Babe

There [isn't] much zip to the script. But, shot by the late Andrew Lesnie... it always looks good.

Much to my surprise, I found Babe charming in an eccentric, oddly tough-minded sort of way. And if it isn't quite good enough to change my mind about the entire critter-chat genre, it is certainly good enough to recommend.

He's brave and bright, good-natured and ambitious, naive and vulnerable. All in all, he's probably the most winsome orphan to appear on the screen since Freddie Bartholomew impersonated David Copperfield 60 years ago.

Thanks to well-trained live animals, clever voice characterizations and a big dash of muppetry from Henson's Creature Shop, Babe and his barnyard friends not only walk the walk and trot the trot, they also talk the talk.

Here's the summer's sleeper for kids and their parents, a terrific picture that takes a lot of risks and makes them all pay off in a charming story about a pig who fancies himself a sheepdog -- or sheep-pig.

Babe is not, strictly speaking, a kid's movie. It is a preposterously funny fable that strikes a chord with adults, too.

One of the best family films ever made

It may be an airy fairy tale, quick and simple, but it’s exquisitely upbeat and sweet, with a perfectly triumphant finale.

Babe is a delightful tale told with untold depths of joy and acceptance. It says that not only should you be accepted for who you are, you should be accepted regardless of what you choose to do or who you choose to be.

Over 25 years later, Babe remains one of 1995's best pictures of the year.