'RACING STRIPES' HITS TRIFECTA OF CUTE, CRUDE AND CONTRIVED.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

APPARENTLY enough time has elapsed since the unlikely success of ``Babe'' (1995) and the thud of its sequel, ``Babe: Pig in the City'' (1998), for someone to consider milking the talking animal formula. ``Racing Stripes,'' a cutesy and terrifically formulaic story about a zebra among racehorses, isn't simply an homage to ``Babe''; it's an out and out rip-off.

Misfit critter with an unusual gift defies the nay-saying oinks, bleats, quacks and neighs of his farmyard brethren to chase a dream. The cooperation of his outside-the-box-thinking owner is of great assistance. Comic relief - and assorted poop and flatulence jokes - comes right on cue from a pelican and a pair of horse flies named Buzz and Scuzz.

Of course you've seen this before, but there's a chance your young ones haven't, and they'll love the ``eeewwww!'' factor. More important, director Frederik Du Chau and and his animatronic team have convincingly made it look like real animals are talking. David F. Schmidt's screenplay is by the numbers and preposterous, but the movie has its charm.

The hitch, such as it is, of ``Racing Stripes'' is that abandoned zebra foal Stripes doesn't know he's not a horse until about halfway through the movie. Plucky Stripes (voiced by Frankie Muniz) simply likes to run and wants to become a racehorse just like the thoroughbreds he sees at the adjacent farm. Tucker the Shetland pony (Dustin Hoffman) and Franny the goat (Whoopi Goldberg) are both too sage to puncture the kid's hopes.

The mean old horses on the Dalrymple estate next door, however, are a lot less sympathetic. ``You'll never be a real racehorse'' is the refrain echoed by champion thoroughbred Sir Trenton (Frederick Dalton Thompson) and his up-and-coming son Trenton's Pride (Joshua Jackson).

The kid doesn't get much help on the home front. Stripes' owner, farmer Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood), hasn't trained a racer since the death of his wife. But his teenage daughter, Channing (Hayden Panettiere), is growing up, and she recognizes Stripes' potential. After a renegade Jersey pelican named Goose (Joe Pantoliano) destroys her motor scooter, Channing rides Stripes to work. And, with the high-stakes Kentucky Open looming, a dream is hatched. Stripes' biggest hurdle is not his squat body, certainly not his heart, but overcoming his fear of - ahem! - the starting gate.

Don't expect surprises, since there are none. The good get what they deserve, the mean get their comeuppance, and two-legged and four-legged performers alike learn valuable lessons. The only bit of suspense is whether David Spade will include the role of the singing, feces-loving fly, Scuzz, on his resume. Here's betting he will.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

evan.henerson(at)dailynews.com

RACING STRIPES - Three stars

(PG: mild crude humor)

Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Hayden Panettiere, Wendie Malick; voices of Frankie Muniz, Dustin Hoffman and Whoopi Goldberg.

Director: Frederik Du Chau.

Running time: 1 hr. 42 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: ``Babe'' on a racetrack with a zebra bucking the odds.

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Photo:

Hayden Panettiere saddles up her zebra to ride against the big thoroughbred racehorses in ``Racing Stripes.''