Babe: Pig in the City (1998)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I watched Babe quite often as a child. I don't know really why, I just did-that's kids for yah. But as I have grown older, I have found the film's charms not as alluring. While it is fun and I liked it's unusual sense of humor, I thought it was drowned out by the uneventful story and a cop out ending. Babe: Pig in the City however-no pun intended- is a different kind of animal all together. A few months after the original, Babe accidentally injures the farmer and because of that, a chain of events unfold that might cause them to lose the farm. The Farmer's wife decide then to enter Babe into a sheep herding contest to win some money but due to all sorts of confusion, they wind up stuck at a big city simply called Metropolis-a compilation of major cities from around the world- instead. Babe gets mixed up with some weird animals like a lame dog, a choir of cats and a family of mischievous chimpanzee bandits who are owned by Mickey Rooney-of all people. The story itself is pretty crazy and even hard to follow if you aren't paying attention. But that's the charm of this picture. It's controlled chaos. It is trying to go for this larger-than-life slapstick epic with colorful visuals. In that way, I think it is better than the original, Babe: Pig in the City's story is just as thin as the original but it contains the same sense of humor only amplified to 11. It's also much darker than the original kids film which I think more children need to be exposed to. The world is pretty messed up but that doesn't mean you can't be a good person. Babe: Pig in the City is certainly underrated and deserves much more attention just for it's quirky charm.

What really made me want to see both Babe movies was when I found out that Gene Siskel--one of the best known movie critics in the world at the time--called it THE best movie of 1998. His buddy, Roger Ebert, also praised it. I saw their segment when they reviewed this and they were acting like it was a better family movie than The Lion King. I strongly doubted this was better than Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love, but I didn't think it would be that far behind. Because Siskel and Ebert gave it a better review than the first movie, and they are both very trustworthy critics, I took their word for it being a great film. I know opinions differ, but I don't get why both men loved it as much as they did.What made Babe such a treat was its lovely scenery and different animals talking. In Babe: Pig in the City, Babe and the duck return for the whole movie, then they encounter dogs, cats and monkeys. Everybody sees dogs and cats all the time, and chimps are the subjects of lots of sci-fi movies. In Babe, there is a diversity of animals that are more rare to see, an unclose for that matter. Also, since it takes place in a city, mostly at night, it it not as beautiful as the nature filled farm in the first. We do see the farm in this, but only for a short amount of time. The set pieces for the city looked too comical, I guess for a kiddie effect. I liked the sets, but they were inferior to Babe's. My last problem is how weak the plot and characters developed. In Babe, the plot was kind of weak, but made up for it by having great character development. The plot in this is a bit slower and the character development is weaker too. I didn't not like this. I really did. Is it a fall from the first? Yes, but is it a bad movie entirely? Not at all. With tons of animals being human, the puppets, effects and trainers deserve huge props. Maybe the set wasn't as nice as the first, but it was still very well made and admirable. The development is a bit weaker, but some of your favourite barnyard friends are back and we meet some new, lovable animals. I may watch Babe more often than Babe: Pig in the City, but there will be times where I will be in the mood to see the screen's best pig out of the farm.

This takes place right after the contest of the original movie. Babe and Farmer returns to the farm. One day Babe's curiosity causes Farmer Hoggett (James Cromwell) to be severely hurt. The farm starts to get into trouble with the bank, and Mrs Farmer Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) is forced to take Babe to another contest. On the way they got into trouble with airport security and they're stuck in the big bad city.This is an ugly movie. No matter how bright the picture is, the city is full of uncaring mean-spirited people. It is completely opposite of the nice fun gentle hopeful spirit of the original. The exterior shots have it's fanciful charm, but the interior of the hotel is just completely artificial. Also the movie misses the presence of James Cromwell. He's only in the movie for about 15 minutes. He provides the steadying influence of his acting prowess. Without him, all that's left is the animals and Esme doing some funny bits.

A truly terrible sequel to "Babe" (which was a wonderful movie). Famer Hoggett (James Cromwell) is seriously injured when he falls down a well. Great way to start a kids movie--see a character we like getting seriously hurt. Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) has to go to the city to save the farm from being sold and takes Babe with her. That's when the movie just goes out of control.The city is a mishmash of all famous buildings from other cities around the world. Some may think that's clever--for me it was disorienting and annoying. Babe meets other animals and here's where it gets really disturbing. At one point Babe picks up a fish in his mouth to get it back into water. The way its shot u think Babe is going to eat the fish. At another point a dog's leash gets tangled on a bridge. He falls over into the water. Because of the way the leash is tangled and he falls he can't get his head out of the water for air! We get a nice shot of the poor animal trying to get some breath. At ANOTHER point a baby monkey is clinging for dear life from a chandelier. Also the human characters aren't treated much better. Mrs. Hoggett is ordered to be strip searched early on! I caught this at a matinée in 1998. I have never forgotten some kids crying because of what they were seeing and outraged parents storming out of the theatre and complaining LOUDLY that this film was not a kids film. The original had dark moments too but nothing like what we see here. This movie seems to enjoy putting humans and animals in danger and shoving it in the audiences faces. THIS has a G rating? Don't let your kids see this one.