Babe (film)

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Babe is an Academy Award-winning 1995 Australian film that tells the story of a pig who wants to be a sheep dog. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic pigs and Border Collies. The film is based on the book Babe: The Gallant Pig (originally titled The Sheep Pig) by Dick King-Smith, and later spawned a sequel called Babe: Pig in the City.

The talking animal visual effects were done by Rhythm and Hues Studios.

Babe was filmed in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia.

[edit] Plot

The movie focuses on the story of a pig who is the runt of the litter. After his mother is taken away to be slaughtered (or, as pigs think, to a "Pig Paradise"), his siblings drink from the mechanical milk machine, while he stands alone. This leads to him being picked out by two men to be in a "guess the weight" booth at a carnival. Farmer Hoggett, who makes a special bond with the pig once he looks at it, guesses the correct weight (16 lbs, 2 oz.) and wins the pig. Babe is brought to the farm and is allowed to stay with the sheepdog, Fly, and her pups. After being told he isn't allowed the same privileges as the dogs, such as entering the house and going out to the sheep field, he encounters a duck named Ferdinand. Ferdinand wakes the farm each morning by stealing the rooster's job and crowing. He tricks Babe into helping him destroy the alarm clock Mrs. Hoggett has because it threatens his job. The two succeed, but end up waking the cat and covering the living room with paint. Babe gets in trouble with the dogs and is told to stay away from the duck (Ferdinand) and the house. Babe then meets Maa, a resident sheep. She tells him what a nice pig he is and how he should watch out for wolves (the dogs). Fly's pups are then sold and Fly becomes depressed. She decides to call Babe her son to help her through the heartbreak.

As Christmas approaches, Babe secretly helps Ferdinand fly the coop so he won't become dinner. Babe then accidentally opens the door to the sheep field and decides to venture in. Here, he witnesses two men trying to steal the sheep with the help of their dogs. He goes to alert Fly, her mate Rex, and Mr. Hoggett, who are able to prevent some of the sheep from being taken. Babe watches Fly herd the sheep and decides that he too wants to be a sheepdog. At Christmas, Mrs. Hoggett is dead set on having ham. Mr. Hoggett then sees Babe herd the chickens outside into a straight line, separating the brown ones from the white ones. Impressed, Hoggett manages to convince his wife to keep Babe so they can show him in the fair. Instead of pork, they and their visiting family have Ferdianand's girlfriend instead. The next day Babe is allowed to go to the sheep field with Fly and Rex. Rex feels threatened by Babe, especially when Hoggett tells Babe rather than Rex to herd the sheep. Taking advice from Fly to be rough, Babe charges in and bites Maa. This angers the sheep, so Babe decides to be nice and ask politely. The sheep then file out in a straight line, impressing Farmer Hoggett. That night, Rex attacks Fly for putting ideas in Babe's head. Fly's right-front leg is injured, and Rex is chained to the dog house and sedated. It is now Babe's job to herd the sheep.

Hoggett soon considers entering Babe in the sheepdog trials. One morning, as Babe runs out to the field early he witnesses a pack of "wolves" (actually stray dogs) attacking the sheep. After scaring them away by ramming into their sides, he learns that Maa was fatally wounded and dies. Hoggett sees Babe standing over the dead sheep (with blood on his snout) and assumes the worst. As he prepares to shoot Babe, Fly tries to talk to the sheep for the first time to find out what happened. By barking, she manages to distract Mr. Hoggett long enough to allow Mrs. Hoggett to come out and tell how she heard that wolves killed six sheep on another farm.

When Mrs. Hoggett leaves town for a ladies' meeting, Mr. Hoggett enters Babe in the sheepdog trials under the name "Pig". That evening, Mrs. Hoggett's spoiled cat scratches Babe when he tries to talk to her, and she is thrown outside into the rain (under a roofed porch, but still cold). She sneaks back in and apologizes at first, but quickly turns the conversation into telling Babe how humans eat pigs. Fly confirms this when Babe runs to her for the truth. That night Babe runs away, but is found by Hoggett muddy and barely alive the next morning. Babe refuses to eat, so Hoggett gives him a drink in a bottle. He starts to sing, and this eventually leads to dancing for him (while the other animals watch through the windows). This restores Babe's faith in the farmer.

After much debate on whether Babe should be in the trials, the officials allow him to participate, as there is no rule saying the entrant must be a dog. However, the trial sheep refuse to listen to Babe. Rex runs back to the farm to get the secret password from the sheep ("Baa, Ram, Ewe", etc...) The sheep only consent to give Rex this password for Babe, when Rex promises to treat the sheep better in the future. He runs back to the trials and tells Babe the password. Fly and Rex then forgive each other for their fight earlier. Using the Sheep password, Babe is able to convince the sheep to do what he asks them to, and they perform flawlessly.

After getting five perfect 10s and the adoration of the crowd, Babe sits next to Hoggett who then says "That'll do, pig. That'll do."

[edit] Soundtrack

This Nigel Westlake score includes a Grammy-winning song "If I Had Words." The main 'theme' (heard in "If I Had Words") from the film is taken from Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3, "Organ."

[edit] Soundtrack album track listing

1. If I Had Words - performed by Yvonne Keeley & Scott Fitzgerald - 2:53
2. This is a Tale... - 1:47
3. Fairground - 2:07
4. I Want My Mum - 1:07
5. The Way Things Are - 2:06
6. Crime and Punishment - 1:35
7. Anorexic Duck Pizzicati - 1:24
8. Repercussions - 1:40
9. Toreador/Mother and Son - 2:28
10. Pork is Nice Sweet Meat/Away in a Manger - 3:02
11. Christmas Morning - 1:41
12. Blue Moon - 0:38
13. Round Up - 2:00
14. Babe's Round Up - 1:39
15. The Sheep Pig - 1:27
16. Dog Tragedy - 1:32
17. Hoggett Shows Babe - 0:57
18. Maa's Death - 1:02
19. Cantique de Jean Racine/The Cat - 2:17
20. If I Had Words - performed by James Cromwell - 2:17
21. Baa Ram Ewe - 0:45
22. The Gauntlet/Moment of Truth - 1:41
23. That'll Do Pig, That'll Do - 1:35

[edit] Reception

The film was a warmly received family picture, with Time Out London describing it as 'charming, eccentric and very amusing',^[1] and Roger Ebert calling it 'a movie made with charm and wit, and unlike some family movies it does not condescend'. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It won the award for Best Visual Effects, defeating Apollo 13.^[2]

Due to its title and its subject matter not being "halal", the film was initially banned in Malaysia,^[3] although it was later released on VHS and VCD.

[edit] Academy Awards

[edit] Won

• Academy Award for Visual Effects - Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan, John Cox

[edit] Nominated

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role (James Cromwell)
• Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
• Best Director
• Best Film Editing
• Best Picture
• Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

[edit] Home video release history

• March 19, 1996 (VHS and laserdisc)
• November 7, 1999 (DVD)
• November 10, 1998 (VHS and laserdisc - Universal Family Features with THX, the last laserdisc release)
• February 23, 1999 (DVD - DTS)
• May 22, 2001 (DVD - 2-Pack with Babe: Pig in the City)
• September 23, 2003 (VHS and DVD - Special Edition, the Special Edition DVD and The Complete Adventure Two-Movie Pig Pack with the second film Babe: Pig in the City were released in separate widescreen and pan and scan formats. To promote the 80th Academy Awards ceremony, the same widescreen DVD print of the film with an extra Academy Awards DVD cover is available at stores.)
• February 1, 2005 (DVD - Family Double Feature, this contains Babe: Pig in the City) (Note: This DVD shows pan and scan versions of both films and the widescreen version of the second film.)
• August 28, 2007 (DVD - Family Favorite Treasures, this DVD contains Beethoven and The Cat in the Hat) (Note: All three films on this DVD are in pan and scan only.)^[4]
• November 6, 2007 (DVD - Two-Movie Collection with Curious George) (Note: This is a widescreen DVD box set only, meaning that outside of the box set, the widesrceen DVD may still be available like it is at Blockbuster Inc.)^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Babe at the Internet Movie Database
• Easybyte - free easy piano arrangement of "Excerpt from Organ Symphony # 3 - Finale" by Camille Saint-Saëns plus midi sound file
• Babe at the National Film and Sound Archive

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