you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll stop eating bacon!
I was given some free passes to see this film right before it came out. I had seen the trailers, and they looked cute, but if I hadn't gotten the free passes, I might have skipped over this gem. This is far more than a children's movie.
The voice of the pig is absolutely perfect... sweet, innocent and believable. Babe's tender heart will remind you of Wilbur from E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web" but this is a story in its own right... and there is no talking spider.
James Cromwell received an Oscar nomination for his role as Farmer Hoggett, a sweet, somewhat hen-pecked sheep farmer who wins the piglet as a prize in a county fair.
Babe is a lonely little piglet... he's had to say goodbye to his siblings and his mother at a tender age and is thrust into a barn with all sorts of strange animals he's never seen before. All of the animals, dogs, horses, the cows, etc. feel sorry for Babe and look out for him. There is rivalry with the top Border Collie, but Babe's...
A TRUE CLASSIC
I am a film buff, who never had much interest in children's films, because they were either cloying, patronizing, or incredibly manipulative. This one is different. This film does what any great film should do-involve you in the many layers, subtexts and subtleties of the film. While many would say, well, its just a story about a pig- I say-quite wrong! I am always attracted to the well-constructed story, and yes, this film is better than the book. Not because you can see it- I often prefer books to movies, because I create all the scenes in my imagination. It is because it plumbs deeper than the book, to create something as rare as the perfect short story- the perfect fable. All great fables teach us something about life- and that is what BABE does so splendidly. Indeed, life and goodness shine through beautifully in this film. And truth- BABE does not shrink from showing us reality. It seems to be such a little story- and its not. Yet, it is...
A porcinely delightful movie!
Babe was a runaway success in 1995. It even got a best picture nomination and in my mind should have won. This is a fantastic movie, sure to delight children from 2-100. Chris Noonan has created the modern farmyard parable. He deftly brings you into his world of talking animals centered around that most amicable of pigs, Babe. While the sheepdogs rule the farm, Babe warms the heart of sheep and dog alike, and eventually farmer Hoggett much to the chagrin of his wife who is counting the days to the next big feast. Ultimately Babe is spared as farmer Hoggett comes to realize he has a most unusual pig on his hands. Babe finds himself welcomed into the fold, rising to the ultimately status of being able to come into the house on miserable nights, at the expense of the house cat. All these animals are played wonderfully off each other. The voices couldn't be better. Farmer Hoggett eventually puts Babe to the ultimate challenge, the great sheepherding competition, which brings out...
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