Babe (1995)

Directed by Chris Noonan. Starring James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, (voices) Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, Hugo Weaving, Roscoe Lee Brown, Danny Mann, Miriam Flynn, Russi Taylor. [G]

Cute and charming fable about a young pig brought to live on a farm who takes an interest in herding sheep, much to the bemused astonishment of Farmer Hoggett (Cromwell) and the jealous consternation of the farm’s border collie. Episodic narrative, intercut with title screens featuring a trio of tiny mice, follows a rollercoaster trajectory of highs and lows, humor and tragedy; it’s certainly refreshing that the filmmakers were unafraid to inject scenes with appropriate layers of darkness and melancholy (after all, a farm is a fine place for some animals, not so much for others). Not all of the characters or incidents strike the satisfactory tone—Ferdinand, the duck who wants to be a rooster, wears thin quickly, and the interlude to steal an alarm clock falls pretty flat—but it’s commendable how the movie so rarely panders to just one portion of the audience (children or adults). The farm animals all speak to each other (unheard by humans), brought to life through a combination of real animals, animatronics, and computer animation, netting an Academy Award for Visual Effects. Based on the novel “The Sheep-Pig” by Dick King-Smith; released only a few months after Disney had tried their hand in a talking pig movie of their own (Gorky). Followed by Babe: Pig in the City.

77/100