Home on the Range

Home on the Range is a 2004 American animated Western musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 45th Disney animated feature film, it was the last traditionally animated Disney film released until The Princess and the Frog (2009). The film was written and directed by Will Finn and John Sanford (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Alice Dewey Goldstone, from a story by Finn, Sanford, Mark Kennedy, Michael LaBash, Sam Levine, and Robert Lence. Named after the popular cowboy song of the same name, the film stars the voices of Roseanne Barr, Judi Dench, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding Jr., Randy Quaid, and Steve Buscemi. Home on the Range is set in the Old West, and centers on a mismatched trio of dairy cows—brash, adventurous Maggie; prim, proper Mrs. Calloway; and ditzy, happy-go-lucky Grace. The three cows must capture an infamous rustler named Alameda Slim for his bounty in order to save their idyllic farm from foreclosure. Aiding them in their quest is Lucky Jack, a feisty, peg-legged rabbit, and a selfish horse named Buck, eagerly working in the service of Rico, a famous bounty hunter, who seeks the glory for himself. Home on the Range premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on March 21, 2004, and was released in the United States on April 2. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $76.5 million at the box office. Plot Amidst the Old West, wanted cattle rustler Alameda Slim steals most of Dixon Ranch's cattle. The ranch owner, Mr. Dixon sells the remaining cow, Maggie, to Pearl, a kind, aging woman who runs a small farm called Patch of Heaven. Sam, the local Sheriff, arrives to tell Pearl that unless she pays back the bank in three days, her farm will be sold to the highest bidder. Hearing this, Maggie convinces farm cows Grace and Mrs. Calloway to go to town with her to win prize money at a fair. While the cows are in town, a bounty hunter named Rico drops off a criminal, collects their reward, and looks for a replacement horse while his rests. Idolizing him, Sam's horse Buck convinces Rico to take him. Upon seeing this and learning the reward for capturing Slim will cover Pearl's debt, Maggie convinces the other cows to help her collect the reward to save Patch of Heaven.