Babe (film)

Lore & Background

The film follows orphaned piglet Babe, who is brought to the farm of Arthur Hoggett after a contest. Babe is taken in by Border Collie Fly and her family, and befriends a duck named Ferdinand. After a series of adventures, Babe learns to herd sheep by asking them politely, earning the ire of the sheepdog Rex. Babe eventually proves his worth by scaring off feral dogs and competing in sheepdog trials, where he achieves a perfect score.

Reader's Guide

Babe is significant for its innovative use of real animals and animatronic puppets to create believable talking animals, a feat achieved by Rhythm & Hues Studios, Animal Logic, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film's success led to a sequel, Babe: Pig in the City (1998), though that film did not perform as well commercially or critically. The film also launched the career of James Cromwell, who played Farmer Hoggett, and remains a beloved family film for its gentle story of an unlikely hero.

Did You Know?

• The film used 48 piglets of the Large White breed during filming, as they grew rapidly.
• The mice characters were added to read chapter titles aloud after a test screening showed younger audiences had trouble reading them.
• James Cromwell nearly turned down the role because his character had only about 16 lines.
• The film was shot in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia, in 1994.

From Novel to Screen

Babe traces its roots to Dick King-Smith's 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, which was also marketed in the United States under the title Babe: The Gallant Pig. The story centers on a farm pig who aspires to perform the duties of a sheepdog. Director Chris Noonan co-wrote the screenplay alongside George Miller, adapting King-Smith's tale for the screen while preserving its storybook sensibility. The finished film is structured into six distinct chapters, a deliberate choice to echo the feel of the source material, though none of those chapters directly mirror the book's own divisions. Roscoe Lee Browne lends his voice as the narrator, guiding the audience through the narrative much as a reader might be guided through the pages of a children's book. The project was shot in 1994 in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia, before Universal Pictures brought it to theatrical audiences in the United States and Canada on August 4, 1995, while United International Pictures handled distribution in other international markets.

The Animals Behind the Magic

The film's animal characters are brought to life through a blend of live animals and animatronic puppets, creating a seamless visual world. The pigs used on set were of the Large White breed, known for their rapid growth rate, which presented a unique logistical challenge for the production. Because the piglets grew quickly, the crew needed to cycle through 48 different piglets of the appropriate size over the course of filming, supplemented by an animatronic model for visual effects sequences. The Border Collies, including the characters of Fly and Rex, were similarly a mix of real dogs and animatronic versions. Behind the scenes, a large ensemble of voice actors brought personality to each animal: Christine Cavanaugh voiced Babe, Danny Mann brought Ferdinand to life, Miriam Margolyes gave Fly her distinctive voice, and Hugo Weaving voiced the irascible Rex. The sheep were voiced by a dozen-plus cast members, and the puppies had their own dedicated voice actors.

A Story of Belonging and Triumph

At its heart, Babe follows an orphaned piglet who arrives at the Hoggett farm after winning a "guess the weight" contest at an agricultural show. There, he finds a family among the Border Collie Fly, her husband Rex, their puppies, and a duck named Ferdinand who fakes a rooster's crow to avoid being eaten. Babe's journey takes him from a curious farmhand to an unlikely sheepdog champion. His gentle approach—asking the sheep nicely rather than barking commands—clashes with Rex's traditional view of the role, leading to a violent confrontation that leaves Fly injured and Rex chained and sedated. After a feral dog attack kills the elderly sheep Maa, Babe is nearly shot by a panicked Hoggett before the truth emerges. The emotional nadir comes when Duchess reveals that humans eat pigs, sending Babe running into a cemetery. It is Hoggett's tender jig and song that restore his faith. At the sheepdog trials, Rex secretly retrieves a password from the sheep, enabling Babe to earn a unanimous perfect score and the iconic line, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

Critical Acclaim and a Fading Sequel

Babe arrived as a critical and commercial triumph, earning seven Academy Award nominations that included both Best Picture and Best Director for Chris Noonan. The film's success was a testament to its blend of heartfelt storytelling, inventive animal work, and a voice cast that included James Cromwell as Farmer Arthur Hoggett and Magda Szubanski as his wife Esme. The film's warmth and accessibility helped it resonate across audiences worldwide, with Universal Pictures handling the North American release and United International Pictures covering other territories. The momentum carried into 1998 with the sequel Babe: Pig in the City, which brought back most of the original starring cast to reprise their roles. However, the follow-up failed to match the original's critical or commercial performance, suggesting that the magic of the first film—its specific blend of story, characters, and emotional stakes—proved difficult to replicate. The original remains the definitive entry, a beloved touchstone of 1990s family cinema.