- Awesome Music: Johnny Cash's cover of "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty. Made even better by the fact that, in this movie, it's sung by Sam Elliott.
- Complete Monster: Dag is the sadistic leader of a pack of coyotes. Unlike the other coyotes who kill for food, Dag seems to enjoy killing his victims more than eating them. This is shown when he shows a group of chickens his chain which has severed chicken legs on it. When faced with Otis' father Ben, he murders him and then shames Otis by telling him that his father would've survived had he been there for him. He then makes a compromise with Otis that stated that he and his pack of coyotes could get a couple of animals every night, and if Otis didn't comply, Dag and his coyotes would personally slaughter everything in the farm that Otis held dear, including possibly the farmer. This deal was just a trick to keep Otis busy while he and his pack kidnap the hens as well as the chick Maddy. He then tries to spitefully eat the latter, just because she called him a "meaner". Murderous and needlessly cruel, Dag is seemingly out of place in an otherwise lighthearted film.
- Critical Dissonance: Critics generally overlooked the movie, viewing it as yet another typical animated movie about animals, and considered its plot unoriginal and attempts at being both a comedy and a drama uneven. Audiences had a very different opinion and even though the movie didn't make a big impact on the public at large, many remember it fondly and consider it as being an underrated movie with some very touching scenes and a very efficient and frightening antagonist.
- Draco in Leather Pants: Dag. Many view him as a sympathetic antagonist who is only trying to feed his pack. Notably, while he does seem to resent the fact that him and his pack are starving (angrily telling the chick Maddy that "meaners" like him have to eat too), this doesn't excuse the fact that he clearly kills for his own pleasure and loves to make his victims feel powerless before him.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Dag, even amongst people who don't like the film. He is typically considered the best character in the entire movie, and some go as far as to say that he is the ONLY reason to watch the movie.
- Old Ben, the other character usually pointed to as a highlight of the movie. The coolest cow ever, may he rest in peace, and a good father.
- Freddie the ferret too in both the movie and Back at the Barnyard.
- Biggie Cheese, a morbidly obese rat who performs "Boombastic" (using Shaggy's own original recording) early on in the film. It's just plain absurd and hilarious to even think a rat would get so comically obese, and to see him perform such a fitting song. In 2016, he ended up being a big meme all on his own.
- For a Joke Character whose species isn't even clear, Wild Mike is fondly remembered due to the wild dance moves he displays in both action and comedic scenes.
- Evil Is Cool: Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that he is, for all intents and purposes, a serial killer in a Nickelodeon movie about talking farm animals, Dag is well-liked for being a legitimately menacing and dangerous character in a movie that many feel wasn't nearly as good as he deserved.
- Fanon: Many fans, jokingly or not, believe that the male cattle are all transgender, due to the fact that they sport udders which only female cattle can have.
- He Really Can Act:
- Kevin James really pulls off a great comedic and dramatic performance as Otis. A particular highlight is when Otis grits his teeth, preparing to punch Dag into oblivion, before reigning it in and threateningly whispering "Never. Come. Back." James legit sounded like he was channeling Batman there.
- David Koechner, despite usually doing comedic roles gives an utterly terrifying performance as the Ax-Crazy Dag, who seems to be the closest thing a character in an animated film can be to a serial killer. If Otis is channeling Batman then Dag isn't far behind with his evoking The Joker.
- Fountain of Memes: Snotty Boy, just Snotty Boy...., there are some memes involving him, like this picture of him pointing and laughing at an explosion
◊ and the supermentioned resemblance to Hal Stewart/Tighten and "boy-tipping" shenanigans.
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- Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Despite its mixed to negative reviews elsewhere, Brazilians simply LOVE the movie for its wacky jokes and emotional plot. Ben's the most loved character, with thousands of people quoting his wise words.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: In the final act, Maddy calls Dag a "Meaner". 12 years later, David Koechner went on to voice Mr. Meaner in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.
- Memetic Mutation:
- Strangely, in late November 2016, the rapping mouse character Biggie Cheese became a memetic Sex God with video remixes involving taking his scene in the film where he covers "Boombastic" by Shaggy and replacing the song with more explicit rap tunes becoming mildly popular. Memorable memes also include comparing him to rap legends like Biggie Smalls, using him as an insult akin to Jabba the Hutt, and of course the incident that started it all, a Furry Fandom RP where Biggie Cheese took part in an orgy.
- In March 2021, the "boy-tipping" scene suddenly took off in popularity, where it was subject to video edits, mostly involving replacing Snotty Boy's scream with a different sound effect.
- The scene where Otis repeatedly taunts the mailman became memetic when a remix of it called mmmm cow went viral, spawning countless edits.
- "It's right heeere huh! It's rig- it's right here. It's right here. IT'S RIGHT THERE."Explanation
- Crossing over with Megamind's memes, some have thrown around the headcanon that the Snotty Boy is actually a younger Hal Stewart/Tighten due to their resemblance.
- Moe: Maddy comes off as extremely adorable to the fans of the movie.
- Moral Event Horizon: Honestly, Dag could've crossed it before the movie takes place, as he's shown holding a keychain of chicken feet from his previous victims. But if we're just talking about plot-relevant examples, then it's definitely game over when he and his pack kill Ben.
- No Problem with Licensed Games: Ask anyone who's played the video game based off the film and they'll tell you that it's better than it has any right to be. There's an entire map to explore, quests, a minor crafting system, a buying and selling system, the music is surprisingly good. The minigames are another highlight, as they're all fun and fairly easy, with one based on the scene where Otis teases the mailman.
- One-Scene Wonder:
- Biggie Cheese only appears once during the initial barn party, but he's one of the most memorable parts in the movie. An entire decade after the film's release, he was subject to a major Memetic Mutation in late 2016.
- Also, Wild Mike, dancer extraordinaire. (Even though he actually gets three scenes.)
- Signature Scene:
- The final battle, for its haunting rendition of "Won't Back Down" as an outnumbered Otis shows off his new skills and bravery in the first half, for some good slapstick combat in the second half, and the emotional conclusion of it when Otis and Dag face off.
- Perhaps the best remembered comedy scene is Otis and his friends using mannequin arms to pick up pizzas an apparently stoned delivery boy has delivered to the barn and then losing one of the arms right in front of him.
- Trans Audience Interpretation: The scene where Ben falsely remembers sitting outside with Otis as sitting outside with his sister (to which Otis replies, "I don't have a sister"), compounded with Otis having an udder despite being male, is seen as evidence that Otis is transgender.
- What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The movie actually went into some very dark themes, such as Otis losing his father and the farm being terrorized by Dag, who resembles more a sadistic Serial Killer rather than a predatory animal.
