Product: Bebe, Un Coninito Va Muy Lejos (Babe -- Spanish edition) [VHS] (1995)
Rating: 5.0
Inspired, in every respect.
Brilliant film-making comes in many guises, and "Babe" clearly and abundantly falls within this rarified realm. With a compelling, fanciful storyline, peerless acting and seamless animation/real-life imagery, and the quiet assurance of James Cromwell's Academy award nominated portrayal of the taciturn, yet soulful Farmer Hoggett, this movie consistent manages to appeal to the viewer's heart, mind, funny bone and soul. From the uproarious (a wacky goose who faces possible slaughter for a Yuletide meal proclaiming "Christmas is carnage...Christmas is CARNAGE!") to gentle, real love between a man and his pig (not that kind of love, you perverts!), as Farmer Hoggett gently admonishes his porcine sheepdog, "That'll do, pig. That'll do", as they take the grand prize at the Sheep Hearding contest at the film's heart-wrentching conclusion, this movie belongs in the pantheon of great and original films.[As to the reviewer here who decried the film as "cruel", I feel compelled to reply that the only cruelty was your failure to let your children see the movie through to its beautiful conclusion. Death is a part of life -- heck, Walt Disney whacked Bambi's mom in what many consider the definitive children's movie -- and this film deals with death responsibly and gently. Likewise, and to the best of my recollection, none of the central characters meets its demise, though I would concede that perhaps the implied death (very off screen) of Babe's mother may be upsetting to children under the age of 5 or 6.]