In 1995, Toy Story gave audiences a peek into the secret lives toys lead when kids aren't playing with them. Last year, Madagascar showed us what zoo animals are up to after business hours. Now comes Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, a computer-animated kiddie comedy which serves up a behind-the-scenes look at farm animals who rule the roost when the farmer's not around.

Like several recent animated children's films, Steve Oedekerk's Barnyard comes equipped with colorful environments, goofball characters, and a rowdy sense of humor. But what this movie lacks, in comparison to similar movies that have fared well, is real energy, a fresh and engaging story, and the drive to do anything more than rehash a bunch of tired slapstick gags in order to keep the little ones entertained.

Barnyard's hero is one Otis (voice of Kevin James), a rebellious young cow without a care in the world, who's always ready to have a good time. Unfortunately, this free-spirited attitude frequently puts him at odds with Ben (voice of Sam Elliott), Otis' adoptive dad and de facto leader of all the barnyard animals. But one day, tragic circumstances result in leaving Otis to be in charge of running things, a task that this party guy doesn't feel the slightest bit confident in taking on. However, Otis will have to get his priorities straight, because not only is he pre-occupied with romancing a newcomer cow (voice of Courteney Cox), but he also must gather up the courage to defend his fellow furry friends from a menacing pack of evil coyotes bent on turning them all into dinner.

I was looking forward to Barnyard, having been a fan of director Oedekerk's series of hilarious "Thumb" shorts for years. Unfortunately, the bizarre and random humor that made such mini-movies as Thumbtanic and Thumb Wars such riots is nowhere to be found in Barnyard. In its place is a much more bland atmosphere, a paint-by-numbers endeavor that will keep its target audience occupied but doesn't accomplish much else. On the surface, Barnyard follows all the rules and does pretty much everything a movie of its kind tends to do. It comes up with a consistent enough stream of bright, colorful images and strings them together with a handful of lighthearted jokes, stopping occasionally to engage in a song-and-dance number or two, and topping it all off with a Valuable Lesson.

But aside from all this, Barnyard-- taking a cue from last week's The Ant Bully -- seems content to rest on its laurels and put hardly any effort into being something other than a decent movie to get a chuckle out of a bunch of five-year-olds. There are a few moments of witty humor that pop up (such as when some chickens hurl darts at a picture of Colonel Sanders), but on the whole, the only gags Barnyard has going on for it involve things falling down or something being clobbered every six seconds.

The movie also has a plastic look that rubbed me the wrong way. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't ignore the fact that even the male cows -- shouldn't they be called bulls? -- have udders. Also, despite a solid voice cast (which also includes Danny Glover and Andie MacDowell), nobody stands out or seems to be having a great time -- although Sam Elliott's distinctive tone serves as a welcome beacon of hope.

Reviewing movies like Barnyard is something of a futile gesture for me, because parents are much better judges of what their young ones might like instead of a film critic who would rather be watching Fight Club for the umpteenth time. However, looking back on the animated films released during the last few years and recalling what fun The Incredibles and Wallace & Gromit delivered, I feel duty bound to point out  how generic, unimaginative, and by-the-books Barnyard really is. 

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by Paramount Pictures and rated "PG" for some mild peril and rude humor.)