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:

This little pig went to the city...

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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

A billboard on the city skyline reads "Eternity." This refers to the eccentric mission of reformed petty criminal Arthur Stace, who in 1932 began anonymously chalking the single word "Eternity" in copperplate style on footpaths around Sydney. He continued until his death in 1967. ("Eternity" also was featured in the finale of Sydney's fireworks display on New Years Day 2000.)

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Goofs

When Esme hits the guest on the ladder, she is wearing shoes, which are visible. In the next shot, she has bare feet.

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Quotes

Bob: All I know is what I see. Tug comes in with the bag, just doin' his job, collectin' stuff, and you barge in here accusacating and making demandments.

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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

"Three Blind Mice"
Traditional
Arranged by Llew Kiek and Mara Kiek

User Reviews

Give it another chance!

In my opinion one of the year's best films, I cannot help but pity poor Universal and director George Miller for the loss of the sequel to "Babe." Kudos go to them for making a film so original and daring, so out of place in the family film market today, as it defies almost everything that stands for these days: you don't forget the entire movie within a few hours; rather, it stays with you, filling your head with bold and imaginative images that rival those of the best children's books out there.

"Babe: Pig in the City" is much like many other great sequels ("The Empire Strikes Back," "Aliens") in that it is superior to the original but so different from it, that it is not even worth making a comparison of the two. Why have so many people rejected it? Why was it on so many critics' ten best lists, and the public shunned it so much? It is really rather simple. There is no place for a THOUGHT-PROVOKING family film in this day and age, with the exception of perhaps "The Prince of Egypt."

The thing that makes me laugh here is, teenagers and adults alike are commenting on how violent "Babe 2" is, yet if I remember correctly few or no animals at all die in the film. And no big deal seems to be made when the same stuff happens to human beings in "family films."

To be honest, I don't think they should have rated it G, simply because it seems that anyone seeing this under the age of nine would be confused and perplexed by it. Most people over that age however should be able to follow it well, and understand that the things happening in it are no worse than what kids (and especially teens) see everyday, whether it's on TV's "The Simpsons" (my favorite show) or something at the multiplex (a whole ARMY of people gets drowned in "The Prince of Egypt"- a PG rated film).

In the end I am truly hoping that "Babe: Pig in the City" is given at least some Oscar nominations, especially for the art direction, cinematography, and visual effects- all of which were superb. A great movie, even though it has not found an audience.

This movie just screams: "Give it another chance!"