The Movie
Babe is the G-rated, heavily Oscar-nominated and surprisingly poignant tale of... well, a pig who talks. Granted, he only speaks to other animals, and he never speaks unless he has something to say, and so this unlikeliest of Award season favorites became something of a phenomenon back in the mid-'90s.
Adapted from farmer/author Dick King-Smith's children's book The Sheep Pig, the movie shows us the power of an unprejudiced heart to upset the natural order of things, for the better. When wee piglet Babe is won by Farmer Hoggett at a local fair, he is destined for the dinner table. But the farmer sees something special in him and, since the porcine darling has been raised by a sheep dog, soon allows Babe to tag along as he tends his flock. This doesn't sit well with the family's champion canine, but with a sheep herding competition on the horizon, everyone will be compelled to reconsider their preconceived notions of what's "proper" and open their minds to what could be.
The Picture
Thankfully by the time Babe went into production, the technology had finally advanced to a point where the illusion of chatty critters could be more convincing than Francis the Talking Mule. In fact, the artists were so successful, they would ultimately take home the Academy Award for the visual effects, and the computer-animated mouths still look plenty realistic in HD. The palette is pleasingly warm, with vibrant greens in particular, while blades of grass and individual stands in the sheep's wool are clearly discernible.
This new HD remaster apparently employed some edge enhancement to help make the 1.85:1 image really pop, and I noticed a fair amount of visible film grain, but the blacks are mostly rich and inky, contributing to a significant upgrade over all prior releases.
The Sound
This was always a good-sounding movie on home video, dating back to the DTS laserdisc well over a decade ago. Now, in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Nigel Westlake's musical score reveals more detail than ever, particularly in the strings, during its tremendous mix across all of the speakers. This track is unafraid to use the rears throughout, even for smaller touches like birds chirping in the countryside. Dialogue has been extensively rerecorded, most notably for the farmer's wife, but the issue is not especially distracting.
The Extras
The four-minute "The Making of Babe," vintage 1995, is really just about the computer animation that brought the talking animals to life. "George Miller on Babe" is a six-minute interview segment with the co-writer/producer on a variety of topics. This bit dates back to 2003 and the special edition DVD, which also gave us the Miller audio commentary included again here. Makes us wonder why co-writer/director Chris Noonan is so darned shy. The video bonuses are both in standard definition. The three interactive games from that DVD have not been ported over to Blu-ray.
This new disc does however add BD-Live connectivity with Universal's "Ticker" news updates within the menu, as well as pocket BLU enhanced control from select handheld devices. The disc also unlocks pocket BLU portable downloads of the two above-mentioned featurettes, for viewing anywhere, anytime.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps slightly harsh for the littlest tykes or those with a sensitive nature, Babe is nonetheless a touching family treasure wherein good-heartedness triumphs over closed-mindedness, a lesson for us all even more resonant on this fine new HD canvas. That'll do, pig.
Product Details
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