Product: Bebe, Un Coninito Va Muy Lejos (Babe -- Spanish edition) [VHS] (1995)
Rating: 3.0
Christmas dinner will never be the same
So there I was, checking out the new releases at the video store and I couldn't find a thing. This particular video store has this deal where older films are only 99 cents, so I started thinking about what I've missed over the past few years and I decided to rent the "family" film, "Babe" from 1995. "The 'Citizen Kane' of talking pig pictures," the cover promised."Babe" is the name of a pig, a "worthless little runt" who, unlike his mother early on, is not destined to become bacon, but instead lands on a farm. The farm is run by Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell in a quiet, understated performance). He takes a liking to the little pig and so does his wife, albeit for different reasons. The farm has many animals, all of whom it seems Babe gets to know (all the animals talk). There's lots of sheep because it's a sheep farm and there are a couple of dogs, the authoritarian Rex and a female collie Fly (who becomes a sort of surrogate mother to Babe). There are horses and a cat with a nasty disposition. And then there's my favorite - an anorexic duck named Ferdinand. Even though Fly claims the bosses eat only stupid animals, Ferdinand is no dummy; he's figured out what "Christmas dinner" means.The plot has Babe working to become a sheep dog (or "sheep pig") and what with the National Sheep Dog trials approaching, it doesn't take a genius to figure out where the movie's headed. But it's the small details, not the overall story that I appreciated. Take, for instance, the chapter titles, which are punctuated by these tiny little musical mice. One title features an excerpt from "Carmen", another a high-pitched rendition of "Blue Moon". And I swear they can be heard giggling at the title, "Pork is a nice sweet meat."