In this kid-friendly movie that has some pleasures even for parents, the humor balances out the sentimental heart of the story.
By: Bob Brown
Hollywood has long known that pigs are a draw. You just have to find the right vehicle, whether it’s Arnold in Green Acres, the Muppets’ Miss Piggy, or Babe. The pig Wilbur, in this classic children’s tale, bears a startling screen resemblance to the remarkable Babe. But a little piglet can become a real boar fast, so it took 47 Wilbur look-alikes to complete this re-make of E.B. White’s beloved story.
It’s a Web screened for a generation that may not have seen the original animated version of 1973. That feature-length cartoon boasted a star-studded cast of voice actors, including Henry Gibson as Wilbur, character actor Paul Lynde as Templeton the voracious rat, and Debbie Reynolds as the persistent spider Charlotte.
Today, cartoon studios have virtually shut down, replaced by digital animators. Legions of them were employed in Australia and the U.S. to create this modern retelling, with its own stellar cast, both on screen and as voice actors. Sam Shepard narrates the story of Fern (12-year-old Dakota Fanning), who saves the runt Wilbur (voiced by 10-year-old Dominic Scott Kay) from the smokehouse. But it’s hard work saving this piglet’s bacon, and the barnyard menagerie teams up to prove that Wilbur is no ordinary porker.
The key strategist is Charlotte (Julia Roberts), who introduces herself formally as "Charlotte A. Cavatica" (after Araneus Cavaticus, the scientific name for the barn spider). Unique among arachnids, barn spiders rebuild their webs each night. Charlotte suggests that her web might serve as a signal to humans that Wilbur is special. But she needs words to spell this out in her web. The grudging lexicographer is the cheeky Templeton (Steve Buscemi), who is motivated by the promise of slop. If there’s a morsel at the end of it, he’ll scurry through any trash heap to find something printed.
The barn is abuzz with a cheerleading chorus of lively livestock Samuel (John Cleese), a leader among his fellow sheep; Gussy and Golly (Oprah Winfrey and Cedric the Entertainer), a pair of commentating geese; Bitsy and Betsy (Kathy Bates and Reba McEntire), two gossipy Holsteins; Ike (Robert Redford), the arachnophobic horse; and Brooks and Elwyn (Thomas Haden Church and André Benjamin), a crow duo, whose call sounds a lot like "Cawwwrn."
The best bits belong to Samuel (Cleese at his most Monty Pythonesque) and Templeton, whose stomach directs his brain especially if he can immerse himself in the grub. "I had a dream like this," Templeton says as he bathes on his back in a pool of buttermilk that is being used to groom Wilbur for the fair. On-screen, Fanning proves why she’s the hardest working child actor in the business. There isn’t another 12-year-old who puts as much into a character, and effortlessly.
What would a kid’s movie be without gas jokes? The Holsteins literally blow Templeton off the rail with a blast of hot air from the rear. (In fact, some politically incorrect scientists argue that worldwide bovine flatulence causes greater harm to the atmosphere than auto emissions.)
The humor balances out the sentimental heart of the story: Charlotte’s sacrifice in helping Wilbur live to see a snowfall, even while she must die before then. The one casting misstep is, in fact, Charlotte. Roberts gives a rather bloodless performance, voicing an animated spider whose "face" is a little hard to relate to in the first place. The animals are all anatomically and taxonomically accurate (uncannily so), but a many-eyed spider who talks with flapping mandibles does not anthropomorphize particularly well. Roberts is tailing off her film work to spend more time with her twins. Voiceovers are a way to ease out gradually, but she sounds tired and unengaged in this role. Maybe she’s already mentally checked out.
Wilbur is quite a charmer early on when he’s a mere piglet (many screen Wilburs were trained to look up, just look up; others were trained to walk across the paddock). But as he grows, the adolescent Wilbur loses some of his cuteness. Also, the differences among the 47 pigs do interfere with the illusion of continuity. You can’t believe it’s one Wilbur which it isn’t.
Otherwise, this is a kid-friendly movie that has some pleasures even for parents. Crisp, brilliant cinematography is by Seamus McGarvey (The Hours), who managed to make suburban Melbourne, Australia, look somewhat like rural Maine (aerial shots of autumnal Bucks County, Pa., were needed to complete the illusion). The very pleasurable score is by Danny Elfman, one of the most creative film composers working today. This is one surround-sound film that really takes full advantage of all the speakers, as ambient sounds emanate from every corner of the theater.
There aren’t many G-rated films around, so take advantage and bring the younger ones to this for a treat. As holiday movies go, this gentle story is no pig in a poke.
Rated G.

