BABE
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
*** (out of 4 = good) 1995, PG, 92 minutes [1 hour, 32 minutes] [comedy] Starring: Christine Cavanaugh (voice of Babe), James Cromwell (Farmer Hoggett) Magda Szubanski (Mrs. Hoggett), produced by George Miller, Doug Mitchell, Bill Miller, written by George Miller, Chris Noonan, directed by Chris Noonan, based on the novel by Dick King-Smith.
"Babe" is one of the cutest, original, and charming films I've ever seen. How a story about farm animals could have such innocence and be so good amazes me. The film starts off like your typical children's story, it seems like it may be a sappy and boring movie for adults, but surprisingly enough it isn't. It's about an Australian pig named Babe (voiced by Cavanaugh) who was randomly picked to be in a contest to sponsor a charity. Whoever guessed his correct weight won the pig, and that person is our main human character Farmer Hoggett (Cromwell). Babe is the only pig on Hoggett's farm and we see how the other animals consider him somewhat of an outcast. The dogs know their place, they have an important role and are not eaten. The cat is the family's pet and always stays inside the house - her job is to keep the humans happy. Even the sheep and the ducks know they have duties of sorts, but what they all are sure of is pigs have no purpose. Most of the story revolves around Farmer Hoggett training Babe to be a sheep dog. Hoggett enters Babe in the annual sheep dog competition and we watch them go through all the training and see even more interaction between the animals. It's funny to watch the humans get so excited over the animals and vice versa. The screenplay works very well, we get a definite sense of the animals' characters, but it does not get sappy as to make us feel sorry for them. The humans are not played as evil butchers either, we can relate to them too. They're just trying to make a living and they eat animals for food. It's amazing a story like this is doesn't become an anti-meat campaign nor a simple, childish story. "Babe" is a very cute and adorable picture. It's just a nice fairytale about farm animals. (3/18/96) (12/11/96) (5/23/97) [see also "Gordy"]
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