#53: Babe
Release Date: August 4th, 1995
Format: Streaming (Max)
Written by: George Miller and Chris Noonan
Directed by: Chris Noonan
4 Stars
Having not seen Babe in several years, the thing that struck me most upon this viewing is its timelessness. I remembered the joyfulness, but the timelessness is really pretty incredible. Now you might say, well, there are many timeless children’s movies, that’s not a particularly impressive thing to accomplish. And you’d be right, there are many seemingly timeless children’s movies.
Let’s take The Wizard of Oz for example, arguably the most timeless of all children’s movies. But is it actually timeless? I suppose it is in the sense of its entertainment value, but its Technicolor brilliance, enormous studio sets, and musical stylings all put it squarely in the 1930s Hollywood studio era. It’s a universally masterful movie, but hardly a universally timeless one.
But Babe is timeless in all aspects. First and foremost it is a fable, a genre that lends itself to timelessness. Its animal characters learn and teach themes that are eternal: Kindness is paramount; be true to yourself and others; don’t let being different get in the way of your dreams. These are themes that will not diminish for millennia.
I was around in 1995, and I don’t remember a lot of fables crowding the cinemas that year. It was an odd movie in its day. It didn’t seem to speak the same visual language as other children’s movies of the mid-’90s, which brings me to another aspect of Babe’s timelessness, its production design and photography. This movie looks like it might be from 1965, or ‘75, or ‘85. I think you could show Babe to a young person today and I’m not sure they could get within 10 years of guessing its release date. The agrarian setting, the costuming, hair and makeup, the casting, there’s just not much that dates this picture visually.
And that includes its animal effects, which are as effective as any other children’s movie in which I can think. Director Chris Noonan deftly uses live animals, tastefully minimalistic CGI, and the full force of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop to portray border collies, cows, sheep, an evil cat, a survivalist duck, and of course the titular pig, Babe. The animals look really good. The movie looks really good.
And lastly, in terms of timelessness, Babe isn’t tied to a particular Hollywood trend of its day. I’m sure the success of Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey helped get this movie green lit, but Babe doesn’t share much of a common thread with that film beyond having talking animals as its main characters. Homeward Bound has far more in common with Home Alone than it does Babe.
No, Babe was a unique movie when it came out, and it remains timelessly unique today. It’s a special, joyful movie that will remain special and joyful for generations.
