As an abandoned baby zebra, Stripes (voiced by Muniz) is rescued by farmer Nolan (Greenwood) and his teen daughter Channing (Panettiere). As he grows up, he befriends the farm animals--a helpful pony (Hoffman), meddling goat (Goldberg) and bewildered rooster (Foxworthy)--as well the cute show-jumper (Moore) at the track across the hill. The thing is: Stripes and Channing want to race, but Dad is dead set against it. And everyone else thinks it's just ridiculous.

The outcome is never in question, even though the filmmakers milk it for everything they've got. And the comical elements feel more than a little random (Spade and Harvey's goofball flies are one thing, but Pantoliano as a mafioso pelican?). There also, of course, must be a few villains in the form of the greedy track owner (Malick) and bully racehorses (Jackson and Rosenbaum).

So the only thing that keeps us engaged is the cute factor. And these animals are sincerely adorable, it must be said. There are also frequent funny (but not hilarious) gags to liven up the plot. Meanwhile, writer Schmidt factors in just about everything he can think of, from past glory and self doubt to foul play and an unsung hero. Not to mention the whole high-tech versus old world thing.

It's so blatantly obvious on every level that it shouldn't work at all, but Du Chau's direction is lively and colourful; and even if we never doubt where it's going, the emotional heartstrings do get tugged a few times, against our better judgement. Perhaps children who haven't seen this same story a million times will enjoy it. Otherwise, the rest of us are still waiting for an original underdog movie.