BABE

BABE

1995 91min

Not to be confused with 1995's other talking-pig flick, the execrable GORDY, BABE could charm the pants off the most unregenerate cynic. The title character (voice of Christine Cavanaugh) is adorable as only a freshly scrubbed piglet can be, but Babe's on the fast track to becoming Christmas dinner at Farmer Hoggett's house. Then he recognizes his destiny: to become a sheepdog like his surrogate mom, Border collie Fly. State-of-the-art special effects make BABE's barnyard animals look completely convincing even when they speak, and the vocal performances have real depth and substance. This Australian-made movie has a darker edge than most American kiddie films -- it frankly acknowledges that an idyllic farmhouse can be a chamber of horrors from an animal's point of view -- but a perfectly contrived happy ending should soothe juvenile sensibilities. Adults, meanwhile, may find themselves enthralled.

1995

World Events

1/17	Massive earthquake hits Kobe, Japan
4/19	Bomb blast kills 169 in Oklahoma City
5/11	Ebola outbreak kills hundreds in Zaire
8/24	Windows 95 released
9/3	O.J.Simpson acquitted of double murder
11/4	Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin assassinated
12/14	Treaty halts fighting in Bosnia