In 1995, a little anthropomorphic pig trotted into cinemas with a menagerie of talking mates and proceeded to bring home the bacon, chomping on more than a quarter of a billion dollars of international box office receipts before nestling into a long life on DVD and ancillary markets. The story of a kind-hearted porker who evades the dinner table and becomes a champion sheepdog (of sorts) may have surpassed expectations, but Babe’s success was not an entire surprise.
The film, which celebrates its 20th birthday this year, was produced by Kennedy Miller, the Australian production company behind the Mad Max movies. Its animatronics were the work of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and production costs were around $30m, resulting in a glossy high-end look and the star power of American actor James Cromwell playing one of the few human characters.
The extent to which the world was charmed by the story of the little pig that could is something nobody saw coming. Director and co-writer Chris Noonan’s heart-warming smash-hit (adapted from Dick King-Smith’s 1983 children’s book The Sheep Pig) not only became a darling with critics, but a major player at the 1995 Academy awards. Babe was nominated for seven Oscars including best picture, best director, best supporting actor and best visual effects. It won the latter, beating director Ron Howard’s Apollo 13.
Like its protagonist, the film is sweet-natured, but with all those talking animals and the bright sunshine-infused aesthetic, it’s easy to forget how dark it is. There’s grim humour from the start, with jokes and references geared very much towards the adults. Take the opening location: a factory of pigs raised for the slaughter, who are one day herded into a big truck which they believe is taking them to “pig paradise, a place so wonderful that no pig has ever thought to come back.”
Babe (whose child-like inflection is the work of the veteran voiceover actor Christine Cavanaugh, who died in December) meets the gentle but firm Farmer Hoggett (Cromwell) through a twist of fate. Taken home to Hoggett’s property, the pipsqueak pig fraternises with a range of other animals including an eccentric duck named Ferdinand (Danny Mann) and a gruff sheepdog named Rex (Hugo Weaving).
Adapting to life on the farm, Babe’s earnestness and willingness to please make him a magnet for less noble creatures including a sinister cat (Russi Taylor), but his goodwill pays off when he becomes a pro at herding sheep. His simple tactic: to speak to them politely.
Instead of relying on cookie cutter family film narrative structures (fish out of water comedy, say, or against-the-odds success), Noonan doubles down on developing interpersonal dramas. This results in a sophisticated, character-driven work that just happens to be about talking animals.
It was clear at first blush that the story’s emotional warmth wasn’t going to fade, but two decades later Babe’s visual effects continue to astonish. Noonan’s mixture of animatronics, live action and digital wizardry is a constant source of wonder: you’re never sure where the real animals end and the tricked-up versions begin. Like watching old animatronic Yoda (in the Star Wars originals) as opposed to the new and faker CGI Yoda (in the prequels) there is a richness in real physical presence that can be felt throughout.
That sense of genuine physicality complements the sincerity of the screenplay, which finds fresh ways to deliver timeless messages. The release and subsequent box office flop of the criminally under-watched (and much, much darker) sequel Babe: Pig in the City is a story for another time.
For now we can blow out the birthday candles and recall Farmer Hoggett’s familiar catchphrase: “That’ll do, pig.”
