Charlotte's Web (1973)

Directors:

Charles A. Nichols
Iwao Takamoto

Writers:

E.B. White (book)
Earl Hamner Jr. (story)

Release Date:

1 March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Musical

Tagline:

That humble radiant terrific book is now a humble radiant terrific movie.

Plot:

A spider with a flair for promotion pledges to save a young pig from slaughter.

Plot Keywords:

Pig | Spider | Farm | Runt | Spiderweb

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Debbie Reynolds	...	Charlotte A. Cavatica (voice)
Paul Lynde	...	Templeton (voice)
Henry Gibson	...	Wilbur (voice)
Rex Allen	...	Narrator (voice)
Martha Scott	...	Mrs. Arable (voice)
Dave Madden	...	Ram (voice)
Danny Bonaduce	...	Avery Arable (voice)
Don Messick	...	Jeffrey (voice)
Herb Vigran	...	Lurvy (voice)
Agnes Moorehead	...	The Goose (voice)
Pamelyn Ferdin	...	Fern Arable (voice) (as Pam Ferdin)
Joan Gerber	...	Mrs. Zuckerman / Mrs. Fussy (voice)
Bob Holt	...	Homer Zuckerman (voice) (as Robert Holt)
John Stephenson	...	Farmer Arable (voice)
William B. White	...	Henry Fussy (voice)
Joann Albert	...	Singer (voice) (as Joann Alberts)
John Richard Bolks	...	Singer (voice) (as Dick Bolks)
Fred Frank	...	Singer (voice)
Ida Sue McCune	...	Singer (voice) (as Susie McCune)
Jay Meyer	...	Singer (voice)
Robert Tebow	...	Singer (voice) (as Bob Tebow)
Jackie Allen	...	Singer (voice)
Paul DeKorte	...	Singer (voice)
Bill Lee	...	Singer (voice)
Gene Merlino	...	Singer (voice)
Paul Sandberg	...	Singer (voice)
Jackie Ward	...	Singer (voice)

Directed by
Charles A. Nichols		(as Charles Nichols)
Iwao Takamoto

Writing credits
E.B. White		(book)
Earl Hamner Jr.		(story)

Produced by
Joseph Barbera	....	producer
Edgar M. Bronfman	....	executive producer (as Edgar Bronfman)
William Hanna	....	producer

Original Music by
Irwin Kostal

Film Editing by
Pat Foley

Art Direction by
Ray Aragon
Paul Julian
Bob Singer

Production Management
Victor O. Schipek	....	production supervisor

Art Department
Jan Green	....	story sketches (as Jan Strejan)

Sound Department
Richard C. Allen	....	sound effects editor
Earl Bennett	....	sound effects editor
Joseph D. Citarella	....	sound director (as Joe Citarella)
Bill Getty	....	sound director
Richard Olson	....	sound director (as Dick Olson)
Joe Sandusky	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Dick Blundell	....	camera operator
George Epperson	....	camera operator
Ralph Migliori	....	camera operator
Roy Wade	....	camera operator
Dennis Weaver	....	camera operator
Cliff Shirpser	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Animation Department
Edwin Aardal	....	animator (as Ed Aardal)
John Ahern	....	layout artist
Hal Ambro	....	key animator
Fernando Arce	....	background artist
Mike Arens	....	layout artist
Jayne Barbera	....	ink and paint supervisor
Ed Barge	....	key animator
Lyle Beddes	....	background artist
Oliver Callahan	....	animator (as O.E. Callahan)
Lars Calonius	....	key animator
Pat Combs	....	key assistant animator
Lee Dyer	....	animator
Jerry Eisenberg	....	layout artist
Venetia Epler	....	background artist
Ronald Erickson	....	background artist
Lillian Evans	....	key assistant animator
Martin Forte	....	background artist
Hugh Fraser	....	animator
Robert Gentle	....	background artist (as Bob Gentle)
Gino Giudice	....	background artist
Al Gmuer	....	background artist
Bob Goe	....	animator
Moe Gollub	....	layout artist (as Mo Gollub)
Ric Gonzalez	....	layout artist
Joe Griffith	....	background artist (as Joseph Griffith Jr.)
Bob Hathcock	....	key assistant animator
Jerry Hathcock	....	animation coordinator
David High	....	layout artist
Gary Hoffman	....	layout artist
Jack Huber	....	layout artist
Charlotte Huffine	....	key assistant animator
Alex Ignatiev	....	layout artist
Volus Jones	....	animator
Bill Keil	....	animation coordinator
Richard Khim	....	background artist
Tom Knowles	....	background artist
George Kreisl	....	animator
Sammie Lanham	....	assistant animator
Dick Lundy	....	key animator
Lorraine Marue	....	background artist (as Lorraine Andrina)
Rae McSpadden	....	key assistant animator
Fernando Montealegre	....	background supervisor (as F. Montealegre)
Don Morgan	....	layout artist
Gary Niblett	....	background artist
Margaret Nichols	....	key assistant animator
Rolando Oliva	....	background artist
Joan Orbison	....	key assistant animator
Lew Ott	....	layout artist
Ed Parks	....	animator
Don Patterson	....	animator
Ray Patterson	....	animator
Bill Perez	....	animation stylist: song sequences
Jay Sarbry	....	key assistant animator
Eric Semones	....	background artist
Irven Spence	....	key animator (as Irv Spence)
Leo Swenson	....	layout artist
Takashi	....	animation stylist: song sequences (as Takashi Masunaga)
Jeannette Toews	....	background artist
Peter Van Elk	....	background artist
Carlo Vinci	....	animator
Robert 'Tiger' West	....	xerographer
George Wheeler	....	layout artist
Xenia	....	animator
Roman Arambula	....	animator (uncredited)
Madlyn O'Neill	....	painter (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Larry C. Cowan	....	editorial supervisor (as Larry Cowan)
William E. DeBoer	....	negative consultant
Joed Eaton	....	post-production
David Block	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Paul DeKorte	....	music coordinator
Irwin Kostal	....	conductor
Irwin Kostal	....	music arranger
Irwin Kostal	....	music supervisor
Richard M. Sherman	....	songs: music and lyrics by
Robert B. Sherman	....	songs: music and lyrics by

Other crew
Alex Lovy	....	dialogue director
Lewis Marshall	....	story editor (as Lew Marshall)
Frank Paiker	....	technical supervisor
Robert Schaefer	....	title typography

Production Companies

• Hanna-Barbera Productions
• Paramount Pictures
• Sagittarius Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Scotia-Barber (197?) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1976) (USA) (TV)
• Finnkino (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Missing in Action (MIA)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Select Video (????) (Finland) (video)
• Tec Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1985) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"E.B. White's Charlotte's Web" - USA (promotional title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Canada:G | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (Approved No. 23148) | Iceland:L | Germany:o.Al. (VHS rating) | Finland:S (1989)

Company:

Hanna-Barbera Productions

Trivia:

According to the 2007 DVD director's commentary for the 2006 live action/CG remake of "Charlotte's Web," the sequence with Templeton's feasting at the fair had to be expanded because a test audience commented that they missed the Sherman Brothers song, "A Veritable Smorgasbord," they remembered from the 1973 "Charlotte's Web."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Templeton rips off a flap from a packet of popcorn that was in the dump, there is no writing on the flap. When Templeton brings the flap back to the farm, the word "CRUNCHY" can be seen on the flap.

Quotes:

[Charlotte is looking for a new message to write in her web]
Lamb:How about "Pig Supreme"?
Charlotte:No good. It sounds like a rich dessert.
[Templeton walks past with an apple core towards the trough, and Charlotte glares at Templeton]
Goose:How about terrific, terrific, terrific?
Charlotte:Cut that down to one terrific and it will do nicely. I think terrific might impress Zuckerman.
Wilbur:But Charlotte, I'm not terrific.
Charlotte:You're terrific as far as I am concerned.
[Templeton, while holding a piece of orange in his mouth, smacks Wilbur's face with his tail and walks off to the trough]
Charlotte:[after glaring at Templeton] Does anybody know how to spell it?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Nostalgia Critic: Top 11 Saddest Nostalgic Moments (#1.35)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Charlotte's Web

It's not that bad...

So far, I've seen two completely different points of view in the comments for this movie. One was so-so, the other thought it was completely awful. Well, I would like to add a third: I thought it was charming.

"Charlotte's Web" is my absolutely favourite story, and one of the most treasured books in my personal library. This movie, while far from perfect, does stay very true to the original story (which, in case Negative Nellie may have missed, Disney does NOT do -- even though I love Disney, too).

It's true the animation isn't the best, but you have to realize that "Charlotte's Web" was made in 1973, WAAAAAY before the computer-animated wonders of the '80's and '90's. The animation in the '70's was still stuck in the Saturday-morning-cartoon format, where, instead of animating every single cel, the animators would animate every third or fifth cel. It saved time, money, and you still got animation -- just not very sophisticated animation. Disney and Max Fleischer were really the only ones that were trying to push animation beyond the extremely confined limits it was once stuck in. So you can't really fault the movie for that, it was a common fault 20 years ago to get stuck in a rut. (It's still happening today, or hasn't anyone watched "Godzilla", "Armageddon", or "Starship Troopers"? Just because the animation is more advanced doesn't mean that it isn't becoming redundant).

Other than the animation, "Charlotte's Web", taken from a purely entertainment level, is really not that bad. I still enjoy watching this movie, and the voice actors actually closely match the voices I've made in my head for the characters in the book over the years. Especially Templeton. His scene when he comes back from his night of gorging at the fair cracks me up. "In case you haven't noticed, there are over 8,000 eggs in that tiny little sac." "This HAS been a night!" HA!

The songs seem a little out of place at times, but on the whole, I still find this movie very enjoyable. It's not deep, it's not profound, it's a piece of mindless fluff, with some very nice performances from the voice actors and a lot of very cute moments. It's children's fare, folks, so just take it as such, and it's a lot easier to take. I liked it. So there.