Racing Stripes
for mild crude humor and some language.
Reviewed by: Chris Monroe
STAFF WRITER
| Moral Rating: | Good |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Kids Family |
| Genre: | Comedy Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 34 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2005 |
| USA Release: |
| Featuring | Hayden Panettiere, Bruce Greenwood, Wendie Malick, Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore |
| Director |
Frederik Du Chau |
| Producer | Lloyd Phillips, Edward McDonnell, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson |
| Distributor |
 Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company |
His stripes made him an outcast. His heart made him a hero.
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “In the middle of a raging thunderstorm, a traveling circus accidentally leaves behind some very precious cargo—a baby zebra (voiced by FRANKIE MUNIZ). The gangly little foal is rescued by horse farmer Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood), who takes him home to his young daughter Channing (Hayden Panettiere). Once a champion thoroughbred trainer, Walsh has given up horse training for a quiet life with Channing on their modest Kentucky farm.
The little zebra, or “Stripes,” as Channing calls him, is soon introduced to the farm’s misfit troupe of barnyard residents, led by a cranky Shetland Pony named Tucker (voiced by Dustin Hoffman) and Franny (voiced by Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg), a wise old goat who keeps the family in line. The group is joined by Goose (voiced by JOE PANTOLIANO), a deranged big-city pelican who’s hiding out in the sticks until the heat dies down in Jersey. The un-aptly named bloodhound Lightening (SNOOP DOGG) keeps a lazy eye on goings-on at the farm—in between naps.
The Walsh farm borders the Turfway Racetrack, where highly skilled thoroughbreds compete for horse racing’s top honor, the ultra-prestigious Kentucky Crown. From the first moment Stripes lays eyes on the track, he’s hooked—he knows that if he could just get the chance, he could leave all those other horses in the dust. What he doesn’t know is.he’s not exactly a horse. But with characteristic zeal, he devotes himself to training for the big time, with a little help from Tucker, who has coached a host of champion racehorses in the past.
Channing has a similar ambition—she longs to train as a jockey, but her protective father refuses to let her compete in the potentially dangerous sport. But Walsh can’t ignore her enthusiasm (or her stubbornness) for long, and she convinces him to come out of retirement to train her and Stripes for the Kentucky Crown.
The neighboring Estate is run by the ruthless queen of the Kentucky racing circuit, the incredibly wealthy and exceptionally coldhearted Clara Dalrymple (WENDIE MALICK). Stripes constantly battles the ridicule of the Estate’s thoroughbreds-in-training, led by spoiled bully Sir Trenton’s Pride (voiced by JOSHUA JACKSON), who taunts him relentlessly about his lack of breeding and.unusual appearance. But the Estate is home to some kinder residents, particularly Sandy (voiced by MANDY MOORE), a beautiful mare whose admiration and affection for Stripes further enrages his rival.
Stripes makes some friends down at the track as well, most notably the manic horsefly duo Buzz (STEVE HARVEY) and Scuzz (DAVID SPADE), whose love of song and dance is eclipsed only by their love of hot dogs and horse poop.
As he thrusts himself into a world of elite athletes, intense competition and enormous stakes, Stripes must prove he’s fast enough and tough enough to run with the big horses if he wants to land in the winner’s circle at the legendary Kentucky Crown. Some champions are born, not bred!”
The delightful and humorous movie “Racing Stripes” isn’t horsing around when it comes to including meaningful and pertinent themes in the midst of its comedy and playfulness. The positive messages include following your dreams no matter what and learning to be yourself despite what others may think about you. It is a story geared for kids and revolves around a racing as its main event—and also, perhaps, a metaphor for yet another issue of relationships between different “races.”
A young girl, Channing Walsh (Hayden Panettiere), finds a stray zebra one night on her farm and convinces her dad (Bruce Greenwood) to let her keep it. Right away, two stories begin involving Channing’s dreams and desires, as well as the struggles of the zebra, “Stripes” (voice by Frankie Muniz). It is here that we discover that when people are not around, the animals (with the help of CGI mouths and lips) actually talk to each other, providing understanding into their thoughts and emotions. The similar hopes and dreams of both Channing and Stripes run parallel throughout this story until each helps the other to find purpose and fulfillment.
The character of Woodzie is played by a well known actor, M. Emmet Walsh, but most of the big name stars perform as the voices for the various animals. Stripes’ love interest is a horse named Sandy (Mandy Moore), and his other friends include Franny the Goat (Whoopi GoldbergWhoopi Goldberg), Tucker the Pony (Dustin Hoffman), a pelican named Goose (Joe Pantoliano) and Scuzz the Fly (David Spade). This pool of actors lends their voices to animate these animals (and insects), and really bring a new life to them. And since these seasoned actors must know very well that animals and babies usually upstage actors, it seems they have decided to go one step ahead.
Australia has rated this movie “G”, but in other countries, such as in the U.S., it has been rated PG. It is a very clean movie, but there are a few bathroom humor type jokes made by Scuzz the Fly. There is no foul language, however. In one scene, Channing is angry with Clara Dalrymple (Wendie Malick) and stops short of calling her a bad name, but you may insinuate what she wanted to call her. There are some more intense moments when Stripes is challenged or roughed up by the cocky, prideful horses next door, but it isn’t anything too scary. The overall drama is for younger kids, but might not be geared for really young kids under the age of three.
Because of Stripes’ goal to race with horses, Tucker the Pony reaches out and coaches him on how to do it. One of their interactions provides an interesting analogy to following Christ. One of the biggest challenges Stripes faces is how to initially get out of the starting gate for a race. Tucker tells him, “Just keep running. Let the chief worry about the gate. He knows what He is doing.” Similarly with our own lives, the best thing we can do is just keep running the race God has given each of us and trust that He is in control. He knows what is best for us.
This movie is a lot of fun and did not feel dumbed down because it is something for kids. There are good lessons exemplified throughout—one involving Channing disobeying her father, too. He ends up being the one to change, but it does seem to show that there are some consequences to her actions. Still, this movie is very inspirational and can be a fun way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon with the family.
Violence: Minor / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: None
Better than Average/3½
The relationship between the girl and her father was touching, although the girl blatantly disobeys her father several times and still gets her own way in the end. There was nothing original in this film. The plot was dull and predictable, and the acting was over the top. And, I’m sorry, but I never could believe that a little zebra could outrun race horses that were twice its size! My kids, ages 8, almost 5, and 3, were disappointed, and asked me after the movie if we could see the other zebra movie (Madagascar). Don’t waste your money—instead see The Incredibles again.
Average/1½
Good/3
There is a small amount of objectionable content, including animal violence, potty humor, and a completely unnecessary “a**.” I certainly don’t want my five year-old brother repeating that!
The jokes are hit-or-miss, and on the whole they should have been a lot funnier. It felt like the writers were trying really hard (perhaps too hard?) to come up witty lines—and failing.
Still, the relationship between the father and daughter was sweet and charming, and the message of acceptance, friendship and perseverance was good. Overall, it’s a tolerable movie for adults to watch (I actually stayed awake even though I only got 5 hours of sleep the previous night). It’s entertaining enough. My five year-old brother particularly liked the singing, rapping flies. However, it should be noted that as we were walking out of the theater he quipped, “Can we do something fun now?”
Better than Average/2½
Good/4
Better than Average/4
Good/3½
Good/5
Average/2
Better than Average/2
Moral rating: Excellent! / Moviemaking quality: 5
I thought I heard Stripes say d*** when he ran into the tree and several other times I felt the language was stronger than what I sould consider appropriate for children. I am sure much of the silly humor and even some of the conversations would go right by young children and older children would probably be embarrassed to go see this movie.
But in the end I liked the movie. Even though Channing disobeyed her father (as mentioned above), his fears kept them both bound up. He wasn’t working and she wasn’t able to follow her dreams because of his fear. Someone had to shake him loose.
The lesson from this movie is that no matter what gets in the way, if you believe in yourself and give it all you’ve got, you might actually fulfill your dreams, but it takes hard work and determination to overcome the obstacles. That’s not a bad lesson for people to learn.
My Ratings: Better than Average/3