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Babe - The Sheep-Pig

The Sheep-Pig is a novel by British author Dick King-Smith. It was first published in 1983, retitled Babe The Gallant Pig in the U.S., and adapted for the screen as the 1995 film Babe. The book is set in rural England, where Dick King-Smith spent twenty years as a farmer. The book won the Guardian Children's Fiction Award in 1984. It took film producer and co-writer George Miller ten years to take the book from paperback to big screen. The book was also adapted for the stage by Children's playwright David Wood. The stage version uses a cast of actors and life size puppets for an audience of young children.

Babe Theatrical release poster

Babe (film)

Babe is a 1995 family 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 The Sheep-Pig (known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the U.S.) by Dick King-Smith, and later spawned a sequel called Babe: Pig in the City.

Babe was filmed in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia. The talking animal visual effects were done by Rhythm and Hues Studios. Although the setting and style of the film is distinctly British/Australasian pastoral, many of the human speaking parts were over-dubbed from Australian to American accents for popular acceptance in the American film market.

Plot

After a pig's mother is taken away to be slaughtered by humans (or, as the film's pigs think, to a "Pig Paradise"), Babe is picked out for a "guess the weight" booth at a county fair. Farmer Hoggett guesses the correct weight and wins the pig. Babe is brought to the farm and is allowed to stay with the female sheepdog, Fly (a Border Collie), and her pups. He meets Ma, a resident sheep. She tells him what a nice pig he is and how he should watch out for dogs she calls "wolves". He encounters a duck named Ferdinand, who wakes the farm each morning by stealing the rooster's job and crowing. He tricks Babe into helping him destroy the alarm clock- or "mechanical rooster" as he calls it, because it threatens his job. They succeed, but wake the cat and end up covering the living room with paint. Babe gets in trouble with Rex (a Border Collie), Fly's mate and leader of the farm, and is told to stay away from Ferdinand and the house as punishment.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoggett are seen talking about Christmas dinner and whether they would have roast pork or Duck a l'orange (and whether they would kill Babe or Ferdinand). Mrs. Hogget seems to have her mind set on pork. At Christmas, Hoggett, convinces his wife to keep him so they can show him in the fair.

Babe hears the sheep baaing and witnesses two men trying to steal the sheep and alerts Rex, Fly and Mr. Hoggett, who are able to prevent some of the sheep, including Maa, from being taken. Babe watches Fly herd the sheep and decides that he too wants to be a sheepdog. The next day Hoggett sees Babe herd the hens outside into a straight line, separating the brown ones from the white ones. Impressed, he takes the pig 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 one of the sheep. This angers Maa, who advises him to be nice and ask politely. The sheep then file out in a straight line, impressing Farmer Hoggett. But Rex regards Babe's behavior as an insult to all sheepdogs, and fights Fly for putting ideas in Babe's head. Fly's right-front leg is injured, and Mr. Hoggett is bitten by Rex while trying break the two dogs up. Rex is chained to the dog house and sedated, causing him to lose his working ability. 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 "wolf" dogs attacking the sheep. After scaring them away by ramming into their sides, he learns that Maa has been fatally injured and she then 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 wild dogs killed six lambs on another farm.

When Mrs. Hoggett leaves town, Mr. Hoggett enters Babe in the sheepdog trials under the name "Pig". That evening, it is so wet outside that Farmer Hoggett lets Babe inside the house along with Fly. But the Hoggetts' spoiled cat, Duchess, scratches Babe when he tries to talk to her, and she is thrown outside into the rain. She is eventually let back in, but 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, despite encouragement from Rex, who has softened his attitude towards him, so Hoggett gives him a drink in a bottle. Hoggett starts to sing "If I Had Words" to Babe, and this eventually leads to Hoggett dancing for him (while the other animals watch through the windows). This restores Babe's faith in the farmer and he begins to eat again.

The trial sheep refuse to listen to Babe, and Rex runs back to the farm to get the secret password from the sheep. The sheep only consent to give Rex this password for Babe's use, and tell Rex that he must promise to treat the sheep better in the future. After much debate, the officials allow Babe to participate. The entire crowd laughs at them, but using the Sheep password, Babe convinces the sheep to do what he asks, and they perform flawlessly. After getting five perfect 10.0s and the adoration of the crowd, Babe sits next to Hoggett, who delivers the famous line "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

Cast

    * Roscoe Lee Browne as the narrator.
    * Christine Cavanaugh as Babe: the main protagonist. He is a piglet, raised by the sheepdog Fly. He is considered one of the stupid animals at first, but becomes a hero in the end. Unlike his dog family, his tactic of herding sheep is to ask the sheep politely.
    * James Cromwell as Arthur Hoggett: the farmer of Hoggett Farm. He is referred to by the animals as "The Boss". (The exception being Duchess, who considers him "The Boss's husband.") Unlike his wife, he sees how valuable Babe (or "Pig") really is on the farm. He is a man of few words; in fact, it is noted by the Narrator at the end of the film that in his life, Arthur has spoken fewer words than anybody in the stadium at the sheepdog trials.
    * Miriam Margolyes as Fly: Hoggett's female border collie sheepdog. She is the first to consider Babe as one of the family. She is a strong believer in the way things are. Like Rex, she views the sheep as inferior. She is the mother of a litter of pups. Though she firmly believes that sheep are the stupidest animals on the farm, she asks the sheep for information while Farmer Hoggett suspected Babe killed Maa.
    * Hugo Weaving as Rex: Farmer Hoggett's lead sheepdog who fathered Fly's puppies. He is also a strong believer in the way things are. When Babe starts herding sheep, he becomes jealous and very vicious toward everyone, especially Fly, for encouraging Babe. Rex seems to have a particular hatred toward sheep. Both he and Fly blame the "stupidity of sheep" for his impaired hearing, which kept him from the Grand National Sheepdog Champion title. Eventually, he helps Babe win the sheepdog tournament by asking the sheep at Hoggett Farm for help.
    * Miriam Flynn as Maa: an old ewe who lives on Hoggett Farm. She is very old, but cares very much about Babe and does not want him growing up like the dogs, who she views as savages. She teaches Babe that sheep will do anything if you ask nicely. She dies after an attack by stray dogs. She is loved by everyone.
    * Danny Mann as Ferdinand: An Indian Runner Duck. He is all too aware of his tenuous existence and lowly status on the farm, and is somewhat neurotic as a result. Because ducks are viewed as one of the stupid animals, he tries to find a purpose by waking up the Bosses in the morning, much to the annoyance of the Bosses and the rooster. He befriends Babe and tries to get him to destroy the alarm clock. He leaves at one point, but returns after a while. He's allergic to cats.
    * Magda Szubanski as Esmé Hoggett: Arthur Hoggett's wife. She is very happy when Arthur wins Babe at the carnival, for she sees Babe as a delicious Christmas Dinner. She becomes shocked to see Babe in the sheepdog tournament. She is part of the County Women's Guild. She has a daughter, a son in law, and two grandchildren. She always refers to her husband as "Hoggett" even when she speaks to the veterinarian.
    * Russi Taylor as Duchess: the Hoggetts' spoiled cat. She does not like Babe at all. Although the film has no main antagonist, she plays a villainous role. Just when Babe was getting excited about the sheepdog trials, she convinces him to run away by telling him that humans only keep pigs to eat them. Unlike the other animals on the farm, when she is talking about the Boss, she is referring to Mrs. Hoggett.
    * The Horse: a horse who pulls Arthur Hoggett's cart.
    * The Cow: a cow who is a strong believer in the way things are, for her job is to make milk.
    * The Singing Mice: a chorus of mice who introduce each chapter. Every other time, they appear singing silly songs such as Blue Moon, That's Amore, and "Votre toast," an aria in French from the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet.

Soundtrack

The instrumental score was composed by Nigel Westlake. The film's soundtrack includes the song "If I Had Words," performed by Yvonne Keeley and Scott Fitzgerald. Westlake adapted Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns for the tune's melody, and the lyrics were written by Jonathan Hodge.

Reception

The film was a critical success and was very warmly received. It currently holds a 98% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a 100% approval rating from Top critics, making it one of the best rated films on their website. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. It won the award for Best Visual Effects, defeating Apollo 13. In 2006, the American Film Institute named Babe #80 on its list of America's Most Inspiring Movies.

It was also a box office success, grossing $254,134,910 worldwide.

Due to its title and subject matter not being "halal", the film was initially banned in Malaysia, although the ruling was overturned almost a year later and the film was released direct-to-VHS. It was later released on VideoCD and even later on DVD, and as of 2009, has aired on Terrestrial TV and pay-per-view movie channels.

Academy Awards

Won

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

Nominated

    * Best Actor in a Supporting Role - James Cromwell
    * Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - Roger Ford, Kerrie Brown
    * Best Director - Chris Noonan
    * Best Film Editing - Marcus D'Arcy, Jay Friedkin
    * Best Picture - George Miller, Doug Mitchell, Bill Miller
    * Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - George Miller, Chris Noonan.

Home media

    * March 19, 1996 (1996-03-19) – (VHS and laserdisc)
    * November 10, 1998 (1998-11-10) – (VHS and laserdisc - Universal Family Features with THX, the last laserdisc release)
    * February 23, 1999 (1999-02-23) – (DVD - DTS)
    * November 7, 1999 (1999-11-07) – (DVD)
    * May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22) – (DVD - 2-Pack with Babe: Pig in the City)
    * September 23, 2003 (2003-09-23) – (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. As of this date, this is the film's first and only widescreen DVD release, not counting the box set with Curious George. 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 (2005-02-01) – (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 (2007-08-28) – (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.)    * November 6, 2007 (2007-11-06) – (DVD - Two-Movie Collection with Curious George) (Note: This is a widescreen DVD box set only, meaning that outside of the box set, the widescreen DVD may possibly still be available like it is at Blockbuster Inc.)