After a moderately successful theatrical run, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ Barnyard: The Original Party Animals comes to home video today. The CG-animated comedy is joined at retail by Fox and the Hound 2, Disney’s direct-to-DVD sequel to the 1981 animated family film that saw a 25th anniversary DVD edition launched back in October.
In Barnyard, a carefree party cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James) has to rise to the occasion and learn to be a leader like his father, Ben (Sam Elliott). Also lending their voices to the production are Courtney Cox, Danny Glover and Wanda Sykes. The film is written, produced and directed by Steve Oedekerk, writer of Bruce Almighty, co-creator of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, director of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and star of /I>Kung Pow: Enter the Fist. Animation was completed at Oedekerk’s San Clemente, Calif.-based Omation Studio.
DVD extra features include seven deleted scenes, an all-new music video titled Barnyard Popand three DVD ROM games. The Paramount Home Entertainment release carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.
Made for Around $51 million, Barnyard grossed north of $100 million at the box office worldwide and should sell a good number of discs over the holiday season. Films like this are likely to become the model for animated releases as studios are finding that pumping big bucks into CG movies is a gamble given the fierce competition these days. Oedekerk was one of the creative forces behind Paramount/Nickelodeon’ 2001 animated flick, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, which was completed for approximately $30 million and also made it past the $100 million mark in theaters.
Disney’s The Fox and the Hound 2 skipped theaters entirely, going directly to home video as many Mouse House follow-ups do. In the film, Todd and Copper’s ulikely friendship is put to the test once again when Cooper gets a shaot at the big time with a nutty group of hound dog howlers called The Singin’ Strays. The movie features the vocal talents of Reba McEntire, Patrick Swayze and Jeff Foxworthy, as well as new music by country favorite Trisha Yearwood and High School Musical star Lucas Grabeel. DVD bonus material includes a featurette on the making of the music, a music video for the song “You Know I Will” and a ‘Mutt Mix Master’ interactive activity that lets viewers control the sounds and effects in creating The Singin’ Strays’ latest hit recording. The Disc retails for $29.99 and also includes a classic animated short featuring Goofy.
