Barnyard is a computer-animated film, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures, that was released on August 4, 2006 (October 20, 2006 in the United Kingdom). The film was directed by Steve Oedekerk (Kung Pow and many thumb movies), who was also the principal scriptwriter, and stars the voices of Kevin James, Courteney Cox Arquette, Sam Elliott, Danny Glover, Andie MacDowell and Wanda Sykes. The film was rated PG by the MPAA for some mild peril and rude humor. Most of the production was carried out in San Clemente, California. It is distributed in Switzerland, Spain, and Netherlands by Universal Pictures.
A spin-off TV series, Back at the Barnyard, premiered September 29, 2007 on Nickelodeon. This makes it the second Nicktoon to be spun-off from a movie, the first being Jimmy Neutron.
The Barnyard is a 1923 film featuring Oliver Hardy.
This film's reels was shipped to theaters under the codename "Tipping".
The "male" bovines having udders was explained in the October 2006 issue of Nickelodeon's official magazine, "Nick Magazine". In the letters page, one reader asked about the anatomically-incorrect cows(bovine) and whether or not it was intentional or not, and the magazine explained that the movie's director "thought it would be funny for the male cows(bulls) to have udders".
In the scene where the farmer is knocked out, Otis gives him a copy of the book “Charlottes Web” - the next Nickelodeon Movie.
