Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

reviewed by
Mark O'Hara


Babe:  A Pig in the City (1998)
A Film review by Mark O'Hara

A Pig in the City picks up where Babe left off, with Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) quietly accepting a trophy for his champion sheepdog, er, pig. He hugs his wife, turns down myriad offers for public appearances, and falls down a well, sustaining injuries that put him out of most of the movie.

This is the first risk taken by the sequel, and it's one of many reasons why A Pig in the City is so successful.

The storybook qualities are still here: along with the Hoggetts' generously thatched cottage, we see a quirky hotel housing two humans and a menagerie of animals. The landscapes are still beautiful and cozy, skies glowing like canvases by N. C. Wyeth. Of course the animals talk. And the city of the title is "just to the left of the twentieth century," its landmarks icons from real cities -- the Seattle Space Needle, the "Hollywood" letters, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House (the film was shot in Australia, after all). Accordingly, the sets, costumes and lighting accentuate the magical effects.

What is so remarkable about this sequel is that it differs so much from Babe. Yes, many of the same characters are here - indeed, I wanted more of the taciturn Hoggett, the sheepdogs Fly and Rex, and others - but this new zoo of a cast is just as charming, and even more uproarious in its adventures. This film proves that strong sequels, and installments of series films, rely only briefly on their original incarnations, and stand on their own as solid and engaging stories.

Because Mr, Hoggett is laid up and the bank is threatening foreclosure, Mrs. Hoggett brainstorms and decides to travel to the city for a grand state fair. There she will display "Pig," which is Babe's name to humans, and receive enough money to save the farm. As the two board a plane that heads into the sky, there are captivating scenes of Ferdinand the duck (voice of Danny Mann) in hot pursuit, asking advice from a flock of wise pelicans. When she is detained at the airport, Mrs. Hoggett not only misses the state fair but fails to locate a hotel that will accept her particular type of pet. In the face of a stranger who tells her of a lodging where she and Babe/Pig will be safe, we see a motif that contributes again and again to the humor of the story. Another artifice surfaces when Mrs. Hoggett stumbles a second time into trouble with the law, leaving Babe alone with animals that at first seem menacing but turn out charming. The bulk of the plot involves Babe's relationships with the animals that inhabit, in violation of city ordinances, this storybook hotel. Will the creatures be saved from the animal control agency that evicts them? Will Babe ever reunite with Esme Cordelia Hoggett, let alone with Arthur?

As Mrs. Hoggett, Magda Szubanski is outstanding. In the original she was so much set decoration, a prudish Mrs. Sprat who talks two miles a minute and concerns herself with fattening the protagonist for Christmas. In this story we see her determination developed and focused on those keeping her apart from Babe and from her husband. She is wonderfully game in going after the endangered animals, paired with the drink-of-water woman (Mary Stein) who owns the hotel. And when she dons an inflatable clown suit and bounces all over a ballroom in pursuit of Babe, we enjoy a series of belly laughs. This was my son's favorite scene.

My daughter's favorite part involves a chimp named Zootie (Glenne Headley). She is the mate of a punkish chimp voiced by the comedian Steven Wright. Both lend their characters quirky and likable personalities. Moreover, the animal actors perform memorably. Along with the chimps there are multitudinous dogs (one with wheels for back legs, a creature that nearly made me fall into the aisle of the theater!), cats, a goldfish, a modest orangutan, and the familiar chorus of mice. Congratulations to director George Miller, as well as to the many animal trainers, handlers and animatronics engineers. They assist the animals in telling large sections of the narrative; perhaps the animals are more important than even the humans.

Mickey Rooney has a cameo as the hotel owner's uncle, a strange little man named Fugly Flooms. He's a clown who entertains hospitalized children, and when he conscripts Babe to help in the magic act, very funny chaos follows. In a small reprise of his role as Farmer Hoggett, James Cromwell shows his experience; he's tolerant and venerable, and after watching the first movie, you just know the words with which Hoggett will end this one.

It's refreshing to see such a promising lineup of family entertainment in theaters for the holidays. My ten year-old oftens scans ratings and discovers no G- or PG-rated films playing anywhere. For the next several weeks we will be able to take her to several. Babe: A Pig in the City holds its own with all audiences, as suggested by several senior citizens sitting around us, also laughing with abandon. It may even garner for the franchise a second Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.


Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


The review above was posted to the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due to ASCII to HTML conversion.

Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews