''Babe'' (also known as ''Babe the Sheep-Pig'' in the working title) is a 1995

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by Chris Noonan, produced by George Miller and written by both. It is an adaptation of

Dick King-Smith Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE (27 March 1922 – 4 January 2011), was an English writer of children's books, primarily using the pen name Dick King-Smith. He is best known for ''The Sheep-Pig'' (1983). It was adapted as the movie ''Babe'' (1995 ...

's 1983 novel ''

The Sheep-Pig ''The Sheep-Pig'', or ''Babe, the Gallant Pig'' in the US, is a children's novel by Dick King-Smith, first published by Gollancz in 1983 with illustrations by Mary Rayner. Set in rural England, where King-Smith spent twenty years as a farmer, i ...

'', which tells the story of a farm pig who wants to do the work of a sheepdog. The film is narrated by

Roscoe Lee Browne Roscoe Lee Browne (May 2, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American actor and director. He resisted playing stereotypically black roles, instead performing in several productions with New York City's Shakespeare Festival Theater, Leland Hayward ...

and the main animal characters are played by both real animals and

animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...

puppets. ''Babe'' was filmed in

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Place ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1994 and released theatrically on 4 August 1995, going on to become a critical and commercial success, with several

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations. A sequel, '' Babe: Pig in the City'', was released on 25 November 1998 and failed to achieve the same success as the first film.

Plot

After being used in "guess the weight" contest at a

county fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...

, orphaned piglet Babe is brought home to the farm of the contest winner, Arthur Hoggett. There he is taken in by

Border Collie The Border Collie is a Scottish breed of herding dog of medium size. Widely considered to be the most intelligent dog breed, they are descended from landrace sheepdogs once found all over the British Isles, but became standardised in the Ang ...

Fly, her irascible mate Rex and their puppies and befriends a duck named Ferdinand, who wakes people by crowing like a rooster every morning so he will be considered useful and be spared from being eaten. Dismayed when the Hoggetts buy an alarm clock, Ferdinand persuades Babe to help him destroy it. In doing so they wake Duchess, the Hoggetts' cat, and wreck the house in the ensuing chaos. Rex sternly instructs Babe to stay away from Ferdinand and the house. Seeing Fly saddened when her puppies are put up for sale, Babe lets her adopt him. With the Hoggett's relatives visiting for Christmas, Hoggett decides against choosing Babe for

Christmas dinner Christmas dinner is a meal traditionally eaten at Christmas. This meal can take place any time from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day itself. The meals are often particularly rich and substantial, in the tradition of ...

, remarking a pretext to his wife Esme that Babe may bring a prize for ham at the next county fair. Ferdinand's friend Rosanna is served instead, prompting Ferdinand to escape the farm. Babe investigates the fields, where he witnesses two men stealing Hoggett's sheep and quickly alerts Fly and the farmer, preventing the thieves from taking the whole flock. Impressed after seeing Babe sort hens, separating the brown from the white ones, Hoggett takes him to try and herd the sheep. Encouraged by an elder ewe named Maa, the sheep cooperate, but Rex perceives Babe's actions as an insult to sheepdogs. After Fly stands up for Babe, Rex attacks and injures her and bites Hoggett's hand when he tries to intervene; Rex is subsequently chained to the dog house and sedated, leaving the sheep herding job to Babe. One morning, Babe scares off a trio of feral dogs attacking the sheep, but Maa is mortally injured, and dies as a result. Hoggett, thinking Babe killed Maa, prepares to shoot him but Fly finds out the truth from the sheep and distracts Hoggett for long enough until Esme informs him about the dogs' attacks on neighboring farms. When Esme leaves on a trip, Hoggett signs Babe up for a local sheepherding competition. As it is raining the night before, Hoggett lets him and Fly into the house, where he is scratched by Duchess, who in turn is temporarily confined outside as punishment. When she is let back in later, she gets revenge on Babe by revealing that humans consume pigs. After learning from Fly that this is true, Babe runs away and Rex finds him the next morning in a cemetery. Hoggett brings a horrified and demoralized Babe home, where he refuses to eat. Hoggett feeds him from a baby bottle, sings " If I Had Words" and dances a jig for him, restoring Babe's faith in Hoggett's affection. At the competition, Babe meets the sheep that he will be herding, but they ignore his attempts to speak to them. As Hoggett is criticized by the bemused judges and ridiculed by the public for using a pig instead of a dog, Rex runs back to the farm to ask the sheep what to do. After promising he will treat them better from now on, the sheep disclose to him a secret password. He returns in time to convey the password to Babe, and the sheep now follow his instructions flawlessly. Amid the crowd's acclamation, Babe is unanimously given the highest score. While he sits down next to the farmer, Hoggett praises him with the standard command to sheep dogs that their job is done, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

Cast

Christine Cavanaugh Christine Josephine Cavanaugh (''née'' Sandberg; August 16, 1963 – December 22, 2014) was an American actress, who had a distinctive speaking style and provided the voice for a large range of cartoon characters. She was the original voice of ...

as Babe * Danny Mann as Ferdinand *

James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor and activist. Some of his best-known films include '' Babe'' (1995), '' Star Trek: First Contact'' (1996), ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), '' The Queen' ...

as Arthur Hoggett *

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

as Fly *

Hugo Weaving Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is an English actor. Born in Colonial Nigeria to English parents, he has resided in Australia for the entirety of his career. He is the recipient of six Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts ...

as Rex *

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in ''Fast Forward'', ''Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films ''Babe'' (1995) and ' ...

as Esme Hoggett *

Miriam Flynn Miriam Flynn (born June 18, 1952) is an American voice and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' and Grandma Longneck in ''The Land Before Time'' franchises. She has acted in other films ...

as Maa *

Russi Taylor Russi Taylor (May 4, 1944 – July 26, 2019) was an American voice actress. She is best remembered as the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, and was notably married to voice actor Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, until h ...

as Duchess *

as the Narrator * Brittany Byrnes as the Hoggetts' granddaughter * Wade Hayward as the Hoggetts' grandson * Paul Goddard as the Hoggetts' son-in-law * Zoe Burton as the Hoggetts' daughter * Michael Edward-Stevens as The Horse * Charles Bartlett as The Cow * Evelyn Krape as an unnamed Ewe * Paul Livingston as Rooster * Mary Acres as Valda * Janet Foye, Pamela Hawkins and Karen Gough as Country Women * John Doyle and Mike Harris as TV Commentators *

John Erwin John Lee Erwin (born December 5, 1936) is an American voice actor best known for voicing He-Man and Morris the Cat. Career Erwin was the voice of He-Man in the Filmation productions ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' and '' She-Ra: Prin ...

as Voice of TV Commentator *

Doris Grau Doris Grau (October 12, 1924 – December 30, 1995) was an American actress and script supervisor from Brooklyn. Shortly after moving to Hollywood in 1940, she began her career with supervising film and television scripts. She continued to do th ...

as Voice of Country Woman *

Marshall Napier James Marshall Napier (22 October 1951 – 14 August 2022) was a New Zealand-born character actor, playwright and graphic artist. He is known for a succession of strong supporting roles in Australasian films and television shows. He has also h ...

as Chairman of Judges The puppies were voiced by

Ross Bagley Ross Bagley is an American former actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Nicky Banks in ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' as well as Dylan Dubrow in ''Independence Day''. He also played Buckwheat in '' The Little Rascals''. Career ...

, Gemini Barnett, Rachel Davey,

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. Biography Derryberry was born in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust surviv ...

, Jazzmine Dillingham,

Courtland Mead Courtland Robert Mead (born April 19, 1987) is an American actor, noted for his performances on-screen during the 1990s. Early life Mead was born in Mission Viejo, California, the son of Denise and Robert Mead. He has two sisters, Lauren and C ...

, and Kevin Woods. The sheep were voiced by Jane Alden, Kimberly Bailey,

Patrika Darbo Patrika Darbo (born April 6, 1948) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Nancy Wesley and Shirley Spectra in the television soap operas '' Days of Our Lives'' and '' The Bold and the Beautiful'', respectively. In 2016, Darbo won ...

, Michelle Davison, Julie Forsyth, Maeve Germaine, Rosanna Huffman, Carlyle King,

Tina Lifford Tina may refer to: People * Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia *Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

, Genni Nevinson, Linda Phillips, Paige Pollack, and Kerry Walker. The other character voices were provided by Barbara Harris,

Jacqueline Brennan Jacqueline Brennan is an Australian stage, television and film actress with a career that has spanned over 30 years appearing in film, theatre and voice-over roles. Jacquie Brennan is known for her roles on '' Bullpitt!'', ''The Hollowmen,''and ...

, Doug Burch, Tony Hughes, Linda Janssen, Daamen Krall, Charlie MacLean, Justin Monjo, Antonia Murphy,

Neil Ross Neil David Ross is a British-American voice actor and announcer. Noted for his Trans-Atlantic accent, he has provided voices in many American cartoons, most notably ''Voltron'', '' G.I. Joe'', and ''Transformers'', as well as video games, incl ...

and Scott Vernon.

Production

''Babe'' is an adaptation of

's 1983 novel ''

'', also known as ''Babe: The Gallant Pig'' in the US, which tells the story of a pig raised as livestock who wants to do the work of a

sheepdog A sheep dog or sheepdog is generally a dog or breed of dogs historically used in connection with the raising of sheep. These include livestock guardian dogs used to guard sheep and other livestock and herding dogs used to move, manage and c ...

. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and

pigs and

s. The breed of pig used was a

Large White ''Pieris brassicae'', the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, ''Pieris ra ...

, which grows rapidly. On account of this, 46 piglets of the required size were used during the course of the filming, as well as the animatronic model for special effects. The film is divided into six chapters to preserve the storybook-like feel of the original novel (although none of the film's chapters are the same as the book's). The film's mice characters were subsequently added to read the chapters aloud after a test screening in which producer George Miller noted that younger audiences had trouble reading them, needing help from the adults. After seven years of development, ''Babe'' was filmed in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The talking-animal

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

were done by Rhythm & Hues Studios and

Jim Henson's Creature Shop Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States. History Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally ...

. The film was both a box office and critical success, grossing $254 million worldwide and earning seven

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nominations, including a win for Best Visual Effects. According to actor James Cromwell, there was tension on the set between producer George Miller and director Chris Noonan. Noonan later complained, "I don't want to make a lifelong enemy of George Miller but I thought that he tried to take credit for ''Babe'', tried to exclude me from any credit, and it made me very insecure... It was like your guru has told you that you are no good and that is really disconcerting." Miller shot back, "Chris said something that is defamatory: that I took his name off the credits on internet sites, which is just absolutely untrue. You know, I'm sorry but I really have a lot more to do with my life than worry about that... when it comes to ''Babe'', the vision was handed to Chris on a plate." Interviewed about the movie in 2020, Cromwell admitted he nearly turned it down, as his character only had about 16 lines. He was persuaded by his friend

Charles Keating Charles Humphrey Keating Jr. (December 4, 1923 – March 31, 2014) was an American sportsman, lawyer, real estate developer, banker, financier, conservative activist, and convicted felon best known for his role in the savings and loan sca ...

to take it anyway. Keating told him: "it's a free ticket to Australia, and if the movie tanks, it's not your fault, it's the pig's fault." Cromwell said Noonan wanted him for the part, and won out over Miller, who had wanted to cast an Australian actor. Cromwell's fee was around $50,000. He asked for an increase when he realised the movie was making millions of dollars, but was turned down. Nevertheless, he said "I got a lot out of that film, and it turned my whole life around. I didn't have to audition anymore." In 1998, a sequel directed by Miller, '' Babe: Pig in the City'', was released. In 2006, a video game of the same name based on the film, was published by Mastertronic for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

Music

The musical score for ''Babe'' was composed by

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films '' Ali's Wedding'', ''Paper Planes'', '' Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the City'', '' Children o ...

and performed by the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on f ...

. Classical orchestral music by 19th-century French composers is used throughout the film, but is disguised in a variety of ways and often integrated by Westlake into his score. The theme song " If I Had Words" (lyrics by Jonathan Hodge), sung by Hoggett near the film's conclusion, is an adaptation of the ''Maestoso'' final movement of the ''Organ Symphony'' by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

, and was originally performed in 1977 by Scott Fitzgerald and

Yvonne Keeley Yvonne Keeley (born Yvonne Paaij, 6 September 1952) is a Dutch pop music singer. She is the sister of Patricia Paay. She began her career as a session singer in the music industry in London. She was the girlfriend of Steve Harley of Steve Ha ...

. This tune also recurs throughout the film's score. There are also brief quotations within the score from

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

's Lyric Pieces, Op.71 No. 1. Other music featured is by

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

, and

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

Reception

The film was a box office success, grossing $36.7 million at the box office in

and over $254 million worldwide. It also received critical acclaim and was ultimately nominated for seven

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for

, Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Art Direction and Best Film Editing, winning Best Visual Effects. At the APRA Music Awards of 1996 it won Best Film Score for Westlake's work. In 2006, the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

named ''Babe'' #80 on its list of America's Most Inspiring Movies.''AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers''.

. Retrieved March 20, 2013. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 70 reviews, with a rating average of 8.26/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The rare family-friendly feature with a heart as big as its special effects budget, ''Babe'' offers timeless entertainment for viewers of all ages."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gave the film a score of 83 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Because of its subject being a piglet, ''Babe'' was initially banned from

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

in order to avoid upsetting or annoying

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

(who view pigs as

haram ''Haram'' (; ar, حَرَام, , ) is an Arabic term meaning 'Forbidden'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowle ...

). The ruling was overturned almost a year later and the film was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy w ...

. When ''Babe'' was released in the US, it is reported that "activists around the country staked out movie theatres with flyers documenting the real-life abuses of pigs". The film had a marked effect on the growth of

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianis ...

, particularly among the young. It also promoted a more sympathetic view of the intellectual, emotional and social capacities of animals. James Cromwell became an

ethical vegan Conversations regarding the ethics of eating meat are focused on whether or not it is moral to eat non-human animals. Ultimately, this is a debate that has been ongoing for millennia, and it remains one of the most prominent topics in food ethics ...

as a result of starring as Farmer Hoggett, saying, "I decided that to be able to talk about this

ovie Ovie is a given name, nickname and surname. It may refer to: Nickname * Alexander Ovechkin (born 1985), Russian ice hockey player * Ovie Alston (1905–1989), American jazz trumpeter, vocalist, and bandleader * Ovie Ejaria (born 1997), English foo ...

with conviction, I needed to become a vegetarian." In 1996 he went on to organize a vegetarian dinner for the Los Angeles homeless at a "Compassionate Christmas" event''Vegetarian Times'', March 199
p. 24
. in order to reverse the barnyard view that "Christmas is carnage".

Accolades

References

External links

* * * *
''Babe''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Babe 1995 films British children's films 1990s English-language films American children's comedy films American children's drama films American coming-of-age films APRA Award winners Australian children's films Australian comedy-drama films Australian coming-of-age films Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners Children's comedy-drama films Films scored by Nigel Westlake Films about animals Films about animal rights Films about ducks Films about farmers Films about pigs Films about dogs Films about sheep Films based on children's books Films directed by Chris Noonan Films produced by George Miller Films produced by Bill Miller Films produced by Doug Mitchell Films set in farms Films set in England Films shot in Australia Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award Kennedy Miller Mitchell films Universal Pictures films 1990s children's films Films with screenplays by George Miller National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film winners 1995 directorial debut films 1990s American films 1990s British films