Babe [Blu-ray]

Director: Chris Noonan

Overview

A young pig fights convention to become a sheep dog -- or, rather, sheep pig -- in this charming Australian family film, which became an unexpected international success due to superior special effects and an intelligent script. The title refers to the name bestowed on a piglet soon after his separation from his family, when he finds himself on a strange farm. Confused and sad, Babe is adopted by a friendly dog and slowly adjusts to his new home. Discovering that the fate of most pigs is the dinner table, Babe devotes himself to becoming a useful member of the farm by trying to learn how to herd sheep, despite the skepticism of the other animals and the kindly but conventional Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell). Because technically impeccable animatronics and computer graphics allow the farm animals to converse easily among themselves, first-time director Chris Noonan can treat the film's menagerie as actual characters, playing scene not for cuteness but for real emotions. The result is often surprisingly touching, with Noonan and George Miller's script, based on Dick King-Smith's children's book and, indirectly, a true story, seamlessly combining gentle whimsy and sincere feeling. These same qualities are embodied by in Cromwell's beautifully understated performance as Farmer Hoggett, which anchors the film. Despite its unlikely premise and low profile, Babe's inspirational story was embraced by audiences and critics, and the movie became an international sleeper that won an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It was followed in 1999 by the less successful Babe: Pig in the City.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/05/2011
UPC:	0025192073694
Original Release:	1995
Rating:	G
Source:	Universal Studios
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:32:00
Sales rank:	21,156

Special Features

The making of Babe; Feature commentary with writer/producer George Miller; George Miller on Babe

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Cromwell	Arthur Hoggett
Magda Szubanski	Magda Hoggett
Zoe Burton	Daughter
Paul Goodard	Son in Law
Christine Cavanaugh	Babe
Miriam Margolyes	Fly
Danny Mann	Ferdinand
Hugo Weaving	Rex
Miriam Flynn	Maa
Evelyn Krape	Old Ewe
Michael Edward-Stevens	Horse
Charles Bartlett	Crow
Paul Livingston	Rooster
Roscoe Lee Browne	the Narrator,Narrator
Brittany Byrnes	Granddaughter
Mary Acres	Valda
Janet Foye	Country Woman
Pamela Hawken	Country Woman
Marshall Napier	Chairman of Judges
Kay E. Kuter	Man Sitting in Crowd at Sheep Trial
Karl Lewis Miller	Man Buying 3 Pups
Ross Bagley	Voices
Gemini Barnett	Voices
Debi Derryberry	Voices
Courtland Mead	Puppy
Jane Alden	Sheep
Patrika Darbo	Sheep
Michelle Davison	Sheep
Julie Forsyth	Sheep
Rosanna Huffman	Sheep
Tina Lifford	Sheep
Paige Pollack	Sheep
Kerry Walker	Sheep
Doug Burch	Voices
Wade Hayward	Enkel
Karen Gough	Country Woman
David Webb	The Vet
Russi Taylor	Cat
Jazz Raycole	Puppy
Kevin Jamal Woods	Puppy
Gennie Nevinson	Sheep
Mary Linda Phillips	Sheep
Paul Goddard	Son-in-Law
Matthew Long	Sheepdog Trial Officer
John Doyle	TV Commentator
Maeve Germaine	Sheep
Kimberly Bailey	Sheep
Helen O'Connor	Additional Voices
John Erwin	Additional Voices
Jacqueline Brennan	Additional Voices
Justin Monjo	Additional Voices
Neil Ross	Additional Voices
Doris Grau	Additional Voices
Tony Hughes	Additional Voices
Nigel Westlake	Composer

Technical Credits

George Miller

Chris Noonan

George Miller	Screenwriter,Producer,Producer
Chris Noonan	Screenwriter
Doug Mitchell	Producer
Charles Gibson	Special Effects
Valerie McCaffrey	Casting
Liz Mullinar	Casting
Dave Roberts	Special Effects
John Stephenson	Special Effects
John Cox	Special Effects
Neal Scanlan	Special Effects
George Camiller	Producer
Catherine Barber	Producer
Philip Hearnshaw	Producer
Daphne Paris	Producer
Scott E. Anderson	Special Effects
Julius Chan	Sound Effects
Ben Osmo	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The biggest surprise about Chris Noonan's 1995 family classic wasn't that Mad Max auteur George Miller co-wrote and co-produced it, but that this exquisitely crafted work was the rare children's story as appealing to grown-ups as to children. Seamlessly combining live animals, animatronic beasts, and computer effects, Babe's fable about a pig's aspiring to prove his worth to his eccentric master and the rest of the barnyard animals was rendered intelligently and poignantly through the eyes and talking mouths of that menagerie. Amid the metaphorical caste system of supreme humans, ruling dogs, pliant sheep, a devious cat, and a Greek chorus of mice, Babe the piglet reveals the ageless need for an "unprejudiced heart," aided by an anorexic duck and the singularly open-minded Farmer Hoggett. Opening in the depths of summer, Babe impressed critics and audiences with its masterful effects, sly wit, and treacle-free emotion; the National Society of Film Critics voted it the year's best film. Babe went on to earn seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor for James Cromwell's low-key performance as Hoggett; it won Best Visual Effects. Its darker sequel Babe: Pig in the City, however, was lost in the 1998 holiday movie shuffle.