Racing Stripes

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2005 American film

Racing Stripes

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Frederik Du Chau
Screenplay by| David Schmidt
Story by|

* David Schmidt
* Steven P. Wegner
* Kirk DeMicco
* Frederik Du Chau

Produced by|

* Andrew Kosove
* Broderick Johnson
* Lloyd Phillips
* Edward L. McDonnell

Starring|

* Bruce Greenwood
* Hayden Panettiere
* M. Emmet Walsh
* Wendie Malick
* Frankie Muniz
* David Spade
* Steve Harvey
* Snoop Dogg
* Mandy Moore
* Jeff Foxworthy
* Joe Pantoliano
* Dustin Hoffman
* Whoopi Goldberg
* Michael Clarke Duncan
* Joshua Jackson
* Michael Rosenbaum
* Fred Thompson

Cinematography| David Eggby
Edited by| Tom Finan
Music by| Mark Isham

Production
company

Alcon Entertainment

Distributed by| Warner Bros. Pictures (United States and Canada)
Summit Entertainment (International)

Release dates

* January 8, 2005 (2005-01-08) (Hollywood)
* January 14, 2005 (2005-01-14) (United States)

Running time

| 101 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $30 million
Box office| $90.8 million[1]

Racing Stripes is a 2005 American sports comedy family film directed by Frederik Du Chau. The film was produced by Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Lloyd Phillips and Edward L. McDonnell, based on a script written by David Schmidt, Steven P. Wegner, Kirk DeMicco and Du Chau.

The film tells the story of Stripes, a circus zebra who is accidentally abandoned in Kentucky and raised on a farm next to a racing track. Believing he is a racehorse, Stripes dreams of training for and competing in the races. The film stars Hayden Panettiere, Bruce Greenwood, Wendie Malick and M. Emmet Walsh, with the voice talents of Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jeff Foxworthy, Joshua Jackson, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Rosenbaum, Steve Harvey, David Spade, Snoop Dogg, Fred Dalton Thompson, Dustin Hoffman and Whoopi Goldberg.

Racing Stripes was released theatrically January 14, 2005, by Warner Bros. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $90 million worldwide.

## Plot

[edit]

During a thunderstorm, a traveling circus, Circus Sarano, accidentally leaves behind a baby zebra after replacing a flat tire. The foal is soon rescued by widower and former racehorse trainer Nolan Walsh, and taken to his farm, where his 13-year-old daughter, Channing, names him Stripes. He meets a Shetland pony named Tucker, a goat named Franny, and a rooster named Reggie. The next day, Stripes becomes convinced that he is destined for the nearby racetrack, Turfway Park, unaware that he is a zebra and not a horse. Two Thoroughbred foals named Trenton's Pride and Ruffshodd decide to race Stripes, until they are stopped by Pride's strict father, three-time Kentucky Open champion, Sir Trenton.

Three years later, an adult Stripes meets a gray Arabian filly named Sandy and develops a crush on her after losing to the mailman in their usual race. While talking to Sandy, he is approached by Pride, Ruffshodd, and Sir Trenton, while the Walshes’ lazy bloodhound, Lightning, talks while he sleeps. Pride challenges Stripes to a race at a secret racetrack in the woods called the Blue Moon Races; he accepts but loses the race.

The following day, Tucker, having secretly watched Stripes, approaches him and suggests that he gets proper training first. Stripes, in need of a rider, chooses 16-year-old Channing, and convinces a new farm animal, a pelican named Goose, to sabotage Channing's motorcycle and Old Blue, Nolan's old pickup truck, so that Channing can ride him to her workplace at Turfway Park. The plan works, and Channing, with Nolan's reluctant approval, rides Stripes to Turfway Park. There, Channing is antagonized by her boss, Clara Dalrymple, for bringing Stripes to the racetrack, while Stripes meets twin horse-fly brothers, Buzz and Scuzz.

As night approaches, Channing, remembering her first ride on horseback with her late mother Carolyn, completes a lap around the track with Stripes. They are approached by Woodzie, a racetrack gambler and old friend of the family, who encourages Channing to sign herself and Stripes up for a tryout race the next day. She does, despite Nolan's disapproval stemming from Carolyn’s death in an accident six years ago, which has since discouraged him from continuing to train horses, but Stripes has a major meltdown after being easily scared by the horse gate. Once he calms down, Stripes begins running, but he gets hit by flying dirt and causes Channing to fall off. Although she is uninjured, Nolan chastises her, but defends his daughter when Dalrymple mocks Channing's riding skills. In response, Dalrymple sarcastically signs Stripes to compete in the Kentucky Open competition.

Meanwhile, Stripes finally realizes that he is a zebra after being told off by Sir Trenton, which severely discourages him. Despite Channing's pleas and Woodzie's encouragement, Nolan refuses to let her race Stripes. Realizing this, the farm animals lure Nolan into the barn to show him a table holding his past accomplishments, and he changes his mind. Meanwhile, due to Stripes’ misbehavior during training, Franny reveals to him that Tucker helped Nolan train many racehorse champions, including Sir Trenton, without getting any thanks, which encourages him to begin training.

Refusing to allow him to race, however, Sir Trenton and several other thoroughbreds ambush Stripes and Sandy at a creek at night as they are talking and making up for their previous argument, and they kidnap Sandy, threatening to hurt her if Stripes races. The next day, after saving Stripes, Tucker, Franny and Goose agree to help him save Sandy. With help from Buzz and Scuzz, the rescue is successful, and they get back in time for Stripes to go to the race.

At the race, Nolan bets Dalrymple that if Stripes wins, he gets Sandy, and if he loses, he will come back to work for her. During the race, Ruffshodd, and even his jockey, try to stop Stripes from winning, but Scuzz gets them disqualified by biting Ruffshodd's rear end. Later, Stripes begins to wear out, until he finally remembers what Tucker taught him: "Don't look back. Leave it all on the track", which boosts his confidence. Stripes wins the race in a photo finish and earns respect from the other racehorses, including Pride. In the end, they all pose together in a group photo, which is later shown with the other previous Walsh wins.

## Cast

[edit]

### Humans

[edit]

* Hayden Panettiere as Channing "Chan" Walsh, who is Nolan's free-spirited 16-year-old daughter who is determined and willing to ride on horseback on Stripes, and despite her lack of opportunity, she has a natural talent for it like her late mother, Carolyn, who died in a horse racing accident at Turfway Park six years ago, when she was 10.
* Bruce Greenwood as Nolan "The Chief" Walsh, who is Channing's widowed father, a veteran Kentucky corn farmer, and a retired racehorse trainer who has not been able to bear training horses, let alone Stripes the prized zebra, ever since his late wife, Carolyn, was killed when her racehorse stumbled six years ago when his daughter, Channing, was only 10 years old. Fearing that Channing will hurt herself if she ever rides Stripes, he refuses to let her anywhere near a saddle or the Turfway Park racetrack, until halfway through the movie, when the animals make him remember his accomplishments as a trainer, and he ultimately helps Channing and Stripes train for the big race, the Kentucky Open (an implied spoof of the Kentucky Derby), enter in it, and win, which they do in the end.
* M. Emmet Walsh as Sheriff Woodzie, who is an old, wise racetrack gambler and a good friend to the Walsh family. He sympathizes with Channing, especially since he sees the same gift in her that was present in her late mother, Carolyn.
* Wendie Malick as Clara Dalrymple, who is Nolan's former employer, Channing's boss, and the film's main villain. She admires Trenton's Pride and Ruffshodd and only sees the Kentucky Open competition as a means of business and money and is not concerned for the well-being of her horses, especially not Stripes.
* Gary Bullock as John Cooper, who is one of the racehorse trainers for the Kentucky Open thoroughbred sweepstakes. He doesn't share his boss, Dalrymple's views on pushing her horses past their limits, but continues to follow her instructions in order to get his paychecks, which are important for his work.
* Caspar Poyck as The Mailman, by whom Stripes is beaten every morning when they race around the block.

### Voice actors

[edit]

* Frankie Muniz as Stripes, a foundling zebra who desires to compete in the Kentucky Open race, which leads to bullying from the local horses except for Sandy, whom he has a crush on. His younger self was voiced by Jansen Panettiere, Hayden Panettiere's brother.
* Dustin Hoffman as Tucker, a Shetland pony who used to help Nolan train racehorses, including Sir Trenton. He presents himself with a grumpy demeanor after years of training ungrateful horses before retiring, then helps Stripes by teaching him to race.
* Whoopi Goldberg as Franny, a Saanen goat who constantly encourages Stripes to pursue his dream and gives him many words of advice. She also seems to be the only animal on the farm aware of how upset Tucker is about his retirement.
* Mandy Moore as Sandy, a professional jumper Arabian filly. She is the only horse who supports Stripes's dream to become a racehorse. She and Stripes have romantic feelings for each other, which become mutual by the end of the film.
* Steve Harvey and David Spade as Buzz and Scuzz, a pair of horsefly brothers who serve as the film's comic relief and are good friends with Tucker. Buzz is larger and has blue eyes and combed hair, while Scuzz is smaller and has red eyes and messed-up hair. The brothers have a different taste in music: Scuzz is a rap fan while Buzz favors classical music.
* Jeff Foxworthy as Reggie, the Walsh farm's rooster, who means well, but is not very bright. He serves as the news announcer for the rest of the farm animals.
* Joe Pantoliano as Goose, a New York-accented American white pelican from the big city. He states that he moved to the farm in order to escape several other birds who have placed a hit on him, and that he was a "hit bird". It is presumably his experiences that render him afraid of loud noises.
* Snoop Dogg as Lightning, the family's lazy bloodhound who talks while asleep.
* Fred Thompson as Sir Trenton, an arrogant black thoroughbred horse who sees his son, Trenton's Pride, as having no purpose other than to carry on the Trenton legacy. He also seems to view the Kentucky Open competition as his property, which leads to his antagonistic nature towards Stripes, who he believes might ruin it. He is also one of Tucker's former racehorses-in-training before Nolan and Tucker retired from training.
* Joshua Jackson as Trenton's Pride, Sir Trenton's son, who picks on Stripes every chance he gets, but still believes in winning a race the fair and honest way, unlike his father and other horses. By the end of the film, he makes up and becomes friends with Stripes, having become impressed with his racing ability. His younger self was voiced by Kyle Alcazar.
* Michael Rosenbaum as Ruffshodd, Pride's friend and lackey. At first, it seems that he bullies Stripes with Pride merely out of sycophancy for the latter and fear of Pride's father, but in reality, he is a worse bully by far, proving quite eager to help Sir Trenton to threaten Sandy to keep Stripes from racing in the Kentucky Open. This is further evidenced when he and his rider persistently try to sabotage Stripes during the Kentucky Open competition. His younger self was voiced by Frankie Ryan Manriquez.
* Michael Clarke Duncan as Clydesdale, a Clydesdale horse who oversees the Blue Moon races.

### Additional voices

[edit]

* Phil Proctor as Trenton's Henchhorse #1
* Mona Marshall as Sheep
* Chris Edgerly as Horses
* Dee Bradley Baker as Animals
* Jess Harnell as Horse 1
* Robert Clotworthy as Horse 2
* Paul Pape as Angry Horses
* Eddie Frierson as Various Horses
* Jason Harris as Various Horses
* Randall Montgomery as Horse
* Anne Lockhart as Horse
* Bob Neill as Cheering Horse
* Claudette Wells as Various Animals

## Production

[edit]

Kirk DeMicco is the film's writer.

On September 10, 2002, it was announced that Frederik Du Chau was hired and set to direct Racing Stripes. David Schmidt, Steven P. Wegner and Kirk DeMicco wrote the script for the film. Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Lloyd Phillips and Edward L. McDonnell produced the film with the budget of $30 million, for release in 2005. On March 25, 2003, it was announced that Mark Isham would compose the music for the film.[citation needed]

Two racing zebras, Sam and Daisy, were used in the film. Sam was more well-behaved, and "kind of wanted to be a horse", according to Tim Rivers, who trained him at the Animals in Motion farm near Citra, Florida. Sam had previously appeared in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Second Noah and Sheena.[2]

During production of the film, Hayden Panettiere was thrown off a zebra and ended up hospitalized with a concussion and a pinched nerve in her neck. The producers forbade her from mentioning the injury during publicity for the film; she finally revealed it during a 2013 episode of British talk show The Graham Norton Show.[3]

### Casting

[edit]

In March 2003, Frankie Muniz was cast following his performance in Agent Cody Banks. On July 27, 2003, other cast members were announced, such as Hayden Panettiere, who would star opposite the voices of Dustin Hoffman, Whoopi Goldberg, Joe Pantoliano, Mandy Moore, and Patrick Stewart.[citation needed]

Also joining the cast of voices were Joshua Jackson, Michael Rosenbaum, Steve Harvey, David Spade, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Jeff Foxworthy. In August, Bruce Greenwood was cast in the film. Patrick Stewart was originally going to voice Sir Trenton.[citation needed]

### Filming

[edit]

It was filmed at the Hollywoodbets Scottsville Racecourse in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa,[4] and Riverholm Country Estate in Nottingham Road, South Africa.[5] Development of the film was completed in Los Angeles, California. On May 21, Summit Entertainment and Warner Bros. acquired distribution rights to the film.[citation needed]

## Soundtrack

[edit]

The film's score was composed by Mark Isham, who also produced and cowrote "Taking the Inside Rail" with Sting; "It Ain't Over Yet", heard when Channing and Nolan train Stripes, as well as at the end of the film, was written by Bryan Adams, Gretchen Peters and Eliot Kennedy, and produced by Adams. The soundtrack album was released January 11, 2005, on the Varèse Sarabande label.[citation needed]

1. Taking the Inside Rail - Sting
2. It Was a Dark and Stormy Night
3. At Home on Walsh Farm
4. I'm a Racehorse!
5. The Blue Moon Races
6. A Pelican Named Goose
7. Tucker Lays It Out!
8. Goose Makes a Hit on the Iron Horse
9. Run Like the Wind
10. Twilight Run
11. Upstaged by a Zebra
12. A Brave Decision
13. Glory Days
14. If You Build It, They Will Come
15. Out of Africa
16. Spring Training
17. Ambushed!
18. Filly in Distress
19. Race Day
20. They're All In!
21. The Big Race
22. In The Winner's Circle
23. It Ain't Over Yet - Bryan Adams
24. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – Ennio Morricone
25. My Girl – Steve Harvey
26. U Can't Touch This – David Spade
27. Here Comes The Hotstepper \- David Spade
28. Ebony and Ivory \- Steve Harvey and David Spade
29. Overture, from 'Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)' K.492 - Hungarian State Orchestra
30. Exsultate, jubillate, K.165 - Kosice Teachers' Choir/Camerata Cassovia
31. Walk This Way \- Run-D.M.C.
32. The National Anthem USA
33. Who Let The Dogs Out? \- Steve Harvey and David Spade

The theme song for the Japanese version is "I Will" by Hitomi Shimatani.[6]

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

Racing Stripes grossed $49.8 million in the United States and $41 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $90.8 million.[1]

### Critical response

[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 35% based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Racing Stripes might be good for a few laps with younger viewers, but it's too blandly predictable to truly recommend for an all-ages audience."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[8] Audiences polled by CinemaScore give the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[9]

### Awards

[edit]

International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA) 2005
Award  | Category  | Nominee  | Result

|
|
|

IFMCA Award | Best Original Score for a Comedy Film | Mark Isham | Nominated

Teen Choice Awards 2005
Award  | Category  | Nominee  | Result

|
|
|

Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie: Animated/Computer Generated | Frederik Du Chau | Nominated

## See also

[edit]

* List of films about horses
* List of films about horse racing

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Racing Stripes (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
2. ^ Stinson, Lashonda (January 14, 2005). "Local zebra stars in new film". The Gainesville Sun. Ocala Star-Banner. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
3. ^ The Graham Norton Show - S13E10 - Dan Stevens, Hayden Panettiere & Micky Flanagan Archived 2025-03-23 at the Wayback Machine, YouTube
4. ^ "Impactservices.net.au".
5. ^ "Riverholm Country Estate - Self-Catering - Nottingham Road".[permanent dead link]
6. ^ "レーシング・ストライプス：映画作品情報・あらすじ・評価｜MOVIE WALKER PRESS 映画". MOVIE WALKER PRESS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-04-21.
7. ^ "Racing Stripes". rottentomatoes.com. 14 January 2005.
8. ^ "Racing Stripes". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
9. ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Racing Stripes" in the search box). CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Racing Stripes.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Racing Stripes.

* Official website
* Racing Stripes at IMDb
* Racing Stripes at Box Office Mojo
* Racing Stripes at Rotten Tomatoes

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Films directed by Frederik Du Chau

* Quest for Camelot (1998)
* Racing Stripes (2005)
* Underdog (2007)

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