OxfordPress.com

Grade: B

Verdict: Rustles up a whole lot of fun.

If, as it's been rumored, "Home on the Range" is a swan song for the Disney animation unit that gave us such traditionally drawn wonders as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," the artists can go out with their heads held high. This catchy and energetic feature-length cartoon boasts striking animation, an all-star array of voice talent, a crackling plot and a soundtrack featuring K.D. Lang, Tim McGraw and, especially, a haunting Bonnie Raitt ballad that's likely to be heard again around Oscar time.

The film opens with a Monument Valley tableaux so straight out of Looney Tunes you half expect to see Wile E. Coyote and Yosemite Sam. Then, it's off to Pearl's ramshackle ranch, Patch of Heaven, which will be sold at auction in three days if she can't come up with the mortgage money.

But, as the Duke would say, that's not gonna happen. To save the farm, her three cows are turning into bovine bounty hunters. If they can capture notorious cattle rustler Alameda Slim (voiced by Randy Quaid), they can use the reward to pay off her note.

However, obstacles abound. A legendary bounty hunter named Rico (Charles Dennis, a Clint Eastwood sound-alike) is also after Slim. So is the sheriff's showboating horse, Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr. in the best work he's done in years), who harbors heroic gunslinger fantasies. And, well ... after all ... they are cows. Not to worry, they say; who better to catch a cow thief than a cow?

And what cows these are! Maggie (Roseanne Barr) is a bull-headed and rambunctious bovine fresh off the state fair circuit. Slim forced the foreclosure of her last farm and she's got a score to settle. Less antagonistic is spacey New Age heifer Grace (Jennifer Tilly), who thinks we should all get along and study holistic healing. Finally, there's sensible and civilized Mrs. Caloway (Judi Dench), who's the pillar of Pearl's amusing barnyard community.

Just listening to Roseanne and Dame Judi go at each other is a pleasure. Plus, the movie looks as good as it sounds. The Southwest palette of desert reds and oranges is beautifully rendered. So are the animal characters. A dairy cow is distinctly different from an ox or a horny herd of longhorns.

The filmmakers, led by writer-directors Will Finn and John Sanford, have found a fine balance between adventure and fun. A flash flood is terrifying. A wild roller-coaster chase through an abandoned mine rivals the one in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." Best of all is a whacked-out musical number with hypnotized cows marching like the pink elephants on parade in "Dumbo."

Yet we also hear Mrs. Caloway reminding a hyperventilating chicken, "Remember when Grace helped you figure out why you cross the road?" while Maggie turns down a meal, explaining, "We don't eat meat. It's a professional courtesy."

If the movie has a problem, it's the protracted and somewhat frenetic ending that makes it feel a lot longer than its brisk 76 minutes.

Witty and self-assured, "Home on the Range" ranks as one of Disney's better efforts -- not quite "Mulan," but light years better than "Brother Bear." Besides, it's worth the price of admission just to hear Roseanne finally admit, "I am a cow."