Babe Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

A pig that thinks it's a dog....

When this came out – 12 years ago, I thought, 'Wow, this is pretty amazing' and since then movie audiences have been astonished at a number of camera tricks, computer-enhanced people, animals, monsters, and who knows what....so this kind of story with fun special effects is no longer is unique.

However, it's so charming, so fine a tale that it should hold up as solid entertainment for a long, long time. It has proved to be anything but a flash-in-the-pan.

Filmed in rural Australia, the scenery is magnificent and so is the house that is featured in the film. It looks like some old-fashioned gingerbread house. The animals are entertaining, talking to one another like humans but not looking flat in the process.

The main character, 'Babe,' the little pig, is the nicest, most innocent 'character' you could ever hope to find. Listening to him talk is heart-warming most of the time and sometimes it's heart-breaking. The best comic relief is provided by Ferdinand the duck who wants to be a rooster. That may sound like it's geared toward little kids, but it isn't.

It also was good to see James Cromwell play a nice guy, too. Most other times he seems to play profane and corrupt cops or government officials. Here, he's just a nice old farmer who blends in perfectly with the surroundings.

This is a wonderful, sweet-hearted comedy-drama with a nice ending too, guaranteed to leave you with a smile or a tear, or both. This is one of the best 'family' movies of all time.

Aaww! Isn't he Lovely...

Having seen it when it first came out, I was prepared to be disappointed, but the film held up very well. If you can suspend your disbelief of any farmhouse anywhere in the world outside Disneyland looking like the one in Babe, then the story holds together very well and the way the animals 'speak' is hard to fault. The cat is truly evil, confirming my dislike of the domestic species (isn't it great when your prejudices are confirmed?). Some good laughs, too.

The soft amongst us should keep a hanky ready and if you haven't listened to music by Saint Saens before, then the sound track should whet your appetite.

A good romp.