Stars: Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Snoop Dogg, Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg

Director: Frederik Du Chau

Summary: A cute zebra foal gets separated from his circus and is adopted by a horse trainer (Bruce Greenwood) in this live action, talking animal tale. Stripes (voiced by Frankie Muniz) becomes adopted by the trainer's tomboy daughter (Hayden Panettiere)--an aspiring jockey--who subsequently wants to race him in the big leagues. Setbacks include her dad's over-protectiveness (he lost her mom in a horse-racing accident), and the fact that Stripes is a zebra and not a normal horse. Though all the other thoroughbreds turn their noses at this odd-looking interloper, a wizened old pony (Dustin Hoffman) steps in as trainer, and it's time to start prepping for the big race. Other animal characters include a mob hit-pelican (voice of Joe Pantoliano), a nurturing goat (voice of Whoopi Goldberg), a rooster (voice of Jeff Foxworthy), and a hound (Snoop Dogg). Mandy Moore does the voice of Stripes' comely mare love interest. Steve Harvey and David Spade are a pair of trash-talking horseflies. Adults will cherish some sly references to older movies, while the kids should get a lot out of the mix of real animals, nonstop gags, and an uplifting message about the importance of not judging a horse by its stripes. Though set in Kentucky, the film was actually lensed in South Africa, with real zebras. M. Emmet Walsh is a welcome addition as a loveable old codger and Wendie Malick is the evil race track owner.

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Reviewed by: QGJ
Posted on July 9, 2005 1:03 AM

A fun family film which our children thoroughly enjoyed, ideal for that Friday night treat where you let them stay up late & munch on popcorn & soda, plenty of laughs with a feel good happy ending.

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When you start watching Racing Stripes, you may not be prepared for how unbelievably cute a young zebra is. A travelling circus accidently abandons an adorably helpless zebra in the middle of Kentucky on a stormy night. Fortunately, the wee zebra is found by Nolan Walsh, a brilliant horse trainer who's given up his calling after a riding accident that killed his wife. His daughter Channing names the zebra Stripes and, before you know it, Stripes has grown to young adulthood and is aching to race at a nearby track. Thus begins a fairly formulaic triumph-over-adversity tale combined with talking animals--but Racing Stripesunderstands its formula and executes it without any pretensions. It doesn't hit the bullseye struck by Babe(an earlier triumph-over-adversity tale combined with talking animals), and there are bad puns and gags aplenty, but Greenwood's solid presence gives the movie an unexpected emotional fullness. Featuring a bizarre assortment of voices for the animals, including Whoopi Goldberg, Dustin Hoffman, Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Joe Pantoliano (as a Mafioso pelican), Steve Harvey, David Spade, and Snoop Dogg. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Aspect Ratio:	16:9
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Never Before Seen Alternate Ending, Barnyard Outtakes Reel, How To Make Animals Talk, Acting Class Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Interactive Video Game Virtual Comic Book, The Music Racing Stripes, Full Length Directors Commentary, Theatrical Trailer
Year:	2005
Release Date:	June 20, 2005
Runtime:	101 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M P 403 D
Keywords:	Family, Comedy, General, Racing, Stripes, Animation
Genre:	Family