BACKGROUND
I’ve been waiting weeks to be able to talk about Home on the Range.
Not because it’s good, but because it has been dubbed one of the worst Disney animated features of all time.
For a period of around five years, my family stopped going to watch the latest Disney animated film release both at the cinema and on DVD. This began with Home on the Range. Most members of my family still have not seen this movie – but I have. I watched it for the first time around 2016, when the UK-released Disney Life app was in existence and I found I had access to the Disney movies that we had missed between 2004 and 2008. I didn’t like it then, and barely paid attention to it, so I was curious to know what I’d think of it now.
After re-watching Home on the Range, I found that it was alright. Parts of it are not particularly interesting, some are just plain strange, and others are good. It’s an odd mixture, but the biggest thing is that it just doesn’t feel like a Disney movie, despite the traditional hand-drawn animation. Home on the Range would be the last of this kind, until a brief revival with The Princess and the Frog in 2009 and Winnie the Pooh in 2011.
The fact that it is a Western-style movie doesn’t help with my opinion on it, because I’ve never been a big fan of anything set up as a “Western”. I don’t like Back to the Future Part III (1990), even though I like the other two, for this very reason! It also has some very “un-Disney” jokes, which can be awkward to sit through. But on the whole, it’s not unwatchable, which is helped by its 75-minute runtime. Though I would re-watch it at some point, it sits towards the bottom of any personal rankings of Disney Animated movies – I dislike others a whole lot more, like some of the earlier “package films”, and definitely Pinocchio (1940) but it is nowhere near good enough to be classed as a “favourite”.
PLOT
As the movie is called Home on the Range and as I mentioned that it is Western-themed, with the name of the film coming from the traditional cowboy song of the same name, it should come as no surprise that the opening of this film features typical cowboys, cacti, deserts, canyons, and snakes, to really set the scene, with an unfortunate rabbit being bounced around between bulls, a coyote and birds. We see the Sheriff pin a “Wanted” poster on a tree, of a cattle rustler called Alameda Slim. There is a $750 reward for his capture.
After this, we see a cow being moved to a farm. She, Maggie, narrates her story, telling us that her owner’s, Abner, Dixon Ranch had to be sold after his whole cattle herd – apart from her – was stolen by Alameda Slim. She is being moved to a dairy farm, called Patch of Heaven. Everything seems rosy over there, with the owner, Pearl, keeping everything harmonious with all the animals: chickens, goats, pigs, and cows. Maggie introduces herself to the group, where she is found to be brash, loud, and a tad bit vulgar, much to the annoyance of the long-standing Mrs. Calloway, who is oh-so-posh and dislikes Maggie instantly for her lack of class. The other cow at the farm, Grace, is quite happy to have Maggie with them, though she is a bit ditzy.
Soon, Buck, the Sheriff’s horse, arrives with Sheriff Sam, who has come to deliver a bank notice to Pearl. With cattle missing all across the state, the banks are calling in their debts. Pearl has three days to pay $750 or the farm will be going to auction. Sam suggests Pearl sell off some livestock to pay off the debt, but she angrily refuses, telling Sam these animals are her family. Maggie suggests to the other animals that they can earn the money by going to the County Fair to be “show animals”; Maggie was a prolific “show cow” at her previous home. As the County Fair is not for another two weeks, Maggie and Grace set off to town to ask for more time on the bank notice; Mrs. Calloway reluctantly joins them. They find Buck, fantasising about being a bounty hunter’s horse so he can fight bad guys, and ask for an extension on the notice. He refuses.
Their conversation is abruptly ended by the arrival of Rico, a successful bounty hunter, who has come to get money for his latest capture. Sheriff Sam tells him the last wanted person is Alameda Slim, so Rico goes to find him, using Buck as his horse for the journey. The cows overhear this and notice that the reward for Slim is $750, exactly what Pearl needs to save Patch of Heaven, so they want to find him first.
Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway plan to follow a nearby wagon to a cattle drive, hoping that they’ll find Slim there, but as Maggie and Mrs. Calloway are clashing over their plans, the wagon owner ends up taking them with him, tying them to his wagon, so they have no choice but to follow it! On the journey, they see Maggie’s former ranch being auctioned off. Once stopped, the cows try to free themselves from the wagon, hiding amongst a group of bulls, who awkwardly flirt with them. Sure enough, Slim arrives, but as Maggie is about to attack, Slim starts to yodel, which has a hypnotising effect on all the cows, this being Slim’s method for stealing them. The only one unaffected is Grace, due to her being “tone-deaf”. She pulls on the wagon, pushing it down a hill, hitting into Maggie and Mrs. Calloway, snapping them out of their trance. Unfortunately, Slim escapes, blocking his entrance to a cave with a rock. This stops Rico and Buck from capturing him too. Rico decides that Buck is too skittish around cows, and leaves with a different horse. Buck and the trio of cows decide to race to see who can get to Slim first.
Within Slim’s lair, he says that his plan is to buy every patch of land in the area. By stealing cows from the ranches, it forces them to be auctioned off. At this point, he goes in disguise to buy up the land under the name “Yancy O’Dell”. This is his revenge for all his underappreciated work on other people’s ranches. He spots one patch of land he has missed – Patch of Heaven – as it has been blocked by one of his nephew’s, the Willie Brothers, who always sits in the same spot in front of the map. He plans to go to its auction.
As the cows seem to be on the trail of Slim, Buck, who is ahead, makes multiple tracks to confuse them before running ahead, pleased with himself. Then, there is a storm, which starts a flash flood. Maggie tries to continue on, almost getting all three of them killed. Mrs. Calloway angrily forces them all to stay on a safe bit of high ground until it passes. She tells Maggie she should go on alone, as she just wants revenge on Slim, and not to help them save Patch of Heaven. The next day, as Maggie is about to set off, a Shaman Rabbit, the one from the film’s opening, introduces himself as Lucky Jack and tries to encourage the cows to stay with him as he makes them a fire and food to eat. He was flushed out of his home by Slim, and tells them that Slim’s base is in Echo Mine, his old home. Jack takes all three of them there.
At the mine, Slim’s black-market cattle seller, Wesley, arrives to take the cows away, paying Slim for the batch of 5,000 cows, which Slim will use to buy land. As the cows and Jack approach the entrance, they see the mine is blocked by a buffalo, who is guarding the entrance. Buck is trying to negotiate his way inside, but only cows may pass, so Maggie and the others are allowed to go in, much to Buck’s annoyance. Knowing that if Slim sees them, he will start to yodel, Grace puts rabbit fluff in Maggie and Mrs. Calloway’s ears so they’ll be immune to it. Slim does see them and starts to yodel. They pretend to be hypnotised to trick Slim into a mine cart, where they tie him up and hit him to knock him out, as per their plan. On exiting the mine, they run into Buck, who steals Slim and delivers him to Rico, only for the cows to steal him back. The Willie Brothers, Wesley and Junior the Buffalo all try to retrieve Slim, as they go down an old mine track. Fireworks are set off within the mine, pushing them all out of it with the force of the explosion. Wesley starts his train, which he’ll use to transport the cattle, to head the others off. There’s a crash as the two groups collide but everyone is somehow ok!
Slim is freed, and drags the cows on to the train. It turns out that Rico was actually working for Slim, with Slim telling Rico to go with Wesley to the border to see there are no further problems. Slim heads off to the auction at Patch of Heaven. Buck, horrified to see that his hero has been working for the villain all along, punches Rico and Wesley, and tells the cows to run. Mrs. Calloway manages to free them from the train, before going back and starting up the train as it’s the quickest way to get to their farm. Despite a near miss with the Morning Express, which Buck and Lucky Jack manage to avoid by switching the tracks, they arrive at the farm, just as Slim seems to have won Patch of Heaven. They come to stop him, and Slim pulls a gun on them. The other Patch of Heaven animals start to fight him, where he ends up in the top of the train. Mrs. Calloway pulls the whistle, which blows off Slim’s disguise. Despite his attempts to yodel his way out of trouble, Grace karate-kicks a cowbell into his mouth. Slim is promptly arrested by the Sheriff, who gives the reward money to Pearl, allowing her to pay off her debt and save Patch of Heaven.
A few weeks later, we see that the story of three cows defeating Alameda Slim has reached the papers, and that Lucky Jack has joined the Patch of Heaven clan. Many of the animals return from the County Fair with prizes. Soon, Junior and two of the flirty bulls from earlier in the movie, come to live at Patch of Heaven. Everything ends happily.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Maggie is one of the three main characters in Home on the Range. She comes to Patch of Heaven from Dixon Ranch, after her owner has to sell up when his cattle, all except Maggie, are stolen. You’d think that backstory would make Maggie a bit shy and timid, but far from it! Maggie is incredibly brash, loud, and a bit of a know-it-all; it probably doesn’t help that she is a winning show cow, so she believes she’s something special! She is not afraid to speak her mind or share her views, and doesn’t spare anyone’s feelings; she’s also quite happy to talk over everybody else. Her humour is a bit crude and a bit much for a Disney movie, in my opinion! For example, one of the first things Maggie says in the movie is: “Yeah, they’re real. Quit staring”, referring to her udders…This line, in part, earnt the film its PG rating[1]! Although she clashes with Mrs. Calloway at the start of the movie, by the end of it, they have looked past their differences and become friends – though I think this is more to do with the animals of Patch of Heaven getting used to Maggie than about her changing her behaviour! Originally, Maggie was going to already be part of the Patch of Heaven farm, but it was decided that it would be more dynamic for her to come in as an outsider. It certainly gave more options for where the character would go and how she would interact with others.
Maggie was not going to be as brash and abrasive originally either. The voice casting had a lot to do with how Maggie’s character changed and that voice actor choice was American comedian and actress Roseanne Barr. For anyone familiar with her work, this would explain a lot in terms of the “comedy”! Disney knew Barr would have some good one-liners and they fitted the movie around those so they would not be overshadowed[2]. I don’t think this was a good choice for Home on the Range because it really does take over, and Barr’s humour is not universally liked. For this reason, I do not like Maggie as character and didn’t care about her journey or whether anyone grew to like her at Patch of Heaven. Roseanne Barr is most known for her stand-up comedy career before starring in her own sitcom Roseanne from 1988 to 1997, with a brief revival in 2018, which was cut short after Barr wrote and posted offensive tweets. Barr was then removed from the show.
Mrs. Calloway is basically the leader of Patch of Heaven’s animals, with her having seniority and wisdom on her side. She is chosen to deal with any disputes, such as those between Jeb, a grumpy goat, and the overenthusiastic piglets on the farm. She also likes to wear a purple hat with a flower in it; it seems to be her most prized possession and she gets very angry with Maggie when she drops it in the mud at one point. It’s a strange character quirk… Mrs. Calloway is very set in her ways and she is disgusted by Maggie when she arrives, with her crude jokes and burping, saying she is low-class. It takes a lot for her to be persuaded to come on this journey with Maggie and Grace, but she wants to save Patch of Heaven from closure so that is what motivates her to continue, unlike Maggie, whose ultimate motivation is revenge on Alameda Slim, something which Mrs. Calloway does not appreciate, telling Maggie not to return to their farm if she doesn’t want to be there anyway. By the end of the movie though, the two have come to be friends.
The weirdest thing is that Judi Dench is the voice of Mrs. Calloway. It’s a shame for an actress of her calibre to be attached to such a lacklustre Disney movie; could Disney not find her a better film to be a part of? Dame Judi Dench, as she should be addressed, is considered to be one of the greatest British actresses. She has had quite the career, winning multiple awards, including an Oscar, and has starred in various productions on stage and screen. Dame Judi does have a sense of humour, I believe, so I bet she had a good time working on Home on the Range, despite the mediocre reception to it!
The final cow to make up the trio is Grace. She comes across as quite ditzy, though she is clearly kind-hearted and not judgemental, as she is willing to give Maggie a chance, unlike Mrs. Calloway. Grace doesn’t seem to know what she’s doing most of the time, spending most of the first half of the movie just singing really badly, but this is shown to be very important. Her bad singing shows that Grace is tone-deaf, and because she is tone-deaf, she is immune to Slim’s yodelling and therefore does not become hypnotised unlike the other two. Grace has to save both of them from Slim, and this makes Grace very important in the rest of the movie, because if this weren’t the case, then the three protagonists would have ended up being unconscious for most of the movie[3]!
Grace is voiced by American-Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly. Tilly has appeared in many film and television roles, and is particularly known for her distinctive nasally voice. For Disney, Tilly has voiced the part of Celia in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and its spin-off Monsters at Work (2021), as well as playing the role of Madame Leota in The Haunted Mansion (2003).
Then there’s Buck. He is the Sheriff’s horse, but thinks a lot of himself, wanting to be the hero and defeat bad guys, having dreams of being a bounty hunter. He particularly idolises the bounty hunter, Rico, despite Rico’s lack of personality and utter indifference to anyone but himself. It turns out Rico just wants money, and doesn’t care about justice, unlike Buck. Because Rico turns out to be working for Alameda Slim, Buck turns on him and realises that he doesn’t need to be a sidekick to a bounty hunter, he can be the hero all on his own, and he does just that. Buck has a complicated relationship with the cows at the start of the movie, making life difficult for them by refusing to extend the bank notice and by racing them to find Slim first, but by the end of it, they’ve learnt to get along together. Buck is also humbled during this journey as he is not the one to find Slim first, and finds that the trio of cows have much better ideas than he does! Buck is voiced by American actor Cuba Gooding Jr., best known for his roles in Jerry Maguire (1996), for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, As Good as It Gets (1997) and The Butler (2013). He portrayed O.J. Simpson in the series The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016).
Then we come to the villain of the movie, Alameda Slim. The character was named after Montana Slim, real name Wilf Carter, who was a Canadian country singer and yodeller[4]. The surname “Slim” is also an ironic reference to Alameda Slim’s size as he is in fact quite a big guy! Alameda Slim is the villainous cattle rustler, stealing cattle to make ranches and farms go bust so he can buy them and “takeover” the area, as revenge on all the previous ranch owners he used to work for. It’s not the strongest villain backstory and it’s not clear what he plans to do after that! Slim has a good talent for yodelling, which he uses to steal cattle, as they become hypnotised by him; he’s very much like the Pied Piper, leading them away from their homes. Slim can be funny at times, though he mostly just shouts a lot, particularly at his nephews, the three Willie Brothers, who are quite dim and don’t seem to know what’s going on! The Willie Brothers are voiced by Sam J. Levine, an animator, story writer and producer for Disney. They irritate Slim and constantly say or do the wrong thing. Slim isn’t a great Disney villain for me; he doesn’t have many powers, his backstory is weak, and apart from pulling a gun on the cows at the end, he’s not particularly evil. Originally, Slim’s big plan was that he was going to use an army of cows to storm the White House to become President. This was changed as Disney decided that this dream was too outlandish[5]!
Randy Quaid voices Alameda Slim. Quaid has acted in both serious drama and comedic roles. He had a recurring role as Cousin Eddie in most of the National Lampoon’s Vacation films (1983-2003). Quaid also starred as Harold ‘Mitch’ Mitchell in the television film adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). Even though I don’t like Slim as a character much, I do think Quaid’s voice work here is good.
The last “major” character to mention is Lucky Jack, the rabbit with a peg leg, who isn’t very lucky at all. He appears in the opening sequence of Home on the Range being hit by cattle, and attacked by snakes and bears, having to make a quick getaway. He then shows up after the flash-flood, where he decides to try and help the cows by building them a fire and making them some food. This is when we discover that Lucky Jack lost his home of Echo Mine to Alameda Slim, who ended up using it as his “villain’s lair”. Jack helps the cows find their way to Echo Mine and defeat Slim. Though he isn’t at the final battle at Patch of Heaven, Jack does find a new home at the farm with the others. This backstory for Lucky Jack was added in to give him a connection with the cows and a motivation for him to help them find Slim. Originally, he was just going to be a bit of a crazy rabbit who assumed the cows were from Echo Mine, and liked to play records of yodelling[6]! American actor and director Charles Haid voices Lucky Jack. Haid’s most well-known role was in the police drama Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), where he played Officer Andy Renko.
There are a few other characters, or voice actors, to mention too. Another strangely big name within this voice cast is Steve Buscemi. He voices the part of Wesley, the black-market businessman who takes all of Slim’s stolen cattle to be sold. Wesley is not on screen for long, but you can tell its Steve Buscemi! Apparently, Disney wrote this cameo specifically for him[7]. Buscemi has had a varied acting career, starring in more serious roles such as “Mr Pink” in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Carl Showalter in Fargo (1996) and as Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire (2010-14), as well as in comedy, popping up in many of Adam Sandler’s films, and within the anthology television series Miracle Workers (2019-present). For Pixar, Buscemi voiced Randall Boggs in Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Monsters University (2013).
Patrick Warburton also has a cameo as the easily-scared horse that Rico uses to get to Slim’s lair after ditching Buck. Warburton has voiced many roles for Disney such as Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and its sequel Kronk’s New Groove (2005), as well in Disney television series such as Kim Possible (2002-07) and Buzz Lightyear in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-01). For any Disney Parks fans, you will also see Patrick Warburton giving the “pre-flight” video before the attraction Soarin’ at Disney’s California Adventure, Epcot at Walt Disney World Resort, Shanghai Disneyland, and Tokyo DisneySea.
PRODUCTION
The original idea for Home on the Range was conceived by Mike Gabriel, who had planned to make a film with a supernatural Western theme. Gabriel was told he could proceed with the idea once he’d finished directing Pocahontas (1995). After Pocahontas was released, he started on the concept art for this idea, which at the time was called “Sweating Bullets”. The story would have followed a timid character who arrived at a ghost town and came face-to-face with ghostly cattle rustlers. This character went through many iterations of being a young cowboy, an older cowboy and even a bull.
Gabriel left the film in 2000, and it was handed over to Will Finn, who had worked at the Disney Studios during the 1980s and 1990s, before going over to DreamWorks where he had worked on The Road to El Dorado (2000). John Sanford was brought in to co-direct. After some re-working of the story, it was decided that the film would follow three dairy cows; it was conceived as Charlie’s Angels but with cows[8]! It was also decided that the movie would be traditionally hand-drawn, despite the use of computer animation in other studios such as Pixar and DreamWorks. Disney had used elements of CG in their previous movies but had yet to go into that medium fully. After the failure of 2D animated Treasure Planet (2002), Disney planned to stop making hand-drawn animated films and move into fully CG movies. As Brother Bear (2003) and Home on the Range were in production at the time this decision was made, they could continue with their 2D animation as planned, with Home on the Range being the last one – until 2009, when it would have a brief revival[9]. Home on the Range was also the last Disney film to use the CAPS system to colour its artwork. It was dismantled after the movie was completed[10].
As part of research for the project, around twelve members of the Disney team went to a cattle drive in Wyoming at the start of production on Home on the Range. To create the correct mood and to reflect the story, they had to research the landscapes of the West for their background art. Alongside finding lots of dust, the team at Disney found many colours in the landscapes, other than the typically used browns, like pinks, green, oranges, and purples. They went a bit further with their colours and landscapes choices than what is actually there, but it is still based in reality. As well as this real-world research, the team went into the Animation Research Library to look at backgrounds from Western-themed Disney films and shorts, such as those of Pecos Bill and Johnny Appleseed to get inspiration[11].
MUSIC
For the music, Disney brought in composer Alan Menken. Menken was a major factor in the Disney “Renaissance Era” success, having worked on the majority of those movies, including The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). Although looking at Menken’s credits for Disney there would appear to be a long gap between 1997’s Hercules and 2004’s Home on the Range, with Menken doing nothing else in the middle, Menken had been attached to the project from the outset when the film was originally titled “Sweating Bullets”. Menken brought in lyricist Glenn Slater to work alongside. Slater would go on to write the lyrics for multiple stage productions, such as Sister Act the Musical (2006) and Love Never Dies (2010). For Disney, Slater would also write the lyrics for Tangled (2010), as well as for the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2008).
The songwriting duo wrote all six of the movie’s original songs, with Menken also composing the score. Though these songs feature in the movie, the majority of them are not sung by any characters – the exception to this is Alameda Slim’s villain song which he sings himself. The others feature famous performers, most from the country-and-western genre, singing the song over the top of an animated scene.
The first song features in the opening sequence, and is titled “(You Ain’t) Home on the Range”. It certainly sets the scene of this being a Western-set movie! It also contains some relatively funny lyrics, such as “Out in the land of the desperado; If yer as soft as an avocado; Yee-ha! Yer guacamole, son!” There’s also a section about having a nervous bladder, but that’s going too far into silly territory for me. This song is ok, but it’s not the best and I didn’t remember much of it after seeing the film.
To introduce the farm that Maggie the cow will be going to, there is a whole song showing the idyllic life of those there. The song is named after the farm, “A Little Patch of Heaven”. It’s the perfect set up to the area. Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter k.d. lang was chosen to perform the song. Menken and Slater loved her rendition of the song, saying that it was sung from a place of joy and that Lang has a very American voice which suits the movie well. I remembered parts of this song after watching, and I quite liked it.
This is followed by Alameda Slim’s villain’s song, titled “Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-ooo” – that’s easier to read if you’ve heard the song! It’s a good introduction song for Slim, especially as he sings it himself. The scene itself has similarities to “Pink Elephants on Parade”, with its strong use of bright colours, and its psychedelic imagery! It’s a bit of a weird scene, and song, but it is funny. Some of the yodelling section riffs off some traditional pieces of music. I do like the song; it’s fun to try and yodel anyway! Randy Quaid was not used to singing but Menken and Slater said he was a good sport when recording the song! Two other performers did the yodelling for him though – Randy Erwin and Kerry Christianson, world champions in yodelling.
The most emotional song in the movie comes at the point after the flash-flood, when Maggie and Mrs Calloway have argued and everything looks bleak for them, not being able to find Slim and save their farm. At the point of watching the movie, I thought it was a fitting song for the sombre mood of the scene, but I didn’t think much more of it. I then found out that during production, Alan Menken was given the brief for the song, about these cows being lost and struggling to go on; he called it a “Where do we go from here?” song. Menken was not looking forward to writing it and was struggling to find motivation. That is until the tragic events of 9/11, which happened during production on the movie. This gave the song “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again” more meaning to it, and I can see why it was important to them. Deservedly, they got a lot of praise for this song. It is sung by American singer Bonnie Raitt, who manages to get across the despair, but also the hope in the music[12].
These four songs are the main ones to feature in the movie, with a reprise of the opening song playing as the cows and Lucky Jack set off for Echo Mine, and a section of “A Little Patch of Heaven” being used for the happy ending. But there are two other songs, “Where the Trail May Lead”, performed by American country singer Tim McGraw, and “Anytime You Need A Friend”, performed by pop-rock girl group The Beu Sisters. These both feature in the End Credits. Fittingly for their performers, the first song sounds more country, with the second being more pop. I don’t think much of either song, but “Wherever the Trail May Lead” does fit the style of the movie better than “Anytime You Need A Friend”, which is more about the friendship between the cows, I suppose.
The score incorporates many country-and-western music elements to it, such as the use of harmonicas and fiddles, whilst also sounding like a Disney score; parts of it almost sound like Aladdin (1992) to me. Unfortunately, I did not pick out any instrumental within the score that I really liked; it mostly faded into the background for me, but it set the scene.
RECEPTION
Home on the Range was released in theatres on 2nd April 2004 in the US. Unlike many other Disney animated features, it was released outside of the usual seasons of Summer or Christmas. It did not make back its budget at the box office, only bringing in $104 million against a $110 million budget. The unusual release time of the movie may have had something to do with this, however, Zootopia (2016) would be released at the same time of year twelve years later and do exceptionally well at the box office[13].
The reception to the movie was lukewarm from the majority of critics and viewers. Though many stated that it was entertaining enough for children, the comedy and plot (or lack of) divided audiences. I will admit that some of the comedy did not impress me, with some jokes being quite tasteless and almost crude in places, and that the plot is quite basic, however, it is at least easy to follow!
The problem is that, apart from Lilo & Stitch (2002), which itself was a fairly unique concept, Disney Animation had been struggling against incredibly tough competition, like Pixar, and even DreamWorks, not managing to meet the expectations of those who had been watching Disney during its hugely successful “Renaissance Era”. Home on the Range pales in comparison to those, and for some reason, does not feel like a Disney film.
LEGACY
Unsurprisingly, due to the lack of financial and critical success, Home on the Range and its characters have not spanned any spin-offs or sequels and have not appeared much at the Disney Parks.
Though it was being marketed via a Home on the Range “pre-parade” at Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. It ran daily between 5th March and 16th April 2004, so over the Easter period, before the Share A Dream Come True Parade. It included two floats, horses, dancers and character puppets, with Patch of Heaven owner Pearl inviting guests to join in with a square dance. It used the “A Little Patch of Heaven” song as its soundtrack. I cannot find any footage of this, but I did find one photo proving that it was real, since very few people remember it! My family was at the Walt Disney World Resort during this time so we do remember the pre-parade, or at least we remember the main float, which was a barn float, with each of the three cows, as puppet heads, poking out of one of the top three windows, with their name on a sign beneath. It did not make us want to watch the movie; I think we even specifically said to each other we didn’t want to see it at all! The barn float has apparently been part of the Disney float stock since the 1980s. It is currently being used in the Walt Disney World Easter Parade, as well as the annual Boo To You Halloween Parade. Clara Cluck, the operatic chicken from the 1934 Mickey Mouse short Orphan’s Benefit in 1934, appears within the float. The cow puppets were the only opportunity for guests to see any of the Home on the Range characters, as they never had personal meet-and-greets. This may be partly to do with difficulty in figuring out how to make costumes for these cow characters, but I’m sure the movie’s failure had more to do with it.
There was one “attraction” that was themed to Home on the Range, though it was short-lived. The Big Thunder Ranch at Disneyland opened on 22nd June 1986, best known for Mickey Moo, a cow with a “Hidden Mickey” on its back, and its log cabin. The ranch had been rethemed to tie in with movie releases before, but on 2nd April 2004, its petting zoo was relaunched as “Patch of Heaven” from the movie. It featured “missing” posters of Buck, Maggie, Grace, and Mrs. Calloway, perhaps reiterating that no meet-and-greets with these characters were available, but you could meet real horses and cows. They even had a “Maggie”, a jersey cow bought from a farm in Tulare, California. There was a sign for “Pearl’s Cottage”, with the cottage not being based on Pearl’s actual home from at Patch of Heaven, but just using the log cabin already present at Big Thunder Ranch. The walls of the cabin featured Slim’s “Wanted” poster, stills from the movie, and colouring stations.
This retheme was meant to be permanent, however it did not stick around long. In 2005, Big Thunder Ranch became Santa’s Reindeer Roundup for the Holiday Season. Once that was over in 2006, the Home on the Range overlay was left to fade away. Big Thunder Ranch opened seasonally, with some seasonal overlays, until 10th January 2016, when it was closed for good to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge[14].
FINAL THOUGHTS
I don’t believe it is a big stretch for me to assume that many of Disney’s even most loyal fans have not seen Home on the Range. Whether that is because reviews from 2004, and even reviews from today, have not been kind to it so they decided to skip it, or whether it is simply because over time it has been forgotten about, I’m not sure. As Home on the Range has been branded the “worst Disney animated feature of all time”, I wouldn’t be surprised either way.
Frankly, Home on the Range is not, and will never be, one of my favourite Disney movies, animated or otherwise. But there were parts of it I did quite like, so I am glad that I have seen it for those reasons. Yes, the plot is not particularly interesting, some of the humour is childish, and the overall Western feel to the movie is not for me, but I did like the music, and some of the characters. I didn’t laugh out loud much during the movie, but it was amusing in places.
If you want to call yourself a hardcore Disney fan, then you must see Home on the Range, even if that’s just to say you’ve watched every Disney animated movie. If you’re not a hardcore fan and only want to watch the best of the best, then Home on the Range is probably not for you – unless you’re a big fan of Westerns!
However, I don’t declare Home on the Range the worst animated film to come out of Disney, just not one of the best. It fits nicely within the unenthusiastically titled “Post-Renaissance Era” for Disney and that’s fine. They can’t all be winners, but a lot of hard work went into this movie, so someone might as well appreciate it!
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.
[2] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[3] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.
[5] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Slim for President” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes: Meet Lucky Jack” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[7] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[8] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[9] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10th November 2016.
[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Home on the Range, pp. 133-135.
[11] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[12] Credit: Disney, “Trailblazers: The Making of Home on the Range” from Home on the Range (2004) DVD Release.
[13] Credit: Mari Ness, ‘Udderly Awful Yodeling: Disney’s Home on the Range’, Tor.com, 10th November 2016.
[14] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Little Patch of Heaven at Big Thunder Ranch’, Yesterland.com, 17th February 2023.
The Disney Purist 