Review By JESSICA ALMY
Surprisingly dark for a family film, “Babe: Pig in the City” didn’t please all the fans of the first “Babe” movie who had so eagerly awaited the sequel. Still, animal rights advocates will find much to like in the urban exploits of the titular pig.
While the theme of pigs-as-food continues in the sequel, the film primarily focuses on the plight of companion animals. The plot revolves around Babe’s adventures after he and the farmer’s wife miss a connecting flight. From their struggle to find accommodations to their heroic efforts to free impounded animals held in cages in the back of a hospital, this film touches on themes of dog and cat homelessness, housing discrimination against people with companion animals, and even pound seizure and vivisection.
Of course, families will cheer at the happy ending — but kids may need to be reminded along the way that yes, there will be a happy ending, and parents may find that the movie raises a lot of questions.
One question I couldn’t answer was whether real animals were used in the filming of the movie. Given several scenes involving peril to animals, I found myself hoping that the creators made generous use of CGI, as did the makers of “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Big Miracle.” Anyone know?
Ages 6 and up; rated G.
Homa // Feb 22, 2012 at 8:44 am
I’m sure your search turned this up, but the first film used animatronics and live animals but the same folks that did the first film’s effects were noy involved in the second (which I have not seen yet): http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Babe
Homa // Feb 22, 2012 at 8:45 am
*not, oops
Jenn K // Sep 7, 2017 at 7:38 am
Thanks for the review. My kids (ages 4 and 8) really wanted to see this because they loved Babe. They saw this with their grandparents and told me it was really scary, especially for the 4 year old. It’s so strange because Babe was so great and equally loved by both of my kids.