Universal Pictures, Rated G
Directed by George Miller
Written by George Miller & Judy Morris
Babe: Pig in the City is one of many box office disappointments in 1998 that shouldn't have been. The film is enchanting, delightful, surreal, innovative... too many adjectives (like one sees on movie advertisements) to name. Though just a tiny bit weaker than its predecessor, it is that rare sequel that doesn't just go through the motions of bringing back the same old characters doing the same old things. It will go down with The Godfather: Part II, The Bride of Frankenstein and Terminator 2: Judgment Day as one of the greatest sequels of all time (better than last year's masterfully-written Scream 2 as well). Its only true weakness, really, is much less of the great James Cromwell, a major part of what made the original so special.
The reason Cromwell has such a small part (the real reason could easily have been something like scheduling conflicts) is because his character Farmer Hoggett, Babe's master is knocked into a well by Babe early on in the film and left with a broken leg. This is shortly after Babe (voiced this time by Elizabeth Daily, but you can't tell it's someone new) won the sheepherding contest at the end of the first film. Since Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) cannot take care of the farm very well all by herself, the farm could be no more if they don't come up with a lot of money. The talented Babe, of course, is the way to receive that money, but the two get sidetracked along the way in a hotel for animals. Here, in the big city (an amalgamation of every big city in the world as we see in one glorious shot), Babe meets a new set of friends just as, if not more fascinating than the group from the original. The most prominent are a family of oranguatans (or is it chimpanzees?) voiced by the vastly underrated Steven Wright and Glenne Headly. The voice actors deserve just as much credit as the special effects artists for making the animals seem more human than, well, most humans. They are truly a marvel of modern technology and you completely forget they're special effects after ten minutes. The movie is strange and dark at times, including a strange circus act led by Mickey Rooney (the only other problem with this movie, Rooney must be getting up there in age, he barely seems alive, of course that may have been acting but I doubt it).
Overall, the movie is a wonder to behold and it's a shame another wondrous but somewhat lesser family film A Bug's Life, upstaged it. Knowing the genre, it will probably have better luck on video though. The Babe universe is one of the most unique and original ever put to film (in a year full of new universes, such as the masterpiece Dark City and the fantastic Pleasantville). It was encapsulated perfectly in the line "a place a little to the left of the 20th century." *** 1/2
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