Babe Movie

Babe
Rating:
Run Time: 94 min
MPAA Rating:
Released: 1995
Directors: Chris Noonan
Genre/Type: Fantasy
Children's/Family
Children's Fantasy
Animal Picture
Producers: Bill Miller
George Miller
Doug Mitchell
Plot Synopsis by Judd Blaise
A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian family film, which became an unexpected international success due to superior special effects and an intelligent script. The title refers to the name bestowed on a piglet soon after his separation from his family, when he finds himself on a strange farm. Confused and sad, Babe is adopted by a friendly dog and slowly adjusts to his new home. Discovering that the fate of most pigs is the dinner table, Babe devotes himself to becoming a useful member of the farm by trying to learn how to herd sheep, despite the skepticism of the other animals and the kindly but conventional Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell). Because technically impeccable animatronics and computer graphics allow the farm animals to converse easily among themselves, first-time director Chris Noonan can treat the film's menagerie as actual characters, playing scene not for cuteness but for real emotions. The result is often surprisingly touching, with Noonan and George Miller's script, based on Dick King-Smith's children's book and, indirectly, a true story, seamlessly combining gentle whimsy and sincere feeling. These same qualities are embodied by in Cromwell's beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett, which anchors the film. Despite its unlikely premise and low profile, Babe's inspirational story was embraced by audiences and critics, and the movie became an international sleeper that won an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was followed in 1999 by the less successful Babe: Pig in the City.

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Babe Ruth had a total of 714 home runs. 708 of those were in the American League: 49 while a member of the Boston Red Sox and 659 as a member of the New York Yankees. In 1935, his final year, Ruth played for the Boston Braves of the Nationa...
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Cast

Actors Character Born
James Cromwell Arthur Hoggett Jan 27, 1940 in Los Angeles, CA
Magda Szubanski
Christine Cavanaugh Babe
Miriam Margolyes Fly
Danny Mann Ferdinand
Hugo Weaving Rex Apr 4, 1960 in Austin, Nigeria
Michael Edward-Stevens
Michelle Davison Sheep
Kimberly Bailey Sheep
Matthew Long Sheepdog Trial Officer
Paige Pollack Sheep
Kerry Walker Sheep
John Erwin
Miriam Flynn Maa Jun 18, 1952 in Cleveland, OH
Doris Grau
Marshall Napier Chairman of Judges
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Back to the topReview

Review by Lucia Bozzola
The biggest surprise about Chris Noonan's 1995 family classic wasn't that Mad Max auteur George Miller co-wrote and co-produced it, but that this exquisitely crafted work was the rare children's story as appealing to grown-ups as to children. Seamlessly combining live animals, animatronic beasts, and computer effects, Babe's fable about a pig's aspiring to prove his worth to his eccentric master and the rest of the barnyard animals was rendered intelligently and poignantly through the eyes and talking mouths of that menagerie. Amid the metaphorical caste system of supreme humans, ruling dogs, pliant sheep, a devious cat, and a Greek chorus of mice, Babe the piglet reveals the ageless need for an "unprejudiced heart," aided by an anorexic duck and the singularly open-minded Farmer Hoggett. Opening in the depths of summer, Babe impressed critics and audiences with its masterful effects, sly wit, and treacle-free emotion; the National Society of Film Critics voted it the year's best film. Babe went on to earn seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor for James Cromwell's low-key performance as Hoggett; it won Best Visual Effects. Its darker sequel Babe: Pig in the City, however, was lost in the 1998 holiday movie shuffle.

Babe on TV

Zip Code: 10010 · Provider: Verizon Fios Freehold NY Plus-Digital (Jersey City) Edit
Dec 3 , 7:00 AM ET · Babe  · Channel 430 · 5MAX · Duration: 95 min.
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