Babe is a 1995 comedy-drama film directed by Chris Noonan, produced by George Miller and written by both. It is an adaptation of Dick King-Smith’s 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, which tells the story of a farm pig who wants to do the work of a sheepdog. The film is narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne and the main animal characters are played by both real animals and animatronic puppets.
Babe is an adaptation of Dick King-Smith’s 1983 novel The Sheep-Pig, also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the US, which tells the story of a pig raised as livestock who wants to do the work of a sheepdog. The main animal characters are played by a combination of real and animatronic pigs and Border Collies. 48 different pigs were used for the part of Babe.
After seven years of development, Babe was filmed in Robertson, New South Wales, Australia. The talking-animal visual effects were done by Rhythm & Hues Studios and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The film was both a box office and critical success, grossing $254 million worldwide and earning seven Oscar nominations, including a win for Best Visual Effects.
According to actor James Cromwell, there was tension on the set between producer George Miller and director Chris Noonan. Noonan later complained, “I don’t want to make a lifelong enemy of George Miller but I thought that he tried to take credit for Babe, tried to exclude me from any credit, and it made me very insecure… It was like your guru has told you that you are no good and that is really disconcerting.”
Miller shot back, “Chris said something that is defamatory: that I took his name off the credits on internet sites, which is just absolutely untrue. You know, I’m sorry but I really have a lot more to do with my life than worry about that… when it comes to Babe, the vision was handed to Chris on a plate.”
In 1998, a sequel directed by Miller, Babe: Pig in the City, was released. In 2006, a video game of the same name based on the film, was published by Mastertronic for the PlayStation 2. In January 2016, an online petition for the release of the director’s cut of Babe: Pig in the City was made.
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