Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

Babe, fresh from his victory in the sheepherding contest, returns to Farmer Hoggett's farm, but after Farmer Hoggett is injured and unable to work, Babe has to go to the big city to save the farm.

Director:

George Miller

Writers:

George Miller, Judy Morris,

Stars:

Magda Szubanski, James Cromwell, Mickey Rooney

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Magda Szubanski	...	Mrs. Esme Cordelia Hoggett
James Cromwell	...	Farmer Arthur Hoggett
Mary Stein	...	The Landlady
Mickey Rooney	...	Fugly Floom
Elizabeth Daily	...	Babe (voice) (as E.G. Daily)
Danny Mann	...	Ferdinand / Tug (voice)
Glenne Headly	...	Zootie (voice)
Steven Wright	...	Bob (voice)
James Cosmo	...	Thelonius (voice)
Nathan Kress	...	Easy / Tough Pup (voice)
Myles Jeffrey	...	Easy (voice)
Stanley Ralph Ross	...	The Bull Terrier / The Doberman (voice)
Russi Taylor	...	The Pink Poodle / Choir Cat (voice)
Adam Goldberg	...	Flealick (voice)
Eddie Barth	...	Nigel / Alan (voice)

Storyline

After Babe's great victory in the shepherding contest, Farmer Arthur Hoggett turns down all offers to make money with his pig's talents. But when he gets hurt severely in the well, his wife has to take up farming. She does her best but cannot meet the bank's requirements, which results in the necessity of getting back to Babe. Soon, Esme Hoggett is sitting in a plane headed for "the" city. There, Babe unwillingly causes deep trouble. He has to stay with Mrs. Hoggett in the only hotel in town that accepts pets. Friendly neighbours send officials who catch all animals from the hotel: Cats, dogs, chimpanzees and many others. Babe, who managed to stay free, decides to help his new friends and gets unexpected help - not only by Ferdinand, who flew all the way to the city.

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Plot Keywords:

farmer | hotel | farm | big city | animal | 

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Taglines:

In the heart of the city, a pig with heart.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Babe 2

Filming Locations:

Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£612,971 (UK) (4 December 1998)

Gross:

ESP 170,326,452 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The view from Babe's window at the animal hotel includes the Hollywood sign, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Rio de Janiero statue of Christ, the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, what appears to be a Moscow cathedral, and possibly other famous landmarks. In this vista, the Christ statue overlooks the Hollywood sign, and a helicopter and airplane can be seen eerily close to the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center (though flying away from them). Signage in the film indicates the city Babe visits is called "Metropolis", which has a Metropolis Gun Club and Metropolis Institute of Medicine.

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Goofs

The orang-utan playing the part of Thelonius is a female, though the character is male. Male orang-utans have large, obvious cheek-pads, which are not present on this individual.

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Quotes

Thelonius: This lowly, handless, deeply unattractive mudlover is a pig.

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Crazy Credits

One of the singing mice thanks the audience for staying through the credits.

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Connections

Featured in Getaway: Episode #15.33 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"That'll Do"
Written by Randy Newman
Performed by Peter Gabriel

User Reviews

Screen's Sweetest Pig Is Back..with Lots Of Colourful New Friends

Those who liked 'Babe' will wonder whether 'Babe: Pig in the City' is a good enough sequel. My answer is: definitely! Here are adorable pig is seen with some new colourful friends, lots of them, in a new adventure. Just like the first one, this one too is sheer delight, albeit a little more serious. I don't understand why people are complaining that this isn't a movie for kids. Why not? I think it's an excellent family film. There is no death or blood. It portrays a part of reality (e.g. that accidents happen, that there are others who are less fortunate than us etc) without getting to graphic and that's why it's great for kids too. It's a lot of fun and even suspenseful. I was in my teens when I first saw this film. There's one scene where Flealick follows the van but one he loses hold, he slides onto one side of the street and lies there motionless while the wheels on his 'scooter' rotate. For a moment my heart had stopped beating (as I thought he was dead) and I was so hoping that he hadn't passed away. The sequence that followed brought me back to laughing mode. Magda Szubanski has more to do here and she displays her comic abilities brilliantly. A strange thing I noticed was she had an American accent in the first film but here it's Australian and British. The rest of the voice-acting is done very well and in sync. The fictitious city (it may be Sidney as the famous opera-house was visible in one scene) is suitably dark and mysterious. I found 'Babe: Pig In The City' more uplifting than the first movie. I wish there was a third movie that would have made it a complete trilogy.