According to the tagline for Barnyard, cows are the original party animals. However, judging by box office numbers and lukewarm reviews for this "udderly uninspiring" CG toon, the party wound down very early. Even the combined comedy stylings of Kevin James, Wanda Sykes and, erm, Andie MacDowell were not enough to save this movie from the cinematic compost heap.

Raise The Hoof

Director Steve Oedekerk stresses the importance of music in one of four bitesized featurettes called Boogying In The Barn. We also hear from "the house band", ie The North Mississippi All-Stars who tell us that they specialise in a fusion of "country hillbilly with, like, a techno dance beat." That should be enough to put you off of this DVD - aside from the sight of cows shaking their udders in the air like they just don't care...

James, MacDowell and Sykes offer their two bits worth in Utter Talent (which we assume was supposed to be called Udder Talent). Between snippets from the sound booth and obsequious compliments from Oedekerk, they basically sum up their characters and how they fit into the story. Sykes adds that she was aiming for a Halle Berry look, which sounds a bit more 'miaow' than 'moo'. On the other hand, James spent many hours hanging out with cows as revealed in Method Acting With Kevin James. This basically means chowing down on some hay and getting tipped over by a bunch of unruly kids.

An Animator's Life is perhaps the most edifying featurette, but it's hardly in-depth. The design team talk briefly about having to develop 200 characters and reveal a few of the visual elements that didn't make the cut, eg Dag the Coyote originally had a gold tooth and cataracts in one eye. We then go on to see how animators based the movement of the cows on videotape of dancing human computer geeks. That does at least help to explain the creepy vibe of the film...

Mucking Out

Seven deleted scenes are presented in various stages of completion along with optional commentary by Oedekerk and his crew. It is pretty bland stuff except for one vaguely amusing scene that sends up Oprah Winfrey's garrulous life coach Dr Phil. Freddy the Ferret (cam Clarke) seeks the counsel of horse-faced Dr Philly (John Di Maggio) regarding an overwhelming urge to eat his friend Peck the Rooster (Rob Paulson). Oedekerk explains that this little skit was the demo that helped to get the film made; it's just a shame it was all downhill after that.

Oedekerk and the (massive) crew also give commentary for the main feature and it's a pretty chaotic, scattered affair. Early on, the director lays out his vision of the eponymous Barnyard as "swervy and curvy" which meant that animating clouds was a nightmare for the rest of the team. Getting the right lighting effects in the jazz club was another problem, but there's hardly a moment to address this before conversation skips to something else. More importantly, apart from a couple of music videos, there is nothing to keep young children entertained (and we include the film in that assessment). Basically, this DVD expels more hot air than a field full of cows.

EXTRA FEATURES

Barnyard DVD is released on Monday 19th February 2007.