Date: Fri 06-Oct-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-13

Quick Words:

Babe-King-Smith-Noonan-Henson

Full Text:

Now Playing-

A Simple, Engrossing Tale

By Trey Paul Alexander III

Many Hollywood films these days spend too much time on technical wizardry and

not enough on story. But the proficiency of the behind-the-scenes artists and

the effects they create are often so high that we pardon the presence of the

weak narrative. No such excuses need to be made for Babe , a charming film

that combines clever effects with a simple, yet engrossing, tale.

Based on a book by Dick King-Smith titled The Sheep-Pig , this winning motion

picture will be playing Saturday through Monday - matinees only - at the Crown

Cine Theatre in Danbury.

Babe is a tale woven from the cloth of fables of yore. It tells of pigs who

willingly enter the truck to the slaughterhouse, believing it to be transit to

a place so wonderful, none of the passengers have ever returned. It explores

the division among farm animals who develop a hierarchy based on

preconceptions about which species is the best, smartest, dumbest, etc. In

other words, this film, just like one of Aesop's fables, is an allegory

echoing many facets of the human condition.

The titular hero of the picture is an inquisitive young pig, whom the story

follows from his witnessing of his parents' departure, to his journey to the

farm of a quiet farmer named Mr Hoggett (James Crowell). Once on the premises,

Babe is treated to the jeers of the other farm animals, all snickering about

the arrival of the "stupid" pig. However, he is welcomed into the fold by Fly,

a caring sheepdog who decides to give the newcomer a chance, despite the

grumblings of her mate, Rex.

From here, the film becomes a wonderful collage of assorted animal characters,

all taking different sizes, shapes and personalities. There is a delightfully

plucky duck named Ferdinand, whose fear of becoming a duck a l'orange is so

overwhelming that he strives to become a rooster. To that aim, every morning

he rumbles up to the top of the farmhouse and "crows" before the appointed

fowl can do his cock-a-doodle duty.

Also included in the roster of characters is a mean feline who has her run of

the house; Old Ewe, a leader among the sheep who enlightens Babe about the

status of various animals on the farm; and the above-mentioned sheep dogs, who

fancy themselves at the top of the chain due to their importance to Farmer

Hoggett.

The film's seamless transition from real, trained animals to creations from

Jim Henson's Creature Shop are astounding. What this amazing feat of gimmickry

has done is give director Chris Noonan an incredible palette from which to

create his motion picture. Whereas tales of this sort - involving spirited

animals with more colorful personalities than live-action heroes such as

Jean-Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal - used to be confined to animated

movies, now they have breached a whole new world. Can Charlotte's Web be far

behind?

There are a number of high points in the film, many of which are guaranteed to

have adults chuckling harder than the tykes they have taken to the flick. One

moment is a hilarious vignette that has Babe aiding Ferdinand in attempting

the theft of Farmer Hoggett's new alarm clock, which the duck feels has

muscled in on his turf. It is a marvelously choreographed scene which is

liable to have the audience falling into the aisles with laughter.

As you may have guessed from the book's title, the climax of the film has to

do with Babe's decision to usurp the order of the farm by striving to become a

sheep pig. His skill of communication with sheep so impresses his master that

Farmer Hoggett risks his reputation by entering Babe in a prestigious

sheep-herding contest.

Babe is a satisfying, enjoyable film that has a "Rocky"-like quality as we

follow the underdog (or is that "undersheep"?) in his quest to change to

established order. The film is rated G and is suitable for all audiences.

Because the main characters are farm animals, however, the film does often

deal with issues of death and dying.