THE AISLE SEAT - "BABE: PIG IN THE CITY"

by Mike McGranaghan

I wasn't sure I was going to like Babe: Pig in the City. Although I adored the original Babe in 1995, the preview I had seen of the sequel was troubling. It looked as though the movie was going for a broader kind of slapstick rather than maintaining the quaint charm of the first film. Well, the second Babe confounded my expectations in every way. This is a rare sequel that fully measures up to the original. It does occasionally go for the slapstick, and although I don't much care for slapstick, rarely have I seen it done so well. But more than that, Babe: Pig in the City reinvents itself as a wild-and-crazy fantasy that never loses the heart of the first film.

The story begins on the farm where the kindly Mr. Hoggett (James Cromwell) sustains minor injuries in an accident while fixing the well. Because he is unable to work, he cannot pay the bills. The bank comes a-calling, and it's up to Mrs. Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) to raise some money. She discovers an exhibition in "The City" where she can enter her prized sheep-herding "pig-dog." Without giving too much away, the exhibition doesn't come off as planned, leaving them stranded in a big hotel overrun by animals. Mrs. Hoggett then gets arrested (I won't tell you what for), leaving Babe to find a way of raising money to save the farm.

One of the best things about Babe: Pig in the City is that - rather than just trying to imitate the original - it finds its own unique style and tone. The first film gained popularity by following its own course; moviegoers had never seen anything quite like it before. The sequel similarly treads its own path, although it builds on ideas and themes from the first movie. It expands the world of Babe fearlessly.

A major stroke of inspiration was setting the movie in the hotel, the only place in The City that accepts animals. There's a whole floor of dogs, another one for felines, and there's even a family of monkeys who live with a circus clown (Mickey Rooney). Two of the monkeys are Bob and his pregnant "wife" Zootie. Like most monkeys, they tend to be mischievous, as Babe learns the hard way. Other animals include Ferdinand the neurotic duck (a holdover from the original), a wheelchair-bound pup named Flealick, and a tiny little kitten who always seems to be hungry. The special effects used to make the animals talk and show emotions are even more impressive this time around. Everyone has a distinct personality that comes across through the magic of technology.

As the movie goes on, Babe finds many adventures. He is harassed by a pit bull, performs an act of heroism, and eventually sets out to find Mrs. Hoggett (whom he calls "my human"). All of the action is set against the backdrop of this magnificent city, which goes unnamed but resembles (in some way) nearly every major city in the world. It has canals, and the buildings represent various forms of architecture from different decades. The City is just one example of how wondrous this movie is. The imagination that went into the product is amazing.

Babe: Pig in the City was directed by George Miller, the Australian filmmaker who also did the Mad Max pictures. He gives Babe a similar kind of frantic energy that sucks you in. Sometimes it's done through clever humor, such as Babe's airport encounter with a drug-sniffing dog (the dog's name is a hilarious payoff to an already funny scene). Other times, it's through the sheer movement of the story, which whizzes along like a bullet train from one endearing scene to the next. It all culminates with an elaborate grand finale set in a lush ballroom during which Babe and Mrs. Hoggett must fight off some angry chefs who want to make the pig into a meal. The scene is similar to the cinematic mayhem perpetrated by the Marx Brothers in some of their more famous pictures. I was struck by what a skilled physical comedienne Magda Szubanski is. She didn't have much to do in the original, but she gets the chance to display her marvelous talents here (Cromwell, meanwhile, appears in what is basically a cameo at the beginning and end).

It's not easy to make sequels, but Babe: Pig in the City sets out only to be original and new. It succeeds. This is one of the best movies of the year, and also one of the funniest. In fact, at one point I was laughing so hard, I thought the guy behind me was going to tell me to shut up. In a time when comedies seem to get dumber every week, here's one that pulls out all the stops to entertain you. Babe: Pig in the City is inspired with comic ingenuity, but when all is said and done, my heart was again touched by the enchanting tribute to the magic of animals.

( out of four)

Babe: Pig in the City is rated G, although very small children might be upset by scenes of animals in peril. The running time is 1 hour and 33 minutes.