The farmer and his daughter state clearly that they do not want Stripes to go to a zoo because they can't stand to see animals in a cage. The animal rights message: The mean, rich (of course) lady next door demands that her trainer be ruthless with her horse in training him. Racing Stripes wants to shove it's messages down your throat at every turn. What is wrong with someone who is different celebrating their difference instead of trying to be something they are not? Is that not a better moral to teach? No matter how hard a short person may practice, they will never be on an NBA team. No matter how hard I train I will never be an Olympic runner. That sounds so nice, but it is utter crap. All you need is the desire and you can accomplish whatever you want. This movie suggests that your physical makeup means nothing. They are not made for running like a horse or carrying a rider. A zebra is almost half the height of a horse but just as wide. The moral lesson in Racing Stripes is ridiculous and annoying. Kids just love plots that have no action and teach moral lessons. Stripes's big challenge is over coming adversity. Kids like a clear cut bad guy or villain. I was bored and my children were not entertained. Predictable and schmaltzy, Racing Stripes is cute and funny enough to keep the adults from being completely bored and should entertain the younger kids. I won't spoil it, but I'm betting you can probably guess what happens. Given the title of the movie, you can probably guess that Stripes is given his chance to race, despite some very Rudolph-the red-nosed reindeer, don't let the different guy join in our games, type behavior from the racehorses. With the help of Tucker, Stripes goes into training in the hopes that someday he will get to race. Their farm is located next to a racecourse and Nolan used to train horses until (heartstring tugging alert) his wife was killed in a riding accident. Stripes, unaware that he is a zebra and not a horse, grows up yearning to be a racehorse. Jeff Foxworthy plays a countrified rooster, Joe Pantoliano does a very funny Pelican mobster from New Jersey who manages to quote just about every mob movie ever made, and the dog is played, appropriately enough, by Snoop Dogg, although his part is much smaller than the previews might lead you to believe, consisting of only four lines. The farm is populated by a menagerie of assorted animals voiced by a variety of Hollywood stars, led by Dustin Hoffman as Tucker, the wise-old Shetland pony, and Whoopi Goldberg as the wise-old goat. Once the little zebra, dubbed Stripes by Channing, gets settled in the barn, the movie's real stars make their appearance. I guess the circus never came back to look for their lost zebra and I guess Nolan believes in the finders-keepers rule of property since no mention is ever made about finding the zebra's rightful owners. The little animal is found by Nolan Walsh (Greenwood), who takes him back to his farm where he is promptly adopted by Nolan's daughter, Channing. When they reload the animals, they leave behind a zebra colt. The movie opens during a torrential thunderstorm where a traveling circus is fixing a flat tire on the truck carrying the zebras. And this despite the sickly sweet message of the plot and some gaping holes in the story. It's definitely aimed at young children, but there are enough jokes thrown at the adults and enough celebrity voiced animals so that I was never bored. Perhaps aided by my extremely low expectations, I actually found Racing Stripes to be not such a bad movie.
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