, on a script, on a director.
  • wrlang15 December 2006
    Barnyard is another in the entertaining animated films that attempt to please all audiences. There's much good humor in this film and many sight gags as well as the usual shenanigans. The film is well put together technically, but there are some things about the film that just don't hit the spot. I didn't have any sympathy for the lead character Otis. Perhaps it was just the mood I was in, but the characters just didn't come through and I didn't feel much of an emotional response through most of the film. I think it was a little too teen for me. If you want some good teen-ish laughs, this is for you. Otherwise go with Cars or Over the Hedge.
  • There's no getting around it: "Barnyard" is the worst animated feature I've seen in years, and one of the worst movies I've endured during summer '06. 3-D, 2-D, no-D...the tools are irrelevant. It doesn't matter whether you're pushing pixels or pencils: if the story isn't there, all the synergistic cross-platform push in the world won't overcome archaic, low-tech, person-to-person word of mouth. In the case of "Barnyard," Paramount and Nickelodeon don't even have much of a "product," much less a movie. It didn't appeal to the little ones in our party, and left several of the adults in various stages of slack-jawed stupefaction.

    The much-discussed cross-gender, udder-enhanced bulls only hint at the parade of dubious marvels to be found within this marketing opportunity. (Again, "Barnyard" may be many things to many stockholders...but it's *not* a movie.) Its demerits have been detailed by so many critics, reviewers and movie sites that they hardly need to be repeated here.

    We saw "Barnyard" at a drive-in theater, so if there was something in the film's multichannel audio mix that would somehow enhance its qualities beyond belief, we missed it. However, the coup de grace to "Barnyard" was unwittingly delivered by the exhibitor, who ran an old Tex Avery cartoon ("Doggone Tired") prior to the show. There was more comedy, better artwork (the design and poses of the dog alone drew laughs) and more emotional honesty in this six or seven minute cartoon than in all of "Barnyard." My 6-year old niece and her 4-year old brother kept recounting the best moments of this "ancient" short all the way home. When I interrupted to ask my niece what she thought of "Barnyard," she paused a moment and said, "Well...I'm sorry, but...I didn't think it was really too good" - then proceeded to chatter on about the Avery cartoon.

    When children find that a nearly 60-year old cartoon short (in a faded, deteriorating print to boot) is more entertaining and memorable than the 2-hour animated feature it precedes, it can only mean one thing: Time for the suits at Nickelodeon to call more meetings, do more "market research," and tell the "creatives" to come up with storyboards for "Barnyard II: The Original Party Animals Meet The Fairly Odd Parents!" (No doubt followed by another "brand-extension" classic-in-progress: "Barnyard III: The Original Party Animals Moo-ve into Outer Space With Jimmy Neutron!")
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Words cannot describe the fever dream that is this movie
  • hmmm.once again i'm amazed.i can't understand the low rating(just over 5/10)this movie has.i thought there were a few very funny moments in the movie,much more than "Over the Hedge" which has a rating of over 7/10.this movie is also touching in parts and i thought they achieved a good balance of humour and drama.while i wouldn't say it is hysterically funny,there are,like i said,some very funny moments.this movie is also a fun movie to watch.it is exciting,with plenty of action.this to me is a much better family movie than its rating reflects.id have to say it tries very hard to achieve its goal of being an animated comedy(and succeeds often enough)rather than just an animated film."Barnyard" gets a 6/10.
  • This movie seemed like it was put together very quickly in both plot and graphics. My two daughters were ready to go 30 minutes before the end of the movie which rarely happens when we go to the theaters. This was a Nickelodeon Production and it would have been better if they had released it on the t.v. station. The animation itself in some parts was o.k. but the plot was horrible. A classic tale of a son trying to fulfill a fathers expectations is used in a lot of kids movies, but the animation or graphics need to be really good to keep a childs attention. This was not the case with this film. There were also awkward elements between the lead male character and the lead female character that the plot could have done without.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    My boyfriend and I decided to go see this movie after we heard on the radio that it was a good movie worth seeing, even up there with "Cars". Within the first ten minutes of the movie, I was horrified. For starters, the cows, which should be females, had male voices. Then I realized they really are supposed to be guys. I put the transvestite cows aside for a bit and tried to keep watching the movie with an open mind, but it was just so corny I couldn't help but shake my head. I probably checked my phone about ten times to see if it was almost over. The plot was decent, if not predictable, but it took way to long to reach its point. I was having trouble sitting through it, and I'm 19. The children in the theater were actually getting up and running up and down the aisles. I felt like joining them. But my biggest problem with the movie was that it was loaded with drinking references, not to mention that the cows/bulls actually hot wired and stole a car, then drank and drive, broke into a boy's house to push him out of bed (he deserved it though), then ran away from the cops, whom the writers of the movie made look like terrible people. This isn't the kind of thing I would want my kid to be exposed to. There's way too much of that in the real world, if I wanted my child to watch guys drink and drive and lead cops on a chase, I'd pop them in front of the 10 o'clock news. Children's movies are supposed to be an escape from reality, not an escape into ridiculousness. What happened to the good morals and happy endings that children's movies used to boast? That's why Disney's old movies, like Beauty and the Beast, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, etc. are classics. If you want your kids to see a great cartoon with basically the same plot as "Barnyard", rent "The Lion King". You can get a great story without the awful drinking and driving and grand theft auto references. The writers of "Barnyard" were obviously trying to continue the great trend of making a children's movie that a parent could enjoy as well, but they did so in very bad taste. I would never take my kids to see this, and I suggest you save your money and watch something else.
  • jlccs20 August 2006
    To the lady who wrote the first review, get over it! This is a movie, one with talking animals, and you are worried about the udderly silliest things. So what? Did you want to see the big male organs on the male cows? I think that is why there is an udder on all the cows, to avoid this uncomfortable situation. Or maybe it was just something silly to do, at any rate if you had to have a heart to heart with your kids about male and female animals, I am sorry for them. They need parents who can relax a bit.

    The film is OK. My two boys liked it and I did too. It is not a classic, but a good film. Overall a barnyard remake of Lion King with a lot of the same plot elements. Kevin James character is great and there is a lot of good humor for much of the film.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Words cannot describe how horrible this movie is. Well, maybe they can. I'll take a stab at it: 1 - Pitiful. Hollywood makes more talking animals set in graphics. Apparently script and storyline aren't needed anymore.

    2 - Violent. Kids movie but yet one of the characters is viciously attacked and killed.

    3 - Blatantly stupid. The movie is actually depicting the farm animals as having human abilities. In Nemo, the fish could talk, but for the most part, they are still fish. We only hear the English as a translation. In Barnyard, the animals are actually speaking English that other people can understand.

    4 - Unintelligent - No smart story line or even any smart humor. (Ok, the 13 year old dog on crutches was funny).

    5 - Culturally insensitive - The "black" cow is actually played by a black actress. The pink cow is played by a white actress. The black cow was playing a stereotypical black person.

    6 - Ignorant - No such thing as a male cow that I'm aware of. I believe we call them bulls? If we are going to expose our children to drek, it might as well have the simplest facts correct.

    7 - Boring and Borish. My 4 year old had us leave after 45 minutes. He practically fell asleep.

    I'm sure this movie will make millions, which is unfortunate, because it only proves to Hollywood producers that the American public at large is just filled with suckers waiting to pay 8 bucks just to get some peace and quiet from the kids for an hour or two. An unfortunate circumstance. Why should the producers spend real money when the returns will be the same either way.
  • This film is about a group of party loving animals on a farm. The leader, Otis, have to lead the group to party and to fight the evil coyotes that threaten to kill all the kens on the farm.

    Let me start off by pointing out the only single good thing about this film. The background colours are all soft colours, which means that the animation is generally pleasant to look at.

    Then the bad things about the movie. First, the cows in the movie are all gender confused. It took me a while to realise that the "cows" are in fact "cows" but oxen. The story is simply non existent. The filmmakers simply get a group of speaking animals to dance. That's all the story there is. The supposedly touching subplot of Ben the dying to make Otis (or is it a she?) realise that he has to grow up is laughable and poorly built up. the character development is poor, and I do not care for any of the characters.

    The worst of all, is that the film shows a group of cows stealing a car for joy riding. They keep drinking, and then when they got chased by the police, they speed up and say they cannot stop the car. After all the delinquency, there is no mention whatsoever that these behaviour are in fact wrong. They all got away with it. What kind of message are we sending to the kids? Are we telling them these behaviours are OK and justifiable? Most of the animations have a great plot and some moral teachings. Look at Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Over The Hedge. However, this film does not have any. Barnyard fails to engage the viewers. It is so bad that you have to see it to believe it.
  • onamkakabr19 March 2024
    Warning: Spoilers
    Barnyard/ O Segredo dos Animais (2006) Film #4

    Continuing my journey of watching films and making amateur reviews. This film is the fourth film on my journey that I have watched. I'm from 1996 and I remember watching this film many times in my childhood, however, it had been a long time since I watched it and I remembered few things, I didn't remember anything about the third act of the film. Things I remembered from this movie are Boi Ben's music and them picking up the pizzas with their fake arms and they continue to be the best scenes in the movie. I even found the negative rating average on this site strange, because it's very funny, it didn't deserve an average of 8 or more, but an average of 6 I think it would do. I believe that two factors make this average lower. The disbelief factor , how much you can get hooked in the film, even though there is an ox with breasts and oxen driving a car and motorcycle. And also, because I'm Brazilian, I believe that the Brazilian dubbing helps me enjoy and find this film funnier.

    Last Movie: Shrek 2 (2004)

    Next Movie: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron/ Spirit: O Corcel indomável (2002)

    Film Watched on March 18, 2024.

    Rating: 6/10.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I went to see this movie. The first comments out of my mouth were, "Couldn't they have gotten this anatomically correct or are they just that stupid?" I was disturbed the ENTIRE time that there were male cows. I had a hard time getting into the plot because I couldn't get over seeing udders on what should have been bulls with NO udders. Male cattle are bulls and they don't have udders. There is enough ignorance in the world and especially in America without writers and directors and producers not taking the time or intelligence to think that what they are showing to the general public can actually affect them. How many little children that have never seen a real cow and will never grow up on a farm or near real cows will grow up believing that there are MALE COWS WITH UDDERS? Even the woman beside us turned to us and said she thought that the movie was disturbing showing male cattle as cows with udders instead of as bulls with no udders.

    Like the comment before mine said, his/her children were mesmerized. Well a movie that can mesmerize can also teach and what are they teaching? They are teaching a new generation of children to be stupid. And to be drunks. I do agree with that person that it was unnecessary to show drunkenness as being fun. Don't we have enough problems with people destroying their lives with alcoholism and don't we have enough AAA members and homeless people who have ruined their lives and the lives of their families without trying to promote drunkenness as fun in cartoons for a new generation of children? How many lives of child actors and actresses have been destroyed because they viewed drugs and alcohol as a way to have fun?
  • My wife and I enjoyed a "matinee date" to see "Barnyard." The film, overall, did not disappoint. The voice talent was impressive - a very good collection of actors.

    Animation was also impressive - fun. Scripting was pretty good: funny, tender, scary. A good time was had by all in the auditorium today (we were the only adults at the movie without children).

    Only two negative criticisms, both specific to the drawing of animals: 1) Most of the cows are male, but they all had udders. Now, I am no farmer or livestock expert - but, I thought only female cows had udders (ergo, mammary glands).

    2) Flying chickens? Once again, farming is not my forte, but when did chickens acquire the ability to fly? Beyond these two oddities, my wife and I enjoyed the video trip to escape life for an hour and a half. You will also enjoy the film, if you appreciate animation and humor - oh, and you MUST have a heart! Go and Enjoy !
  • telute6911 August 2006
    Warning: Spoilers
    I can find no redeeming value to this movie. It appears to be loosely based on the Lion King school of thought. Father gets killed, son can't fill the shoes and tries to run away, etc, etc, etc. The only difference (other than being in a barnyard instead of a jungle) is that Barnyard tries to "liven things up" with club-type music. They go way over the top in trying to be cool. The problem is that it really isn't cool. It's like "that guy". Everybody knows at least one of "those guys" who are older and still hang out with the younger crowd in a futile attempt to cling onto their youth. They try to be cool to fit in but they really aren't. That's this movie.

    But hey, if you have money to burn and you feel like paying someone to suck 90 minutes of you life away, by all means don't let me stop you.
  • My husband and I have watched this movie with all five of our grand kids - which means we've seen it over 20 times. I am not exaggerating. The grand kids love it, quote it, and ask to see it every time they are at our house. We adults love it too. I do not understand the negative reviews. This is a great story.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I was looking at a lot of the movie comments on Barnyard and may I say they haven't been that good, not to mention a 4.8 rating didn't look too promising, but I decided anyways to give this movie a chance and actually, it wasn't that bad. It seems like everyone is calling this a remake of The Lion King, it is the same story, but it is not extremely noticeable and has some differences. On it's own, this is a fairly good movie for the kids and parents as well, because it has some good jokes here and there.

    Otis is a cow who is about to become king of the barn when his father, Ben, is murdered by the coyotes who wants to eat all of the chickens. But since Otis is more of a party animal and wants to be everyone's pal more so than being a good leader, the barn gets out of control leading to the humans seeing what the animals do behind their backs. Otis leaves the barn hoping that it'll be in better hands, but unfortunately, the coyotes are not giving up on the barn.

    Barnyard like I said is a pretty good film, it's definitely not the best I've seen or it seems like for anyone, but I think it had a good story and some fun jokes that anyone could at least get one laugh at. You have got to admit that the boy tipping was pretty funny and the human arms they used to grab the pizza was a good laugh. So, go ahead and give the movie a chance, it's really not a bad film.

    6/10
  • Male cows?

    Where did this come from? What are these creatures? Is any of the writers have studied basic biology? Are there any reviewer of the storyboard? Have the drawers ever seen a cow and a bull?

    This movie is not safe for children.

    The story is dumb. Animals are like balloons.

    Giving 1 for this movie is overrating. I can't find the words how to describe the awfulness of this...

    It's a shame for all the creators that they have participated in this movie...
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