Babe (1995)

 

Genre: Comedy/ Family

Time: 1h 31mins

Director: Chris Noonan

Quick Summary: Gentle farmer Arthur Hoggett wins a piglet Babe at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his fate as Christmas dinner, Babe bonds with motherly border collie Fly and discovers that he too can herd sheep. But will the other animals accept him?

This makes me sob with happiness every single time I watch this.

It's difficult to find a more charming and heartwarming family film like this. Anyone can enjoy this as it's just so loveable. Almost like a storybook come to life. This has been a childhood favourite of mine and it's still enjoyable to this day to me as an adult. How can you not love this adorable little pig? He's so cute and charming and just straight-up innocent. I found myself tearful for the damn little guy during his harder moments, and gleeful for his achievements. 

Like you, I have seen thousands of talking animal films over the years but there's something so good about this one. It manages to perfectly show animals synced up with their lines. All the animals are entertaining, talking to one another like humans. The duck was honestly so fun to watch, and I'm so glad he didn't become annoying. Being the comedic relief of the film I was concerned, as most kids' films choose to use slapstick for these characters, but no. I was actually delighted to hear funny one-liners and remarks throughout from this duck.

 I love this film because it has a sweet lining, yet tells a deep story about resolve, goodness, and the struggles of life in a very large sense. It makes you think, but more importantly, it makes you WANT to think about how all our lives are interconnected and what can be done by each seemingly insignificant individual to make the world a better place. It shows how far kindness can take you, and your community, and believing in people. It's just such a sweet film and I adore it.

Unlike most family films that are usually directed towards kids, this isn't condescending. It talks about things really maturely, choosing to use words adults would actually use and I think that is so important for little kids to hear the actual English language being used correctly. How else would they learn? It knows and it teaches things with ease.

I will never shut up about how cute and charming this film is and urge everyone to watch it at least once. 

10/10

"That'll do, pig."

"This is a tale about an unprejudiced heart, and how it changed our valley forever."

"I suppose the life of an anorexic duck doesn't amount to much in the broad scheme of things."

"Now the pig understood why the sheep called all dogs 'wolves'. And he was filled with a deep and terrible rage."