Throwback Shit: "Babe"

 Babe is a tale about ambition and love. Naturally, some people have aversions to animal's talking in movies especially when the real life actors are occasionally swapped out for puppets. That's understandable; the 90's style animated mouths are very dated. However, the virtue of this movie bypasses any of these setbacks.

I'll be straight. I wouldn't have watched this again had I not been very high - it tends to be the circumstance for my revisiting of any childhood favorites. Regardless, that state usually renders me very critical. Alas, I found Babe absolutely wonderful from start to finish. It's impossible to follow Babe on his ambitious journey without having an emotional response to the respectable sheep pig.

Babe
Starring: James Cromwell & Magda Szubanski
Directed by Chris Noonan
My Opinion: Wonderful.

This film has some impressive characterization. We'll start with Fly, Babe's Border Collie surrogate mommy. After losing all of her biological babies, she relied on babe to keep her sane as a mother. Then there is Ferdinand, the duck who wants to be a rooster. Like babe, he has an interspecies ambition and this bonds them together forever. These are just two examples, but all of the animals, whether they stood on four-legs or two, had deeply layered personalities that made them incredibly intriguing. All of this is probably the reason why I was a vegetarian for seven years, but I don't really blame myself. The philosophy of this movie certainly leads way to a vast amount of sympathy for our animal friends, but it also says something about everyone's dreams and the restrictions society applies to us. We are capable of achieving whatever we will.

Of course, Babe is best viewed by children. However, unlike most recent family films that I've seen previews for, this is highly enjoyable for everyone. The dialogue is always smart, the antics are always fun and the animals are so wonderful to watch. The singing mice may be the best part of the film, but that's only because they are a witty little choir. At times I was a little distracted by that shadowy lighting, meant to disguise the puppets I'm sure, but that uplifting story is sure to inspire no matter how down you are.