(c) Disney

With a brisk pace and finely-honed timing, the film delivers on its comedic promise, with just enough pathos and depth to make you care for the plight of the characters, mostly those of the classic Disney variety: the unlikely heroes. And you're not likely to find a trio more unlikely then those embodied by the voices of Barr, Dench and Tilly, inspired characterizations all around, adding to the creative character animation of, respectively, supervising animators Chris Buck, Duncan Marjoribanks and Mark Henn, who had the daunting task of animating characters with no hands and four feet (let’s just say they take full advantage of the tails). In fact, all of the characters are well realized, making for a memorable assortment of all types, from an intimidating buffalo to a nest of wide-eyed chicks.

(Rounding out the cast of recognizable vocal talent are such Disney faves as Toy Story 2’s Estelle Harris, The Emperor’s New Groove’s Patrick Warburton and Monsters, Inc.’s Steve Buscemi (in probably the best match of voice talent to character design since Paul Shaffer’s Hermes in Hercules), as well as several TV favorites such as McCloud’s Dennis Weaver, M*A*S*H’s G.W. Bailey, SCTV’s Joe Flaherty and Hill Street Blues’ Charles Haid as Lucky Jack, a jackrabbit whose peg leg shows just how lucky his foot was.)

After too long an absence, Alan Menken returns to Disney with a plucky, country-flavored score and hummable songs, joined by lyricist Glenn Slater on the latter (rhyming “avocado�? with “desperado�?, Slater proves he’s a man after Howard Ashman’s heart). The songs are mostly heard over the soundtrack (an ever-increasing trend in animated films lately, it seems), with such marquee talent as k.d. lang (the sprightly “Patch of Heaven�?), Tim McGraw (end credit song “Wherever the Trail May Lead�?) and Bonnie Raitt (whose performance of “Will the Sun Ever Shine Again�? is reminiscent of such other classic Disney ballads as Toy Story 2’s “When She Loved Me�? and Robin Hood’s “Not in Nottingham�?) lending their pipes to the tunes. (The only sour note is the bland pop of another end credit song, “Anytime You Need Your Friend�?, performed by the Beu Sisters.)

If this is indeed the last of the hand-drawn animated films from Disney, we couldn’t ask for a better Home sweet Home.