The 20th Best All Time Film

(8th 1973-1998) 

Babe (1995) 

Twenty-five years later, this is still one of the most moving, fulfilling, meaningful films I have ever seen. It still holds up. I watched it again today to be sure. The effects are as good as ever, and it still gets dusty in the room towards the end. And it is every bit as effective in delivering its powerful message as that other farm story by Orwell. Maybe even more so. 

Of course, “Animal Farm” and “Babe” are two very different fables. Orwell, a committed socialist, warned against the dangers of the extreme on his side of things. Something more people on all sides of the political spectrum would do well to think about these days. But Miller (of Mad Max fame) and Noonan, using a book by a children’s book author named Dick King-Smith, tell a story all about how being decent and respectful towards others is the best practice in life. Babe is able to do the job of a Sheep-Dog by being nice and reasonable to the sheep, instead of terrorizing them and forcing them to comply. 

But for me, the character of the film is Farmer Hoggett. Babe is sweet and innocent, but Hoggett is willing to see the world outside the box. He is not willing to march lockstep to “the way things are” but is able to see potential in the way things can be. And the vindication of his willingness to believe in a pig when no one else will is veru fulfilling.