A warm, inventive family film that blends gentle comedy, real emotional stakes, and surprisingly elegant craft. It’s especially rewarding if you like storybook movies with heart, animal performances, and a sincere underdog arc.
59% ★★★☆☆ (323,083)
Babe
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Fantasy · Drama · G
1995 · 1h 32m · ★ 59% (323.1K)
A little pig goes a long way.
Director: Chris Noonan
Starring: Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, Danny Mann
Overview
Babe is a little pig who doesn't quite know his place in the world. With a bunch of odd friends, like Ferdinand the duck who thinks he is a rooster and Fly the dog he calls mum, Babe realises that he has the makings to become the greatest sheep pig of all time, and Farmer Hoggett knows it. With the help of the sheep dogs, Babe learns that a pig can be anything that he wants to be.
Director
Chris Noonan
Production
Universal Pictures, Kennedy Miller Productions
Cast
Christine Cavanaugh, Miriam Margolyes, Danny Mann, Hugo Weaving, Miriam Flynn, James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, Russi Taylor, Roscoe Lee Browne, Evelyn Krape, Michael Edward-Stevens, Charles Bartlett, Paul Livingston, Zoe Burton, Paul Goddard, Wade Hayward, Brittany Byrnes, Mary Acres, Janet Foye, Pamela Hawken
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, inventive family film that blends gentle comedy, real emotional stakes, and surprisingly elegant craft. It’s especially rewarding if you like storybook movies with heart, animal performances, and a sincere underdog arc.
Best for
families looking for a smart all-ages movie
viewers who enjoy uplifting underdog stories
fans of practical effects and seamless animal filmmaking
people who like gentle, whimsical comedy with emotional warmth
Skip if
you want fast-paced action or constant jokes
you dislike sentimental family films
you prefer fully animated movies over live-action/puppet hybrids
you’re not in the mood for a soft, earnest tone
Overview
Babe is one of those rare family films that feels both effortless and meticulously made. Its charm comes from the way it treats a simple premise with complete seriousness: a pig trying to find his place becomes a story about identity, belonging, and learning how kindness can be a kind of strength. The humor is light but sharp, and the movie keeps finding new textures without ever losing its gentle center.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the craft. The animal work, visual effects, and pastoral imagery create a world that feels storybook-like without becoming artificial. It moves through comedy, suspense, and emotional payoff with unusual confidence, and the result is a movie that can make you laugh at a duck’s delusions one minute and feel deeply moved the next.
Bottom line
It’s also more emotionally intelligent than its reputation suggests. Babe is about manners, labor, class, and the pressure to fit in, but it never turns preachy. Instead, it offers a simple thesis with real grace: decency matters, and being underestimated is not the same as being small.
Top Letterboxd reviews
demi adejuyigbe (4.5★) · 1453 likes
I love the little pig!!! A perfect, incredibly endearing family comedy about kindness! A feat of puppeteering and visual effects! Babe waddled so Paddington could run! This movie is like a TV series with a thousand little genres in it- there’s a heist movie, there’s a coming of age story, there’s a mystery movie, and it ends with a sports movie. What a miracle that they all work! Absolutely enamored with this movie. The comedy off of the puppeteering alone… more
mia lee vicino (3.5★) · 950 likes
me when babe was trying to be sneaky but got his tiny hoof tangled in the yarn
James (Schaffrillas) (3★) · 699 likes
I had to catch up on the Babe lore before watching Pig in the City for a video. Cute I guess. Should've been animated
Tuna 🌹 Chips (5★) · 688 likes
Because even thinking about the scene where James Cromwell dances for the pig is the purest form of cinematic ecstasy that I have ever known.
Greta T. Narrator (4.5★) · 566 likes
I'd like to call bullshit on 3 stars being the most commonly selected rating for this movie on this site. Who gives Babe three fucking stars? The same people who are boycotting Fury Road because it has a strong female character in the lead? This is like giving the concept of wonder a B-.