A Big Story Causes Major Stress in The Paper

When I was in college, I worked on the campus newspaper, first as a staff writer and eventually as the editor of the news section. Since then, I have written regularly for two other newspapers. Hence, I can relate somewhat to the stress exhibited in the 1994 Ron Howard movie The Paper, though none of my stories has had such high stakes as the one main character Henry (Michael Keaton) is trying to break.

This movie, which was written by brothers David and Stephen Koepp, takes place over the course of one very hectic day. Two lower-class black teenagers stand accused of murdering a white businessman. The audience knows it isn’t true, but Henry and his fellow reporters can only guess in pursuit of the truth. It would be easier to assume guilt, but if they can uncover a conspiracy and help clear innocent young men in the process, surely that’s worth the extra hassle, right?

This movie shows all the stresses that go into putting together a daily newspaper and the toll that it takes on the most dedicated reporters. Henry is one of those, a workaholic whose commitment to a newspaper that hasn’t always treated him very well frustrates his wife Martha (Marisa Tomei), a former reporter on the verge of giving birth, though she helps him pursue his story, as does cheerful renegade Michael McDougal (Randy Quaid), despite the displeasure of bulldoggish Alicia Clark (Glenn Close), the second-in-command who just wants to go to press on time since expensive delays could sink the struggling newspaper.

There’s a manic quality to the movie that made it hard for me to follow at first. It’s loaded with characters, many of whom are played by A-list actors. There are also several New York City personalities who turn up as themselves, and Howard’s parents, wife and brother all get cameos. This turns the movie viewing into a fun game of Spot the Star but distracts a bit from the plot, at least initially, though I found it easier to get into once I’d been watching for a while.

The tug among strong forces like integrity, business savvy and family makes it compelling as the characters face very difficult choices, while the sometimes absurdist solutions keep the laughter coming. Meanwhile, side stories add to the more serious overtones, particularly the quest of ailing editor-in-chief Bernie White, played by the always-excellent Robert Duvall, to reconcile with his estranged daughter.

The movie is rated R with good reason, particularly when it comes to language and violence. I wouldn’t recommend it for younger audiences, but high schoolers considering careers in journalism might want to have a look and see what they might be getting into. This movie shows the intense frustration that can arise from working in the newspaper business. However, it also celebrates the exultation of a job well done.

Take a Walk on the Wicked Side With Disney Villains: Simply Sinister Songs

Disney is full of characters audiences just love to hate. When these antagonists are allowed to sing for themselves, the results are often both unnerving and irresistibly catchy. The album Disney Villains: Simply Sinister Songs compiles, in chronological order, an unlucky 13 of these songs that revel in dastardly deeds.

Pink Elephants on Parade (Dumbo) - I raised an eyebrow when I saw that this song opened the album, since I never really thought of it as a “villain’s” song. Yeah, those pink elephants are pretty creepy, but they’re also figments of Dumbo and Timothy’s imaginations, and all they’re really doing is giving them a massive hangover to look forward to in the morning. The sequence in the movie is one of the trippiest in Disney history, though, so while it’s not these elephants’ fault that Dumbo and Timothy dreamed them up, it’s certainly spooky, and the demented laughter toward the beginning sounds absolutely demonic. “I could stand the sight of worms and look at microscopic germs, but Technicolor pachyderms are too really much for me!”

Siamese Cat Song (Lady and the Tramp) - Peggy Lee provides the voice of these duplicitous cats who begin to make Lady’s life miserable from the moment they enter her house. I have read criticisms of this song because of the Asian accent Lee employs and the general idea that these villainous characters are so identifiably Siamese. The song has a very Asian sound to it, but aside from the rather questionable syntax, the lyrics are basically just reflective of the way any sneaky cat would act in their situation. Unsettling for sure. “We are Siamese if you please. We are Siamese if you don’t please. Now we looking over our new domicile. If we like we stay for maybe quite a while.”

Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians) - This track is a bit of a disappointment because it is mostly instrumental. Sure, it’s fun to hear Roger ragtiming it up on the piano, but what most people really want to hear is the portion that is sung. Though there’s not a lot of music in 101 Dalmatians, this song is absolutely iconic, and it’s partly because of the list of Cruella’s undesirable traits, rather like the one in You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. It’s a very catchy tune, but I think the excess of purely instrumental piano may wear on some. “Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil. If she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will. To see her is to take a sudden chill. Cruella, Cruella... She’s like a spider waiting for the kill; look out for Cruella De Vil!”

I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song) (The Jungle Book) - I tend not to think of this as a villain song either, but I guess King Louie, who is so desperate for Mowgli to teach him how to make fire, does qualify. It’s just that the jovial orangutan seems considerably less threatening than Shere Khan or the tiger or ever Kaa the python. While the first three songs on the album sound sinister, this one is a jazzy dance party led by Louis Prima, with Phil Harris popping in partway through to provide his own scatting, which is really pretty accomplished until he gets a bit too carried away with things. “Oobee do, I wanna be like you. I wanna walk like you, talk like you, too. You see it’s true, an ape like me can learn to be human too!”

Every Little Piece (Pete’s Dragon) - This is the only song on the album from a live-action film, and it’s a grand one. Jim Dale and Red Buttons ponder the delicious potion-making possibilities presented by the presence of Pete’s dragon. Doc Terminus is the main schemer here, perusing lists of dragon-related concoctions and getting more excited by the minute, but his faithful assistant soon gets caught up in the anticipation as well. It’s a song that feels simultaneously sophisticated and grotesque. While there are several villain songs in the movie, this one is the most gleefully malevolent. “Dragon cartilage keeps you thin. Dragon fat is for burns. A dragon tear will clear up your skin. Watch the profits come rolling in. Watch the profits come rolling in!”

Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid) - Pat Carroll brings a definite Broadway flavor to this showy song in which sea witch Ursula tries to persuade Ariel that she has her best interests at heart. It’s quite a lyrically dense song, so it’s hard to catch all the words on the first listen. Even now, I find myself struggling with the words during the most rambly parts of the song. It’s a wonderful anthem, though, an over-the-top declaration of innocence from someone we know to be vile, and her delivery betrays that even as her words hide it. Jodi Benson’s Ariel seems impossibly naive next to her, or just so fixated on what she wants that she will do almost anything. Although the circumstances here are very different, the end of the song, with Ursula demanding that Ariel sing for her, reminds me a lot of The Phantom of the Opera. An impressive song. “Come on, you pour unfortunate soul. Go ahead! Make your choice! I’m a very busy woman and I haven’t got all day. It won’t cost much – just your voice!”

Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) - This is the ultimate Disney villain’s song. It isn’t until The Mob Song that we see the heights of Gaston’s wickedness in musical form, but this is his shining moment, the time when everybody in town gets to band together and reassure Gaston about how great he is. Egomaniac that he is, Gaston does not take much convincing. Richard White’s strong baritone rings out over all the other voices here as the list of his outstanding traits and accomplishments grows. Most of them reveal him to be burly and macho but not inherently a bad egg, though his perpetual self-aggrandizement is a tip-off. “No one hits like Gaston, matches wits like Gaston. In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston!” “I’m especially good at expectorating – ptooey!” “Ten points for Gaston!”

Oogie Boogie’s Song (The Nightmare Before Christmas) - I’m a little less familiar with this song than most on the album, having only seen the movie a couple of times, though I did see a memorable rendition of it at a high school dance concert not long ago. Oogie Boogie is a demonic entity who has Santa Claus in his clutches and is lording it over him. There’s a soulful vibe to this one; it reminds me of something that might have come out of New Orleans. Plenty of brass and woodwinds join in with jazzy piano and the deep, borderline demented voice of Ken Page, who displays the same alarming enthusiasm in his song in Don Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven. Definitely one of the spookiest songs on the album. “You're jokin'. You're jokin'! I can't believe my eyes. You're jokin' me, you gotta be. This can't be the right guy! He's ancient, he's ugly; I don't know which is worse. I might just split a seam now if I don't die laughing first!”

You’re Only Second Rate (The Return of Jafar) - Strangely, this song is listed as having been from Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the third movie, but it is actually from the second. It’s odd because it combines the menace of Jafar, so silkily voiced by Jonathan Richman, with the showmanship of Genie, since this is Genie Jafar, who is even more powerful than the lovable blue lug who completely stole the show in the original movie. It’s sort of an anti-Friend Like Me, and Genie’s manic energy just doesn’t quite sound right coming out of stately Jafar. It’s a little overly goofy for such a fearsome villain, and some of the lines seem to be there just for the sake of rhyme and don’t make a lot of sense. Entertaining, but a notch below most of these tracks. “So spare me your tremendous scare! You look horrendous in your underwear! And I can hardly wait to discombobulate. I'll send ya back and packing in a shipping crate. You'll make a better living with a spinning plate. You're only second rate!”

Be Prepared (The Lion King) - I love this song led by Jeremy Irons, who, like Richman, really has icy sophistication down, and backed by Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings as the clueless hyenas. This is a truly harrowing track, and yet it’s also fun, largely because of the unusual African instrumentation and the hyenas’ eerie harmonies. The summer The Lion King came out, I spent a couple weeks visiting my cousins, and we listened to this song over and over, switching off on who sang which part. It was a blast. Scar sounds regal here, using lofty language and keeping a tone of snide superiority in his voice that is only occasionally diminished when he loses patience with the hyenas’ incompetence and snaps at them. Bone-chilling. “I know it sounds sordid, but you’ll be rewarded when at last I am given my dues and injustice deliciously squared. Be prepared!”

Snuff Out the Light (Yzma’s Song) (The Emperor’s New Groove) - As I listened to this, I was puzzled because I had no memory of it at all. Granted, it’s been years since I’ve seen the movie, but I still would have thought the song would ring a bell. What’s more, I really couldn’t see how it fit into the plot at all. After a little looking, I was relieved to discover that I had a good reason for thinking it out of place. The song never made it into the movie and is a relic of an earlier plotline. Eartha Kitt is darkly eager here in this bouncy song in which the evil Yzma rails against the sun for the damage it has done to her. Anyone who has dealt with heatstroke or skin cancer can appreciate her standpoint, but her desire to destroy the sun is a little much… “Bats and owls and coiled sea dragons, crocodile and carrion beasts swirling in the growing darkness, join us in the coming feast.”

Yodel-Adle-Eedle-Idle-Oo (Home on the Range) - Pink Elephants on Parade has a rival in this bizarre number that is Old West meets acid trip. It starts off normal enough, with Randy Quaid’s cattle rustler Alameda Slim sounding growly and intimidating as he prepares to boast of his prowess, but suddenly it takes an unexpected turn. When I saw this in the theater, I literally fell out of my seat laughing. I gasped for breath. Tears rolled down my cheeks. Rarely have I had such a powerful attack of the giggles as I did once Slim started yodeling his head off, instantly sapping the character of any true menace. Luckily for me, the theater was almost empty. You’re missing the visuals here, which include glassy-eyed cows marching in kaleidoscopic formation as colors flash wildly, but just the audio is enough to convey how ridiculous all this is. Most of the actual yodeling is done by Randy Erwin and Kerry Christensen, while Quaid, along with David Brunham, Jason Graae and Gregory Jbara, who play Slim’s lackeys, sing the verses. After the beginning, the declarations devolve into utter lunacy and include a lot of jokes about his excessive girth. Almost certainly the goofiest villain song I have ever heard. “They call me mean, boys, depraved and nasty, too, but they ain’t seen, boys, the cruelest thing I do. You see, I yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo…”

Friends on the Other Side (The Princess and the Frog) - This song performed by Keith David ends the album on a shuddery note. Reminiscent of the Oogie Boogie song, particularly when given the focus on the dead, it is incredibly creepy, with Doctor Facilier bragging of his skills as a necromancer. This is very dark stuff indeed, with the “Shadow Man” trying to work his persuasive magic on the unwitting prince much as Ursula does with Ariel. Upbeat but nightmarish. “The cards, the cards, the cards will tell the past, the present, and the future as well. The cards, the cards, just take three. Take a little trip into your future with me!”

This is not an exhaustive album; The Great Mouse Detective’s Ratigan and Hunchback of Notre Dame’s Frollo are two characters whose songs would have fit in well here, and they’re not the only ones. Still, this is a solid album, and while a couple of the tracks are less familiar, most are instantly recognizable classics. While few of the songs have a specific Halloween connection, the villainy being celebrated seems especially appropriate for this time of year. As October winds down, why not dust off your evil laugh and give Disney Villains a spin?

Country Sings Disney But Mostly Skips the Classics

I’ve always had a bit of a tough time getting a handle on just how I feel about country music. Most people I know seem to have very strong opinions about the genre. Either they keep their radios tuned to country stations, attend country concerts and post videos of country songs on Facebook or they cringe at just the mention of this very distinctive style of music. I’m more on the fence.

My favorite genre has always been oldies, a solid blend of pop, rock and folk from the sixties and seventies. While there are a few country artists whose songs I consistently enjoy – particularly Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis and Alan Jackson – there aren’t really any whose careers I follow, unless you count this year’s American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, who had been my hands-down favorite contestant since Hollywood week. And while I consider “Country Boy” John Denver my all-time favorite solo artist, he called himself a “Western” singer, and I agree that cowboy music is a distinct genre and that was where he fit in best, if not in light pop.

Still, there are certain traits that draw me to country music. For one thing, because of its Gospel roots, I find overt Christian overtones in country considerably more often than I do in pop or rock – except for Contemporary Christian Music, of course. Songs like Randy Travis’s Three Wooden Crosses and Carrie Underwood’s Jesus, Take the Wheel reflect this frequent emphasis. For another, much of country music is also rooted in Irish and Scottish folk music, influencing the choice of instruments. This is particularly true of bluegrass, which often incorporates fiddles, bagpipes and other traditional instruments that you are far less likely to find in pop.

Finally, and maybe most of all, country music has a rich narrative tradition. Narrative songs can be found across all genres of music, but the concentration is particularly high in country, which boasts wonderful tales like Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler and Billy Currington’s People Are Crazy. I love songs that tell a story, and when I’m flipping through channels and happen upon a country station, I often stick with it because I come in near the beginning of a narrative song and want to know how it turns out. It seems that more often than not, country songwriters are great storytellers.

While I didn’t expect to find much of the first in the recent album Country Sings Disney, distinctive instruments would help give the songs a specifically country sound, while that storytelling tradition would be especially suited to songs that, while perhaps not strictly narrative in nature, work in service to a story. The album includes 15 tracks, with only one artist getting two songs. That singer is Billy Ray Cyrus, and considering the fact that he is the father of Miley Cyrus of Hannah Montana fame, that doesn’t seem too surprising. What did surprise me is the fact that eight of the fifteen songs are taken directly from movies released in the past decade, specifically Home on the Range, Bambi II, Fox and the Hound 2 and Cars. They’re not reinterpretations of classic Disney songs; they’re the original versions. Yes, they work, but that leaves only seven songs that are truly original to this album. When I checked this out of the library, I was hoping to find long-familiar songs presented in a new way. As it is, the only movie represented on the album that predates the late-80s Disney Renaissance is Dumbo. While I found that rather disappointing, it’s still a nice collection showcasing several established country singers and a number of up-and-comers, including three former American Idol contestants.

Dumbo - This 1941 movie about an elephant whose big ears separate him from his mother but eventually allow him to fly is the source of two of the songs on this disc. The first is When I See an Elephant Fly, sung by Marine and AI alum Josh Gracin. I wouldn’t have recognized him; he seems to be emphasizing a Southern accent more than I remember him doing on the show. This song works well, with a lazy, easy-going tone to it as he sings about all the crazy things he’s seen. I get the impression of a guy sitting on a rocking chair on the front porch of the general store, blabbing to whoever will listen. The piano gives it a jaunty flavor, and the fiddle adds more of a country sound. The second Dumbo song is lullaby album favorite Baby Mine, sung by SheDAISY, a group with which I have no familiarity. It doesn’t sound all that countryish to me at first, but as more voices jump in with harmonies later, it sounds more distinctive and also quite pretty. The guitar also has a bit of a twang to it, and a few unusual chord choices give the song a more minor sound.

The Little Mermaid - Part of Your World, sung by Faith Hill, is the only song here from the 1989 movie about a mermaid who dreams of living on land. I like the gentle guitar work here that sounds almost harp-like, and the string certainly sound dramatic when they swell. An occasional lonesome whistle adds to the Southern flavor. Hill has a lovely voice, and she sings with a plaintive edge befitting Ariel’s yearning state, but her pronounced accent wears on me a bit here.

The Lion King - In 1994, this epic tale, the first Disney animated feature not to involve humans, burst upon theaters. While Circle of Life is the first song I will always associate with it, it’s rather tough to imagine a countrified version of that. Instead, we get Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Phil Stacy, an AI alum easily recognizable by his baldness. While he didn’t make much of an impression on me during the show itself, I absolutely love his live acoustic cover of Rich Mullins’ Hard to Get. He makes a strong emotional connection here as well with his take on the radio version of this love song. It’s a pretty straightforward version, heavy on the guitar and percussion and light on the piano, with occasional violins giving it a fuller sound.

Tarzan - This 1999 movie about a boy raised in the jungle is one of the few Disney animated features of my lifetime that I didn’t catch in the theater, but I still really enjoy it, especially the tender You’ll Be in My Heart. This is written as a song from parent to adopted child, but I’ve also heard it interpreted as a love song, and this version seems to lean that way, particularly when he addresses the subject as “baby.” Of course, in the original version, the addressee actually is a baby, but you never seem to hear parents use that as a term of endearment for their children… At any rate, this version by former AI contestant Bucky Covington is a pleasant rendition with some nice harmonies in it and a heavy emphasis on electric guitar.

Home on the Range - When I saw this 2004 movie in the theater, I laughed myself silly over the absurd psychedelic yodeling of Randy Quaid’s villainous cattle rustler, but the two selections on this album are much more sedate. However, both are simply lifted from the movie, which is the case with everything else on the album except Cyrus’s tracks. These are not Disney “classics;” they’re contemporary Disney songs from movies that, aside from Cars, didn’t exactly make much of a splash. Still, it makes perfect sense for Home on the Range to heavily feature country music. I quite like Tim McGraw’s mellow Wherever the Trail May Lead, which would have fit in very nicely on Pardners, the collection of Disney cowboy songs I grew up loving. It also reminds me of Johnny Duhan’s The Voyage; instead of describing a romantic partnership in terms of a sea voyage, it does so in the language of a trail ride. One of my favorites on the album. I also really like Will the Sun Ever Shine Again, a piano-heavy track that Bonnie Raitt sings soulfully. This one has a touch of a Gospel flavor to it and serves as a lament as she prays for some sign that things are going to get better. A very moving song.

Bambi II - One of three movies from 2006 from which tracks on this album are drawn, and that seems a little strange since I never associated Bambi with the South. While I prefer character-centric songs, these more ambient tunes work well in a movie whose artistry in the animation department impressed me. Through Your Eyes is quite lovely, with acoustic guitar, gentle chimes and pan flute. It gets more up-tempo as the song goes on; I think I like the slower first verse better, but the whole song is a sweet expression of two souls trying to understand each other better by gaining one another’s perspective. This movie is basically about father-son bonding, which makes it seem like it would make more sense with a male singer, but Martina McBride does a nice, affectionate job with it. More striking instruments can be found in There Is Life, which includes banjo, harp, chimes, birdsong and a stirring choir. This is a song of hope for springtime on a natural level and joy following heartache on a personal level. Both are very thematically fitting for the film, and Krauss’s fresh, slightly Celtic-flavored voice seems an ideal vehicle for this message.

Fox and the Hound 2 - Country is a more obvious choice here, since the plot involves Copper, the hound pup, joining a country band consisting of several older dogs. Blue Beyond is a lovely Trisha Yearwood song that wistfully captures the yearning in the stilted friendship between the title characters. Because this movie is a midquel, their friendship is able to remain somewhat intact, but there’s always a sense of malaise that hangs over this pair, as this is one of the few Disney films whose ending is as melancholy as it is uplifting. The song seems to be from Todd’s perspective as he longs for reconciliation with the chum he alienated. There’s a bit of a guitar whine here, a hint of a yodelish wail there, but only in the tiniest snatches. Most of the time, I would be just as likely to identify it as a straight-up pop song. However it’s classified, this tender song of brotherly devotion makes me a little misty and is one of my favorite tracks. We Go Together, sung by Little Big Town, is another friendship song, but this one is upbeat and has a much stronger country flavor thanks to the banjo and fiddle. Focusing not only on the main duo but also on the other friends and neighbors reunited at the end of the film, it’s a cheerful list of down-home similes, all of which are rather more illustrative than Grease’s “rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong.”

Cars - This movie accounts for three of the songs on the album, though one is Rascal Flatts’ version of Life Is a Highway, a lively tune that feels a little odd here because it was a cover when it was in the movie. Rascal Flatts does a nice job with it, but it somehow feels a little out of place. Of course, I’ve always found the song a bit raucous for my taste, anyway. It’s a bit of a bummer not to find my favorite song from the movie here, but then I guess it would be a stretch to classify anything James Taylor sings as Country. Instead, we have Brad Paisley’s gentle acoustic tune Find Yourself, a song about soul-searching made more poignant through the occasional mandolins and fiddle. This song eloquently expresses the idea that losing yourself can be a truly rewarding experience, since it forces you to truly figure out who you are. Another favorite. I’m not quite as big on the rockin’ Real Gone, though the lyrics, especially in the first verse, grab me, and I like Billy Ray Cyrus’s version better than the Sheryl Crow rendition from the movie.

While that Cyrus song is the last on the album, his other, which I much prefer, is first. It’s a bit of an oddball here because it’s not from a Disney movie, but as he wrote it at the time that Miley moved to L.A. to star in Hannah Montana, it feels like it fits here. Miley sings with him on Ready, Set, Don’t Go about the tug of war a parent feels as he wants his child to pursue new opportunities but doesn’t want to lose her. Up-tempo but with an undertone of sadness, it reminds me a bit of Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway on her end and the Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home on his, though he is more accepting of the situation, albeit reluctantly.

Country Sings Disney is a curious album because I took it out expecting mostly country versions of Disney songs I could sing in my sleep. Instead, the heavier concentration is on new stuff that has yet to hit classic status, and yet generally speaking, I liked the new stuff better, or at least I didn’t think much was added by countrifying the old songs. The album features a nice cross-section of country talent, and some of the tracks are truly lovely. It’s the more reflective music that really wins me over here, but there should be at least one track to satisfy anyone who enjoys both Disney and country.

Yodeling Rustlers and Udderly Tasteless Jokes

There was a time when my family never missed a Disney feature animated film in the theater, but lately we’ve been more likely to catch their latest movies on video or DVD. There are still a couple I haven’t watched at all. So I was glad when I was presented with an opportunity to go see Home on the Range with my brother last week. Dad came along, and the three of us made up half the audience in the dollar theater, leaving me freer to react to some of the film’s wackiness in kind.

The first striking thing about Home on the Range is the animation. It was the animation style, along with the Disney name, that most attracted me to Brother Bear as well, though that animation is much more lush and realistic. Home on the Range has a retro look reminiscent of 101 Dalmatians or The Aristocats but even more exaggerated. The characters, particularly the barnyard residents of the ranch known as Little Patch of Heaven, are stylized with lots of distinct shapes and bright colors. The soundtrack appropriately features a number of country stars, and it was nice to see music a bigger part of this movie than it has been in most recent films.

The story focuses on three heroic heifers: Mrs. Calloway (Judi Dench), the stuffy matriarch of Little Patch of Heaven; Grace (Jennifer Tilly), a timid and gentle cow with a fondness for singing off-key; and Maggie (Roseanne Barr), the spunky newcomer to the ranch who hatches their plan. Little Patch of Heaven is about to be auctioned off because the owner, Pearl (Carole Cook), can’t afford the $750 payment needed to keep it. Everybody in these parts is suffering because a low-down cattle rustler named Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid) has swiped everybody’s herds. When Maggie learns that there’s a $750 reward out for him, she’s all too eager to make chase. Not only would the money save the farm, she would have her revenge on the man who ruined her former owner.

The three cows are different enough that there is plenty of opportunity for some entertaining banter among them. They also have a friendly rivalry with Buck (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), the self-important horse belonging to the kindly sheriff (Richard Riehle) who idolizes bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis). Other characters include Lucky Jack (Charles Haid), a peg-legged jackrabbit who helps the ladies in their rustler-catching endeavors; Audrey (Estelle Harris), an abrasive chicken with a tendency toward panic; Jeb (Joe Flaherty), an ornery old goat who fights with the barnyard youngsters, particularly the adorable triplet piglets; and Junior (Lance LeGault), a deep-voiced buffalo who guards the entrance to Slim’s lair. The film is mostly comedy, with plenty of pratfalls and fast-paced action, particularly a sequence toward the end in a mine shaft. It’s hard to take a movie with martial arts-performing cows too seriously.

I’m not sure what to make of the fact that Disney seems to be moving away from G-rated films. There was a spattering of adult humor in Home on the Range, just enough to move it out of the G range. Is it really necessary to have cheap shots like udder jokes? I don’t think they enhanced the movie at all. Probably I got the biggest laughs out of the villains. I loved the Willies (Sam Levine), Slim’s identical triplet sidekicks with blond bangs covering their eyes. These three don’t talk much, and when they do they tend to say the same dumb things over and over. They are clearly not very bright but they don’t seem to be malicious either. They’re just working with Slim because he’s their uncle. Slim, meanwhile, threw me for a loop. The first impression of him is of a menacing, glowering presence, nobody you’d want to cross paths with. He comes across as a pretty intimidating villain until he unexpectedly breaks out into exuberant yodeling while psychedelically flashing, googly-eyed cattle parade across the screen. This musical sequence struck me as so ludicrous that I found myself in tears, falling off my chair, while my dad and brother looked at me worriedly.

I don’t think Home on the Range is going to go down in history as a great Disney classic. It lacks the fluid animation and emotional resonance of The Lion King and other animated features whose place in the Disney canon is assured. But it was an entertaining film, certainly worth the dollar we paid to see it. And any movie that includes a psychedelic yodeling sequence is okay by me.