Barnyard began development in 2002 and was released in the United States on August 4, 2006. It received negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and mixed reviews on Metacritic. It grossed $116.5 million worldwide against a $51 million production budget. A television series, Back at the Barnyard, followed on Nickelodeon and later Nicktoons for two seasons.
Plot
Otis is a carefree cow who lives on a farm where the animals are anthropomorphic when humans are away. Instead of following rules and accepting responsibility, Otis prefers to goof off with his friends Pip the mouse, Pig the pig, Peck the rooster, and Freddy the ferret, to the disapproval of his adoptive father Ben, the farm’s leader. One day, Otis convinces Ben to cover his night watch so he can attend a massive party in the barn and impress Daisy, a pregnant cow who recently arrived at the farm. Before Otis leaves, Ben tells him he saw the stars dance the night he found him as a calf. As the animals party, a pack of coyotes led by Dag attempt to raid the chicken coop. Ben fends them off alone, but is badly injured and dies.
The farm elects a mournful and reluctant Otis as the new leader. A natural party animal, Otis struggles with his newfound duties, which unexpectedly includes salvaging an incident in which the farmer witnesses the animals partying and Miles, a mule and Ben’s old friend, knocks him unconscious. Leaving Peck and Freddy to watch over the chicken coop, Otis joins the Jersey Cows, a trio of troublemaking cows, in getting revenge against a cow tipping bully. After narrowly avoiding the police, Otis returns for his night watch and shares a tender moment with Daisy, who says her mate and former herd were wiped out by a storm.
Otis soon encounters Dag, who notices Otis’ weakness as a leader and taunts him over Ben’s death. Dag arranges a deal to periodically steal animals from the farm or else his pack will slaughter them all if Otis attempts to get in their way. Ashamed, Otis decides to abandon the farm, but relents after learning that Dag’s pack has taken several hens during the day behind his back. Encouraged by Miles, Otis sets out to confront Dag alone at his junkyard den. Dag’s pack overpowers Otis but his friends arrive to fight alongside him. The hens are rescued and the coyote pack is driven off, with Otis warning Dag to never threaten the farm again. The animals hurry back to the farm where Daisy gives birth to a calf named in Ben’s memory. Otis vows to protect the farm as his father did, before watching the stars dance.
Maria Bamford as Noreen "Nora" Beady, the farmer's neighbor, Nathan's wife and the aunt of Snotty Boy, who correctly suspects that the animals are anthropomorphic.
Fred Tatasciore as Farmer Buyer, the owner of the farm that Otis and his friends live on.
Madeline Lovejoy as Maddy, Etta's daughter who looks up to Otis.
Steve Oedekerk as Eugene "Snotty Boy" Goldner, the Beadys' nephew who is cruel to animals.
Oedekerk also voices Nathaniel Randall "Nathan" Beady III, the farmer's neighbor, Nora's husband and the reluctant uncle of Snotty Boy; Reginald Goldner, Snotty Boy's father; and one of the pizza twins.
Jill Talley as Serena Goldner, Snotty Boy's mother.
Archival recordings of Shaggy's "Boombastic" were used for the performance of mouse rapper Biggie Cheese.
The chicks were portrayed by Eliana Bendetson, Paul Butcher, Khamani Griffin, Arlo Levin, Liliana Mumy, Cydney Neal, Cat Ozawa, Thomas Pistor, Isaiah Tefilo, and George Van Newkirk.
Paramount Pictures released Barnyard in the United States theaters on August 4, 2006.[1] It grossed approximately between $116.5 million and $118.6 million at the worldwide box office, against a budget of $51 million.[4][1]
Home media
Barnyard was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD on December 12, 2006, in separate widescreen and full-screen versions.[5] The DVD includes the alternate opening, a "Barnyard Bop" music video, a comic book creator, and a commentary by Steve Oedekerk and Paul Marshal. The film's DVD release has been constantly reprinted later on. After 16 years, Barnyard was released on Blu-ray for the first time on January 25, 2022.[6]
Reception
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 97 reviews and an average rating of 4.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Unimaginative and unfunny, this tale of barnyard mischief borders on 'udder' creepiness and adds little to this summer's repertoire of animated films."[7] On Metacritic, it has a score of 42 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[9]
Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel gave the film 2 stars out of 5, saying that, "with Barnyard, another quick-and-dirty 'all-star cast' mess churned out by the digital start-ups hired to steal some of Pixar's cash, the year that computer-generated animation 'jumps the shark' becomes official. Politically correct, anatomically incorrect and ugly to look at, the only thing that saves Barnyard is writer (and director) Steve Oedekerk's gift for gags and almost-edgy humor."[10]Kyle Smith of the New York Post gave the film a score of 1.5/4, saying that "if you want to punish your kids, send them to bed without dinner. If you want to disturb, frighten and depress them while making sure they fail biology, take them to the animated feature Barnyard."[11] Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly criticized the film's plot, giving it a C+ score and said that "it feels like Barnyard swipes too much of its plot from The Lion King."[12]
On the positive side, J. R. Jones of the Chicago Reader enjoyed Barnyard, saying that "it's way funnier than many of the R-rated comedies I've seen lately, though Oedekerk seems to have ignored the writer's edict to know your subject—most of his cows are male. The CGI is excellent, with characters whose depth and solidity suggest Nick Park's clay animations. The laughs subside near the end as the requisite moral kicks in, but this is still that rare kids' movie I'd recommend to parents and non-parents alike."[13] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film a score of 2.5/4, calling it "a sweet and mildly funny movie that will entertain young audiences, but one aspect is utterly mystifying: The two main characters, father and son bovine creatures, have large, distracting udders."[14]
Box office
Barnyard grossed $72.6 million domestically and $43.9 million internationally for a worldwide total of $116.5 million against its production budget of $51 million.
The film opened at #2 at the box office on its opening weekend behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, earning around 15.8 million at the domestic box office from 3,311 theaters. On the film's second weekend, it dropped 38.7%, grossing $9.7 million and finishing in 4th place, behind Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Step Up, and World Trade Center. By its closing on November 2, 2006, it grossed almost $73 million in its domestic theatrical release.[4]
On September 29, 2007, a sequel television series based on the film, titled Back at the Barnyard, premiered on Nickelodeon. Chris Hardwick replaced Kevin James in the role of Otis, and Leigh-Allyn Baker voiced new character Abby, who for some reason replaces Daisy, Otis' love interest from here.[17] The series had a considerably lighter tone than the film and ran for two seasons, ending on November 12, 2011.
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