Babe (film)
| Babe | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Chris Noonan |
| Produced by | Catherine Barber Philip Hearnshaw Bill Miller George Miller Doug Mitchell Daphne Paris |
| Screenplay by | George Miller Chris Noonan Book Dick King-Smith |
| Narrated by | Roscoe Lee Browne |
| Starring | James Cromwell Christine Cavanaugh Miriam Margolyes Hugo Weaving Miriam Flynn Danny Mann Magda Szubanski Russi Taylor |
| Music by | Nigel Westlake |
| Cinematography | Andrew Lesnie |
| Editing by | Marcus D'Arcy Jay Friedkin |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 4, 1995 (United States) December 14, 1995 (Australia) |
| Running time | 92 minutes |
| Country | Australia United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million[1] |
| Box office | $254,134,910 |
Babe was filmed in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia.[3] The talking-animal visual effects were done by Rhythm & Hues Studios and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Although the setting and style of the film are distinctly British/Australasian pastoral, many of the human speaking parts were overdubbed from Australian to American accents for popular acceptance in the American film market. The film was re-released on Blu-ray Disc in 2012 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Universal Studios.
The film was a critical and box office success and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, but lost to Braveheart. The success of the film launched a sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, which was released in 1998.
Plot
After a piglet's mother is taken away by humans to be slaughtered, the piglet, whose name is Babe, is picked out for a "guess the weight" booth at a county fair. Farmer Arthur Hoggett guesses his weight (16 lbs., 2 oz.) and wins the pig. Babe is brought to his farm and allowed to stay with the female sheepdog, Fly (a Border Collie), and her pups. Maa, an elderly resident sheep, tells him to watch out for the dogs. A duck named Ferdinand, posing as a rooster in order to keep from being eaten, wakes the farm each morning by crowing. He persuades Babe to help him destroy the alarm clock because it threatens his mission. They succeed, but wake the Hoggett's cat, Duchess, and accidentally destroy the living room, leaving the three covered in paint. Rex, Fly's mate and leader of the farm animals, orders Babe to stay away from Ferdinand (who is now a fugitive) and the house.Christmas time brings a visit from the Hoggetts' relatives. Babe is almost chosen for the Christmas dinner but a duck is picked instead after Farmer Hoggett remarks to his wife that they perhaps shouldn't kill the pig, as he may bring a prize at the next County Fair. They instead have Duck L'Orange for Christmas dinner. Ferdinand comes out of hiding to explain that the duck on the table isn't him, but a female named Rosanna whom he was apparently friends with. Unable to cope with this kind of injustice, Ferdinand says goodbye to Babe and flies away, hoping to find some place where we will safe from becoming some human's dinner. The day after Christmas, Babe alerts the farmer to some sheep rustlers who are taking sheep from the top field.
The next day Hoggett sees Babe sort the hens, separating the brown ones from the white ones. Impressed, he takes the pig to the sheep fields along with Fly and Rex. Rex feels threatened by Babe when Hoggett tells Babe rather than Rex to herd the sheep, and is furious with Fly for helping him. Fly advises Babe to be rough, so he bites one of the sheep, angering Maa, who advises him to ask politely. The sheep cooperate, and Babe herds them out of their pen, impressing Farmer Hoggett and amazing the other dogs. Rex, however, regards Babe's behavior as an insult to sheepdogs, and that night, he attacks his mate for "putting ideas" in Babe's head. Fly's right front leg is injured, and Hoggett is bitten by Rex in an attempt to break up the fight. Rex is chained to the dog house and sedated. It is now Babe's job to herd the sheep. Hoggett considers entering Babe in the sheepdog trials.
One morning Babe suddenly hears the sounds of sheep. Babe runs out to the field and witnesses three wild dogs as they began attacking the sheep. He scares them away but Maa has been mortally injured and dies from her wounds. Hoggett eventually arrives to see Babe standing over Maa with blood on his snout and assumes that he killed the sheep. As he prepares to shoot Babe, Fly tries talking to the sheep for the first time to find out what happened. She distracts Hoggett by barking long enough for Mrs. Hoggett to come out and tell how she heard from the police and the dogcatcher that neighboring farms had sheep killed by wild dogs.
When Mrs. Hoggett leaves on a trip for a few days, Hoggett enters Babe in the sheepdog trials under the name "Pig" without his wife's knowledge. That evening, it is so wet outside that Hoggett lets Babe inside the house along with Fly. Duchess the hostile cat, however, scratches Babe when he attempts to talk to her, and she is thrown out onto the porch. Ferdinand returns from his self-imposed exile. Duchess sneaks back into the house and, takes vengeance on Babe by feigning contrition for scratching Babe, but then devastating him by revealing that humans eat pigs. Fly confirms this, and the next morning discovers that Babe has run away. Rex and Fly alert Hogget, and the three go searching for him; Rex eventually finds him in a graveyard and Hoggett brings him back home. Babe refuses to eat, despite encouragement from Rex, who has softened his attitude. Hoggett gives him a drink in a baby bottle and sings "If I Had Words" to Babe, and eventually dances for him. This restores Babe's faith in the farmer, and he begins eating.
At the trials the sheep refuse to listen to Babe, and Rex runs to the farm to find out what to do. The sheep give Rex a secret sheep password only for Babe's use, and make Rex promise to treat the sheep better. The crowd laughs at the farmer showing a pig for the sheepdog contest, but using the password, Babe convinces the sheep to do what he asks, and they perform flawlessly. After getting perfect scores and the cheers and adoration of the crowd, Rex and Fly lick each other in victory, while Babe sits next to Hoggett, who says, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."
Cast
Live-action actors
- James Cromwell as Arthur Hoggett: the farmer of Hoggett Farm.
- Magda Szubanski as Esmé Hoggett: Arthur Hoggett's wife.
- Brittany Byrnes as The Hoggetts' granddaughter.
- Wade Hayward as The Hoggetts' grandson.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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