Product: Bebe, Un Coninito Va Muy Lejos (Babe -- Spanish edition) [VHS] (1995)
Rating: 5.0
Five stars despite the fact that the DVD is Fullscreen only
I have no idea what corporate dolt made the decision not to release this film in a letterbox edition, but it utterly mars the DVD version of one of my favorite films from the last ten years. The reason I buy DVDs is because of the superior picture, but one of the reasons DVD is superior is the fact that you can see the full--i.e., letterboxed--picture. This DVD chops off each side of one of the most visually beautiful films made in recent cinema. This decision was just a dreadful mistake. This is a film I would purchase on DVD if only it were available in letterboxed format.Still, I give BABE five stars because the film itself is just so delightful. I think most viewers focus on the story, and I am enough of a kid that I enjoyed it thoroughly. But other things seem to get overlooked. The human performances are just as charming as the animals, and if Magda Szubanski and James Cromwell (who received a well deserved Oscar nomination for his role as Farmer Hoggett) hadn't been so superb, the movie would have been nothing but a technical display. The art direction for this movie doesn't get the praise it deserves, probably because people perceive it to be a kid's film. But very, very few films look this good; the art directors created a unique, beautiful, and magical looking world.Interestingly, the person who did the voice for Babe is Christine Cavanaugh, who does the voice of Chuckie on Rugrats. The voice for Babe in BABE: PIG IN THE CITY was done by Elizabeth Daily, who does the voice of Tommy Pickles on Rugrats. Keeping it in the family. The voice of Rex, the Sheepdog, was by Hugo Weaving, who played the main Agent in THE MATRIX and Elrond in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.