Racing Stripes

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Movie

Racing Stripes, 2005

Starring

Bruce Greenwood, Hayden Panettiere, Caspar Poyck, Gary Bullock, and Wendie Malick.

Plot

Racing Stripes is a wonderfully, funny, family film. Children and adults will find themselves giggling at silly, comedic acts, while being drawn into the film through a heartwarming story about a girl and her pet zebra, Stripes.

For Channing Walsh, her heart’s desire is to follow in her mother’s footsteps and ride horses. But after her mother’s death, brought on by an accident with a horse, Channing’s father won’t let her near a horse. For Stripes, his heart’s desire is to become a race horse and be accepted in the horse community. Desperate and determined to prove themselves, both Channing and Stripes do their best to coax Channing’s father into allowing them to enter the next big race.

Review

What I love most about Racing Stripes is the fact that it isn’t just a film about talking animals; it is a film about the interaction between man and animal, animal and man, and man and man. It is a film about the true circle of life and how everything we do, in some way, affects the lives of every one around else.

It’s nice to see Warner Brothers bring back clean comedy. I find it refreshing to see a family film that doesn’t try to please grown ups through vulgar comedic antics; antics that young children should never be witness to in the first place. And it is a pleasure to watch a family film filled with valuable life lessons.

Lessons like:

Never let others tell you what you can or cannot become.
Just because someone is different doesn’t mean he/she doesn’t matter or doesn’t belong.
Friendship takes on many shapes, and each one is a treasure in itself.
When we work together, anything can happen.
Anything’s possible if you believe, work hard, and trust in yourself.

While some parents may feel this film is beneath their intellect and unrealistic in many areas, they must pause and remind themselves that it wasn’t created for them. It was created for children and children need to dream and believe in good, wholesome fairytales. And what better way to do that, than with a film like Racing Stripes?

Order Racing Stripes today!