5.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.7 |
Alameda Slim, a wanted cattle rustler, uses an alias to buy up properties all over western Nebraska, and his next target is the Patch of Heaven dairy farm, where the widow owner cares more for her 'family' of yard animals's welfare then for profit, so she just hasn't got the cash to keep in business. The other animals, mainly carefree youngsters, being unable, three cows of very different temperament and manners rise to the desperate occasion and set out to do battle for their dream home, teaming up unnaturally with each-other, the sheriff's megalomaniac horse and any other animal who can possibly help, even a crazy lucky rabbit and an invincible buffalo, hoping to beat the crook to the Patch's auction, or anything it takes...
Starring: G.W. Bailey, Roseanne Barr, Steve Buscemi, Carole Cook, Judi DenchFamily | 100% |
Animation | 88% |
Western | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 1.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
For Walt Disney fans, the years following the Disney Renaissance -- which began in 1989 with The Little Mermaid and, by most accounts, ended in 1999 with Tarzan -- was a nightmare. Fantasia 2000 underwhelmed, Dinosaur disappointed, Atlantis arrived to mixed reviews and declining box office returns, Treasure Planet didn't dig deep enough, Brother Bear retread familiar ground, and Home on the Range... well, we'll come back to that one in a bit. Quality was in a frightening freefall, each new animated adventure seemed to lack more and more of that patented Uncle Walt magic, and the studio that single-handedly gave rise to traditional feature-film animation announced it was abandoning hand-drawn animation in favor of Pixar-esque CG productions. It was a slump that defined an entire era of Disney feature animation; a slump that allowed other animation studios to pull ahead while Disney languished at the back of the pack. Tragically, Disney's then-parting hand-drawn hurrah, box office bomb Home on the Range, wasn't just a failure on all fronts, it was, and remains, one of the worst, if not the worst, animated films in the studio's canon.
"Now, let's not play the shame and blame game. This is an organic problem, and there's a holistic solution."
It's rare that a Disney animated feature film arrives on Blu-ray with anything less than a first-rate, impeccably encoded presentation. (The Fox and the Hound being the most disappointing exception.) And while Home on the Range certainly looks the part at first glance -- crisp and colorful -- it suffers from far too many issues to trot out words like "perfect" or "stunning." So bad news first. Thin, at-times glaring edge halos haunt the animators' line art from beginning to end, aliasing is quite apparent (distracting even) on occasion, faint artifacting disrupts several color fills (watch Rico's overcoat closely), and banding, though slight and infrequent, pops up here and there. (The screenshot above showcases the worst of it all.) Otherwise, the studio's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer moseys along without too much of a hitch. Art director David Cutler's warm Southwestern palette is full of life, primaries are cozy and cheerful, blacks are fairly inky, and contrast doesn't falter with the rising or setting of the sun. Detail doesn't waver either... except when the aforementioned anomalies rear their ugly heads. Pencil-textured lines and background brushstrokes are neatly defined (even though the combination of the textured line art and edge halos gives the 1080p image fits), and most of the animators' intentions are rendered to a reasonable fault. In the end, it's clear that Home on the Range could have looked every bit as good as Disney's finest. What isn't so clear is why it doesn't.
Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't upended by any technical mishaps, but the film's oft-front heavy sound design limits its impact. Dialogue is as clean and clear as a babbling brook, Alan Menken and Glenn Slater's music and songs fill the soundfield with lively country lyrics and rhythms, Alameda Slim's yodels are presented in all their oh-da-le oh-da-la joy, and the LFE channel lends heave and heft to every bucking bronco kick, cattle stampede, Mrs. Calloway temper tantrum, gunshot and booming buffalo stomp. The rear speakers are largely subdued -- again, by design -- but they're still given moments to shine (primarily when the dairy cows wander into a rowdy saloon, a cavernous mine or really anything other than an outdoor environment). The track isn't underwhelming by any means, though. It's just a bit ordinary and two-dimensional compared to some of Disney's more spirited mixes. On the whole, Home on the Range sounds better than it ever has or (presumably) ever will. Fans may be in short supply, but sonic proficiency is not.
Home on the Range isn't just the product of a then-ailing traditional animation production house, it's one of the worst animated films in Disney's canon. (Is it hyperbolic to suggest it's one of the worst feature films in the history of animation? I'll let you mull that one over.) Unfortunately, its Blu-ray release sports a problematic video transfer and an unremarkable selection of special features. Its DTS-HD Master Audio track is much better, but only insofar as the film's sound design allows. Should Home on the Range find its way into your collection? That depends on whether or not you're a Walt Disney completist. If so, prepare to grin and bear your way through a middle-of-the-road Blu-ray release. If not, it's best to mosey on past and search out greener pastures.
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2002
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