Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Barnyard Blu-ray Movie Review

Tits on a bull.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III May 25, 2022

The elephant in the room during Steve Oedekerk's Barnyard, one of a few Nickelodeon films during a crowded era in CG animation, is that all of its cows (males included) have udders. It was a common criticism of the film back in 2006, but easily explained away by the writer/director as a purely intentional choice brought on by the ignorance of city folk who probably wouldn't know the difference. (Plus, it just looked funny.) That bit of trivia pretty much sums up Barnyard as a whole: it's silly for the sake of being silly, content to occupy its own little world whether or not you're along for the ride. This usually translates to "cult classic", but Barnyard actually more than doubled its $51M budget in ticket sales and, despite falling more into obscurity during recent years, probably still has its fair share of nostalgic fans.

But without the benefit of rose-colored glasses Barnyard is neither all that original or all that funny; its featherweight story just combines the idiom "when the cat's away, the mice will play" with a watered-down version of The Lion King. Our hero of sorts is Otis (Kevin James), a carefree young cow who lives on a farm with fellow anthropomorphic animals who try to keep their "secret" safe from humans. Raised by de facto leader Ben (Sam Elliott), Otis ignores his duties in favor of goofing around with friends including a pig cleverly named Pig (Tino Insana), acrobatic mouse Pip (Jeff Garcia), paranoid ferret Freddy (Cam Clarke), and vocally challenged rooster Peck (Rob Paulsen). Other faces in the crowd are a rogue group of Jersey Cows (two of which are voiced by John DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche), old mule Miles (Danny Glover), and widowed mother-to-be Daisy (Courtney Cox), who quickly becomes Otis' potential bovine love interest. When tragedy strikes one night at the hands (paws?) of invading wolves led by vicious Dag (David Koechner), Otis is urged to become the farm's new leader but obviously resents the idea of being forced into adulthood.

Even at less than 90 minutes Barnyard struggles to fill out its extremely basic plot, padding frequent episodic detours with colorful minor characters, song breaks, and goof-of montages. Jokes come fast and furious but maybe half of them land, and if I'm being honest most of the unfunny comes from Kevin James in the lead role. (Boy, am I glad his star has finally fizzled out in recent years.) Yet while it's not exactly memorable by any stretch of the imagination, Barnyard is still kind of fun in its own juvenile way. It's actually held up a little better than most family films from this era: its CG visuals look more dated with each passing year (the human character models are ugly as sin, the cows look more like "stress ball" toys, and Miles the mule is a store-brand palette-swap of Donkey from Shrek), but to its credit Barnyard doesn't rely on endless pop culture references to keep the train chugging along. That's my diplomatic way of saying it's not awful, and at worst is a harmless diversion that immature parents might get a few chuckles out of too.

Barnyard's last real outing on home video was a DVD released soon after its 2006 theatrical debut, during that narrow window where even mainstream titles weren't guaranteed to join the fledgling Blu-ray format. Though it arrived much later than expected and few fans probably saw this one coming so late in the game, Paramount's Blu-ray of Barnyard is an impressive effort with strong A/V merits and plenty of vintage extras pulled from that earlier release.

Barnyard Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In a way, it's probably a good thing that Barnyard wasn't released on Blu-ray alongside Paramount's 2006 DVD (mere months after the newer format's launch, to put things in perspective); its transfer would have likely been passable at best and never revisited in high definition. As clearly evidenced from these included screenshots, the studio has done right with a clean, colorful 1080p transfer sourced from a newer master. Of course, Barnyard's built-in visual limitations are hard to miss; this is, after all, a mid-2000s CGI affair with a pretty modest budget, so don't expect ultra-convincing textures or smooth, realistic human character models and you'll be fine. Source limitations aside, Barnyard's strengths are indisputable on Blu-ray: we get a largely unprocessed transfer that thankfully hasn't been slathered in heavy noise reduction or edge enhancement, with an overall aesthetic that doesn't suffer from the garish, video-like appearance of early high definition titles. Saturation, depth, density, and overall detail are very good and even border on great here, from the crisp blades of grass during a golf game to the boisterous barn bash that birthed Biggie Cheese. Only a few stray moments of banding, easily glimpsed on the horizon of several navy blue night scenes, could be spotted during what is largely a solid visual presentation that die-hard fans should consider "worth the wait".

Barnyard Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, this Blu-ray's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track replicates the film's original sound mix very well, serving up crisp dialogue and well-placed background effects that contribute to its lively atmosphere. Discrete and panning effects are light but can easily be picked our at opportune moments, while the sound stage mostly leans toward front channels rather than a fully enveloping experience. Stray background noises and action scenes -- the chaotic car chase, rowdy barn gatherings, and the climactic junkyard showdown, for example -- are the exception, as is the original score and soundtrack that mostly features music from the blues and southern rock band North Mississippi Allstars. Overall, this is a nicely-mixed effort that fans will enjoy and, like its visuals, a clear step up from the DVD edition.

Optional subtitles, including English (SDH), are included during the main feature and all extras.

Barnyard Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in an eco-friendly keepcase with poster-themed art; no slipcover or inserts are included. All extras have been carried over from the 2006 DVD edition and cover the usual bases pretty well.

• Audio Commentary - This full-length track features writer/director Steve Oedekerk, producer Paul Marshal, and "The Barnyard Crew" (a handful of key crew members including production designer Phil Cruden, animators T.J. Sullivan and Todd Grimes, and texture dev Dimiti Joannides). As expected, this is a laid-back and occasionally obnoxious but lightly informative track that (only?) die-hard fans will want to check out. Like the other bonus features, it also includes optional subtitles in several languages, which is pretty nice.

• "Barnyard Bop" Music Video (1:59) - A percussive "all-new" musical performance.

• "Mud" Music Video (2:47) - This short video features the North Mississippi Allstars.

• Boogying in the Barn (5:22) - Writer/director Steve Oedekerk speaks briefly about the musical performances during the film, mostly by the barn's "house band" played by the North Mississippi Allstars.

• Utter Talent: Voices of Barnyard (10:35) - Steve Oedekerk, Andie MacDowell, Wanda Sykes, Courtney Cox, Sam Elliott, and Kevin James speak about their characters, and we also get a few clips of test animation.

• An Animator's Life (12:19) - This loose featurettes briefly covers the process of moving from script to screen by way of storyboards, test animation, CG modelling, matching voices, and the final product.

• Method Acting with Kevin James (2:02) - The lead voice actor hangs out with a few cows.

• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (7 clips, 9:52 total) - These deleted scenes are presented in various stages of completion and include "Down on the Farm", "Otis Scares Off Coyotes", "Miles Talks to Otis", "Peaches N' Cream", "Pig and the Bottle", "Dr. Philly", and "Ballad 2". All of them are presented with optional audio commentary; participants are identical to the ones from the main feature.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:28) - This promotional piece can also be seen here.

• Nick On-Air Campaign (13 clips, 6:29 total) - Very short PSA-style promos for the film.

Barnyard Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Steve Oedekerk's Barnyard is a pretty minor animated family film; it's not particularly original or gut-bustlingly funny (and also takes a few odd tonal detours), but as a whole is nonetheless lightly entertaining in its own way. That said, anyone who grew up loving this one will find much to enjoy about Paramount's new Blu-ray, which offers substantial A/V improvements over the studio's own 2006 DVD edition while keeping all of its vintage bonus features intact (minus a few outdated promos and some DVD-ROM content). So while Barnyard ain't exactly great blind bind material, the film's faithful fans will have no problem shelling out $10 or so for this surprisingly well-rounded disc.