Babe (film)
Encyclopedia
Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film directed by Chris Noonan
Chris Noonan
Chris Noonan is a Sydney-based Australian filmmaker and actor best known for the pioneering live-action / CG film Babe, for which he received Academy Award nominations as both director and writer.-Biography:...

. It is an adaptation of the 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig
The Sheep-Pig
The Sheep-Pig is a novel by British author Dick King-Smith. It was first published in 1983, retitled Babe The Gallant Pig in the U.S., and adapted for the screen as the 1995 film Babe. The book is set in rural England, where Dick King-Smith spent twenty years as a farmer. The book won the Guardian...

, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States, by Dick King-Smith
Dick King-Smith
Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE, Hon.M.Ed. , better known by his pen name Dick King-Smith, was a prolific English children's author, best known for writing The Sheep-Pig, retitled in the United States as Babe the Gallant Pig, on which the movie Babe was based...

 and tells the story of a pig
Domestic pig
The domestic pig is a domesticated animal that traces its ancestry to the wild boar, and is considered a subspecies of the wild boar or a distinct species in its own right. It is likely the wild boar was domesticated as early as 13,000 BC in the Tigris River basin...

 who wants to be a sheepdog
Herding dog
A herding dog, also known as a stock dog or working dog, is a type of pastoral dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds developed for herding...

. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic
Audio-Animatronics
Audio-Animatronics is the registered trademark for a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally in speech or song...

 pigs and Border Collie
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....

s.

Babe was filmed in Robertson
Robertson, New South Wales
Robertson is a small town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town is located on the edge of an elevated plateau about 35 km from the coast. At the 2006 census, Robertson had a population of 1,206 people.Robertson is known for its high annual...

, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The talking-animal visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...

 were done by Rhythm & Hues Studios. Although the setting and style of the film are distinctly British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

/Australasian pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...

, many of the human speaking parts were overdubbed from Australian to American accents for popular acceptance in the American film market.

The film was a critical and box office success and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, but lost to Braveheart
Braveheart
Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...

. The success of the film launched a sequel, Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Babe. It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter , the film was not received as well as the first Babe film was, as it flopped at the box office and reviews were generally...

, which was released in 1998 to mixed reviews.

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 (i.e. 16 lbs., 2 oz.) and wins the pig. Babe is brought to his farm and allowed to stay with the female sheepdog
Herding dog
A herding dog, also known as a stock dog or working dog, is a type of pastoral dog that either has been trained in herding or belongs to breeds developed for herding...

, Fly (a Border Collie
Border Collie
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....

), and her pups. Maa, an elderly resident sheep, tells him to watch out for the dogs. A duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

 named Ferdinand, posing as a rooster
Rooster
A rooster, also known as a cockerel, cock or chanticleer, is a male chicken with the female being called a hen. Immature male chickens of less than a year's age are called cockerels...

 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, causing 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 convinces his wife that they shouldn't kill the pig. 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 hen
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...

s, 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 trial
Sheepdog trial
A Sheepdog trial is a competitive dog sport in which herding dog breeds move sheep around a field, fences, gates, or enclosures as directed by their handlers. Such events are particularly associated with hill farming areas, where sheep range widely on largely unfenced land...

s. One morning, Babe runs out to the field and witnesses a pack of dogs attacking the sheep. He scares them away, but Maa has been mortally injured and dies from her wounds, causing everyone to cry "Maa!" repeatedly. Hoggett eventually arrives to see Babe standing over Maa with blood on his snout and assumes the worst. 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 that wild dogs killed lambs on another farm.

When Mrs. Hoggett goes on a trip via bus, Hoggett enters Babe in the sheepdog trials under the name "Pig." That evening, it is so wet outside that Hoggett lets Babe inside the house along with Fly. Duchess, however, scratches Babe in an attempt to talk to her, and she is thrown out onto the porch as a time out. Ferdinand returns from his self-imposed exile. Duchess is allowed back into the house and, while apologizing for scratching Babe at first, tells Babe that humans eat pigs. Fly confirms this, which devastates Babe. The next morning Fly discovers Babe has run away. He is found by Hoggett barely alive. 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
If I Had Words
"If I Had Words" was a 1977 UK hit song performed by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. It reached number 3 in the UK charts and number 24 in the Australian charts in 1978. It sold more than one million copies...

" 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 password only for Babe's use, and make Rex promise to treat the sheep better. The crowd laughs as Babe tries herding the sheep, 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 kiss each other in victory, while Babe sits next to Hoggett, who says, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

Live action actors

  • James Cromwell
    James Cromwell
    James Oliver Cromwell is an American film and television actor. Some of his more notable roles are in Babe , for which he earned Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Star Trek: First Contact , L.A...

     as Arthur Hoggett: the farmer of Hoggett Farm.
  • Magda Szubanski
    Magda Szubanski
    Magda Szubanski is a British-born Australian actress, comedian, television presenter, radio host and author.Szubanski's career began while she was studying at university and she progressed to television sketch comedy, as both a writer and performer...

     as Esmé Hoggett: Arthur Hoggett's wife.
  • Brittany Byrnes
    Brittany Byrnes
    Brittany Byrnes is an Australian actress. Her most notable acting role was Natasha Green in the 2005 TV film Little Oberon.- Personal life :...

     as The Hoggetts' granddaughter.

Voice actors

  • Christine Cavanaugh
    Christine Cavanaugh
    Christine Cavanaugh is an American former voice actress who had a distinctive speaking style and had provided the voice for a large range of cartoon characters. She is best known as the voice of Babe in the hit film, Babe, Chuckie Finster on Rugrats, and Dexter for the original Dexter's Laboratory...

     as Babe: a piglet raised by the sheepdog Fly. He is considered one of the stupid animals at first, but becomes a hero in the end.
  • Miriam Margolyes
    Miriam Margolyes
    Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...

     as Fly: Hoggett's female border collie
    Border Collie
    The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep. It is the most widespread of the collie breeds....

    . The mother of a litter of puppies and adoptive mother of Babe, she is the first to consider Babe as one of the family.
  • Hugo Weaving
    Hugo Weaving
    Hugo Wallace Weaving is a Nigerian born, English-Australian film actor and voice artist. He is best known for his roles as Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, Elrond in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "V" in V for Vendetta, and performances in numerous Australian character dramas.-Early...

     as Rex: Farmer Hoggett's lead sheepdog who fathered Fly's puppies.
  • Danny Mann
    Danny Mann
    Daniel "Danny" Mann is an American voice actor, writer, singer, musician, and production manager. He is best known for his voice of Hector from Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats, Freeway, Cloudraker and Lightspeed in Transformers, Backwoods Beagle in DuckTales, Kaltag in Balto, Ferdinand from Babe,...

     as Ferdinand: A white Indian Runner Duck
    Indian Runner Duck
    Indian Runners are an unusual breed of domestic duck. They stand erect like penguins and, rather than waddling, they run. The females usually lay about 150 – 200 eggs a year or more, depending whether they are from exhibition or utility strains...

    . He is aware of his tenuous existence and lowly status on the farm, and is somewhat neurotic as a result.
  • Miriam Flynn
    Miriam Flynn
    Miriam Flynn is an American voice actress and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the National Lampoon's Vacation franchise. As a voice artist, she has been featured in The Land Before Time series, Taz-Mania as the title character's mother, Jean, Poil in The Spooktacular...

     as Maa: an old ewe on Hoggett Farm whom Babe gets to know and friend.
  • Russi Taylor
    Russi Taylor
    Russi Taylor is an American voice actress. She is the current voice actress of Disney's Minnie Mouse character. She has held this role since 1986, longer than any other voice actress...

     as Duchess: the Hoggetts' spoiled cat
    Cat
    The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

    .
  • Roscoe Lee Browne
    Roscoe Lee Browne
    Roscoe Lee Browne was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.-Biography:Browne was the fourth son of a Baptist minister, Sylvanus S. Browne, and his wife Lovie...

     as the Narrator.
  • Michael Edward-Stevens as Horse: a horse who pulls Arthur Hoggett's cart.
  • Charles Bartlett
    Charles Bartlett
    Charles Bartlett may refer to:*Charles W. Bartlett , English painter and printmaker*Charles Lafayette Bartlett , U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1895–1915*Charles L...

     as The Cow: a cow who is a strong believer in the way things are, for her job is to make milk.
  • Evelyn Krape as Old Ewe
  • Paul Livingston
    Paul Livingston
    Paul Livingston, popularly known as his alter ego Flacco, is an Australian comedian who has regularly appeared on many television shows, predominantly on ABC TV and Network Ten, including Good News Week, The Sandman and Flacco Special, The Big Gig, DAAS Kapital, The Money or the Gun, The Fat and...

     as Rooster
  • John Erwin
    John Erwin
    John Lee Erwin is a voice actor known for voicing Morris the Cat and He-Man.-Career:Erwin was the voice of He-Man in the Filmation production He-Man and the Masters of the Universe that ran from 1983 to 1985. Due to the extreme cost-cutting by Filmation, the cast of voice actors was small, and...

     as TV Commentator
  • The Singing Mice: a chorus of three mice
    MICE
    -Fiction:*Mice , alien species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*The Mice -Acronyms:* "Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions", facilities terminology for events...

     who introduce each chapter. Every other time, they appear singing songs: such as "Blue Moon
    Blue Moon (song)
    "Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....

    ", "Votre toast" (an aria
    Aria
    An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

     in French from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet), and Scott Fitzgerald
    Scott Fitzgerald (singer)
    Scott Fitzgerald is a Scottish singer, who had his biggest success in the 1970s and later represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest.-Career:...

    's "If I Had Words
    If I Had Words
    "If I Had Words" was a 1977 UK hit song performed by Scott Fitzgerald as a duet with Yvonne Keeley. It reached number 3 in the UK charts and number 24 in the Australian charts in 1978. It sold more than one million copies...

    ".

Reception

Babe was a critical success and was very well received. It currently holds a 98% "Certified Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

 and a 100% approval rating from top critics, making it one of the best rated films on their website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

. It was also a box office success, grossing $254,134,910 worldwide.

It was nominated for seven Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

, including Best Picture. It won the award for Best Visual Effects, defeating Apollo 13
Apollo 13 (film)
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...

. In 2006, the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...

 named Babe #80 on its list of America's Most Inspiring Movies
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers
100 Years…100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies is a list of the most inspiring films as determined by the American Film Institute. It is part of the AFI 100 Years… series, which has been compiling lists of the greatest films of all time in various categories since 1998...

.

Due to its title and subject matter not being halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

, Babe was initially banned in Malaysia, although the ruling was overturned almost a year later and the film was released direct-to-VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

.

Awards and nominations

  • 68th Academy Awards
    68th Academy Awards
    The 68th Academy Awards were held on March 25, 1996, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The ceremony was watched 44.48 million viewers, with 30.5% households watching...

    • Best Visual Effects (Won)
    • Best Actor in a Supporting Role
      Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
      Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

       (lost to Kevin Spacey
      Kevin Spacey
      Kevin Spacey, CBE is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television...

       for The Usual Suspects
      The Usual Suspects
      The Usual Suspects is a 1995 American neo-noir film written by Christopher McQuarrie and directed by Bryan Singer. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Chazz Palminteri, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey and Pete Postlethwaite....

      )
    • Best Art Direction
      Academy Award for Best Art Direction
      The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...

       (Roger Ford
      Roger Ford (production designer)
      Roger Ford is a production designer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Babe.-Selected filmography:* Babe * Rabbit-Proof Fence...

      , Kerrie Brown
      Kerrie Brown
      Kerrie Brown is a set decorator. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film Babe.-Selected filmography:* Babe * The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe...

      ) (lost to Restoration)
    • Best Film Editing
      Academy Award for Film Editing
      The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...

        (lost to Apollo 13
      Apollo 13 (film)
      Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...

      )
    • Best Picture
      Academy Award for Best Picture
      The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...

       (lost to Braveheart
      Braveheart
      Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...

      )
    • Best Director (lost to Braveheart
      Braveheart
      Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama war film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace...

      )
    • Best Adapted Screenplay
      Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
      The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...

       (lost to Sense and Sensibility)
  • 53rd Golden Globe Awards
    53rd Golden Globe Awards
    The 53rd Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1995, were held on 21 January 1996.-Best Actor – Drama: Nicolas Cage – Leaving Las Vegas* Richard Dreyfuss – Mr...

    • Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (Won)


American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...

 Lists
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies - Nominated
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs - Nominated
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
    • Babe - Nominated Hero
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
    • "That'll do, pig. That'll do." - Nominated
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers - #80
  • AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
  • AFI's 10 Top 10
    AFI's 10 Top 10
    AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....

     - Nominated Fantasy Film

Box office

Babe grossed $36,776,544 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $52,958,223 in 2009 dollars.

Sequel

A 1998 sequel Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City
Babe: Pig in the City is a 1998 sequel to the 1995 film Babe. It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter , the film was not received as well as the first Babe film was, as it flopped at the box office and reviews were generally...

was released in theaters, but received mixed reviews from film critics.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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