🎬 Movie🧒 Little Kids · Ages 3–6Comedy

Babe (1995)

Name: Babe
Released: 1995

About This Movie

A piglet raised among sheepdogs decides he can herd sheep too, and his quiet determination to prove himself transforms an entire farm. The talking animals are funny and sharply characterized, the English countryside is gorgeous, and the story builds to a finale that will have the whole room holding its breath. It is gentler and stranger than you might expect from the premise.

Why It's a Classic

Babe is one of those rare films where the simplicity of the story is the source of its power rather than a limitation. Director Chris Noonan blends animatronic animals, real trained animals, and early CGI so seamlessly that the technique becomes invisible, leaving you with characters who feel entirely alive. The film's central argument, that polite persistence can accomplish what force and tradition cannot, plays out in Babe's interactions with every animal on the farm, from the territorial cat Ferdinand to the wise old ewe Maa. James Cromwell's Farmer Hoggett barely speaks throughout the film, and his climactic "That'll do, pig" carries an emotional weight that sneaks up on you precisely because the film has been so restrained. The mice who serve as a Greek chorus, singing chapter headings between scenes, give the film a storybook quality that frames the whole experience as a fable worth remembering.

Fun Fact

The production used 48 trained pigs during filming because the piglets kept growing too fast and had to be rotated out. James Cromwell became a vegetarian after making the film and has remained one ever since, crediting Babe with changing his perspective on animals. The animatronic pig heads, which allowed the animals to appear to speak, were so sophisticated that each one required a team of puppeteers operating via remote control from off camera.

Parent Note

The film involves a pig who was originally intended for slaughter, and while this is handled delicately, children who are old enough to understand where bacon comes from may find the underlying premise emotional. There is a scene where Babe's adoptive mother, the border collie Fly, tells him the truth about what happens to pigs on farms, and it can be a tearful moment. There is also a brief scene involving sheep rustlers and a mildly threatening moment with feral dogs. Overall the tone is overwhelmingly gentle and affirming.