Story
Babe (voice of Christine Cavanaugh) is the runt of a pig litter. He’s taken from his mother and won by Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) at a local fair. Hoggett takes Babe home to the barn, where a caring sheepdog called Fly (voice of Miriam Margoyles) adopts him and raises him as her own. Babe make friends with many of the animals in the barn, including Ferdinand the duck (voice of Danny Mann). Ferdinand is always trying to save himself from the dinner table. He often gets Babe into trouble.
Babe is very keen to learn how to herd sheep and often goes out with Fly and Rex (voice of Hugo Weaving). He discovers that talking to the sheep gets better results than biting at their heels. Babe makes such an impression that Farmer Hoggett decides to enter him into the local sheepdog trials, much to the dismay of his wife and all of the judges. Babe is smarter than the average pig, however, and he also has the help of Rex and Fly. He manages to turn the scorn and laughter of the audience and judges into amazement.
Themes
Breeding farm animals to be killed for food; the reality of farm life; predatory animal behaviour
Violence
This movie has some violence. For example:
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
None of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
None of concern
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
This movie has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Babe is a delightful family movie, which very effectively combines real animals with computer-generated animation.
The main messages from this movie are that you can achieve your potential if you really try and overcome prejudices. The movie also shows us that looks can be deceptive.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include determination, courage, loyalty, friendship, tolerance and acceptance of others.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about how animals are bred for people to eat. This is why some people prefer to be vegetarian.