Babe (1995)

Babe, a pig raised by sheepdogs, learns to herd sheep with a little help from Farmer Hoggett.

Director:

Chris Noonan

Writers:

Dick King-Smith (novel), George Miller (screenplay),

Stars:

Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, James Cromwell

Won 1 Oscar. Another 17 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christine Cavanaugh	...	Babe (voice)
Miriam Margolyes	...	Fly (voice)
Danny Mann	...	Ferdinand (voice)
Hugo Weaving	...	Rex (voice)
Miriam Flynn	...	Maa (voice)
Russi Taylor	...	Duchess the Cat (voice) (as Russie Taylor)
Evelyn Krape	...	Old Ewe (voice)
Michael Edward-Stevens	...	Horse (voice)
Charles Bartlett	...	Cow (voice)
Paul Livingston	...	Rooster (voice)
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Narrator (voice)
James Cromwell	...	Farmer Arthur H. Hoggett
Magda Szubanski	...	Esme Hoggett
Zoe Burton	...	The Hoggetts' Daughter
Paul Goddard	...	The Hoggetts' Son-in-Law

Storyline

Farmer Hoggett wins a runt piglet at a local fair and young Babe, as the piglet decides to call himself, befriends and learns about all the other creatures on the farm. He becomes special friends with one of the sheepdogs, Fly. With Fly's help, and Farmer Hoggett's intuition, Babe embarks on a career in sheepherding with some surprising and spectacular results.

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Plot Keywords:

farmer | pig | sheep | sheepdog | dog | 

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Taglines:

A little pig goes a long way.

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Universal

Country:

Australia USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 August 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Babe, the Gallant Pig

Filming Locations:

Illawarra Highway, Albion Park, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,300,243 (UK) (15 December 1995)

Gross:

£18,634,395 (UK) (15 March 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy Miller Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A ten-year labor of love for producer George Miller.

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Goofs

When farmer Hoggett's wife is measuring babe, it is a clear sunny day. When the camera shows farmer Hoggett watching, it is raining in the background.

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Quotes

Narrator: [as Fly and Rex's puppies are being sold] The time comes for all creatures when childhood ends and the doorway opens to life as an adult. And so it was with Fly's pups, though that time was all too soon for Fly.

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Crazy Credits

While the field mice reappear at the end of the credits in theatrical version, they do not do so in the Pay TV version. In fact, the mice do not appear in the credits at all, either for voices, animation, or animatronics. The vocal portions of the musical credits were peculiarly absent, as these were provided by the mice.

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Connections

Referenced in Gilmore Girls: Teach Me Tonight (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Jingle Bells"
Music by James Pierpont

User Reviews

Positively Sublime

An extremely quirky film that you won't mind watching with the kids. Not full of sappy platitudes, this strange little tale of a pig that wants to be a sheep dog is extremely effective in it's message without hitting you in the head with it. No doubt because it wasn't made in Hollywood... we Americans have never been good at telling children's stories without being condescending and heavy-handed with the moral message.

The story takes place in some fairy tale amalgam of all the rural cultures of the English-speaking world - Sometimes it seems like England, other times Kansas, Australia, New Zealand, it's really never anywhere particular. The acting is superb, the animatronics are unrecognizable as such, and James Cromwell is superb as the taciturn farmer willing to give the little pig a chance.