Babe (1995, Australia)

In director Chris Noonan's Best Picture-nominated storybook animal tale and family film, with remarkable talking animals (including Fly the sheepdog, Ferdinand the duck (who thought he was a rooster to spare being eaten), the elderly ewe Maa, the trio of singing mice, and of course, Babe):

• the film's opening - a harrowing account (by off-screen narrator Roscoe Lee Browne) at a gigantic hog farm where pigs were being loaded up into a truck to be taken away to market ("They lived their whole lives in a cruel and sunless world. In those days, pigs believed that the sooner they grew large and fat, the sooner they'd be taken into pig paradise...A place so wonderful that no pig had ever thought to come back...So when the day came for their parents to go to that other world of endless pleasures, it was not a time for young pigs to be sad. Just another step towards the day when they, too, would make the journey"); one runty little piglet who appeared alone and sad was randomly selected - to be used for a Lion's Club guessing contest at the local fair
• the scene of Farmer Hoggett's (James Cromwell) winning entry in the fair contest - accurately guessing a piglet's weight and bringing it to his farm - where the farm animals spoke to the disconsolate pig; he was given the name of Babe (voice of Christine Cavanaugh): ("Our mom called us all the same...She called us all Babe"); Fly the Sheepdog (voice of Miriam Margolyes) tried to comfort Babe who piteously cried out: "I want my Mom!" -- "There, there, You've got to be a brave boy now. I left my mother when I was your age, and my pups will have to leave me soon. But I'll keep an eye on you, if you like, just 'til you find your feet. The little pig's a bit low. He's going to sleep with us just 'til he finds his feet"
• the hilarious sequence (titled "Crime and Punishment") of Ferdinand (voice of Danny Mann) convincing Babe to engage in a secret mission for him - to sneak into the farmhouse, avoid disturbing the nasty cat Duchess (voice of Russi Taylor), and abscond with a "mechanical rooster" - Mrs. Esme Hoggett's (Magda Szubanski) new alarm clock -- Ferdinand watched through the window as Babe began to botch the theft; the two ended up covered with paint in the destroyed living room, and the duck became a fugitive
• the scene of the animals commenting upon Christmas festivities at the Hoggett's farmhouse as the relatives arrived, including Ferdinand sitting on the weathervane and quacking: "Christmas dinner, yeah. Dinner means death. Death means carnage! Christmas means carnage!"
• the film's first indications that Babe was capable of something beyond his 'pig nature' - his first attempt at sheep-herding (by treating the animals with politeness), and his timely alert to Farmer Hoggett that sheep rustlers were stealing some of his flock; Babe also demonstrated that he could sort brown hens from white ones
• the sequence of the death of Maa from marauding wild dogs, and although Farmer Hoggett first suspected Babe and aimed his double-barreled shotgun at the pig, the Farmer abruptly changed his mind when he heard from his wife that other neighbors had also experienced problems with feral dogs ("That was the police on the telephone. Said there are wild dogs about. Apparently the Mitchells lost six lambs this morning")
• the scene of the jealous and begrudging cat Duchess seeking revenge on Babe by cruelly telling him he was scoffed by the other animals for wanting to be a sheep-herding pig, and that humans ate pigs: "I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm not sure if you realize how much the other animals are laughing at you for this sheepdog business...Well, they say that you've forgotten that you're a pig. Isn't that silly? They even say that you don't know what pigs are for....You know, why pigs are here...Well, the cow's here to be milked. The dogs are here to help the boss's husband with the sheep. And I'm here to be beautiful and affectionate to the boss...The fact is that pigs don't have a purpose. Just like ducks don't have a purpose...All right, for you own sake, I'll be blunt. Why do the bosses keep ducks? To eat them. So why do the bosses keep a pig? The fact is that animals that don't seem to have a purpose really do have a purpose. The bosses have to eat. It's probably the most noble purpose of all when you come to think about it...Pork, they call it. Or bacon. They only call them pigs when they're alive....The boss's husband's just playing a little game with you. Believe me, sooner or later, every pig gets eaten. That's the way the world works" - in fear, Babe ran away
• Farmer Hoggett's response to Babe's demoralized state and refusal to eat after hearing that humans ate pigs - he fed Babe from a baby bottle, sang the song "If I Had Words", and danced a jig to enliven his spirits
• the rousing finale in which sheep-herding Babe was victorious with a perfect score of 100 from all the judges (Babe used the secret password Baah Ram Ewe, relayed by sheepdog Rex (voice of Hugo Weaving), to control the sheep and follow his commands) in the prestigious National Grand Challenge Sheepdog Championships contest, entered with the name "PIG"; in two side stories, Mrs. Hoggett watched the competition on TV - and nearly fainted, as did the animals at the farmhouse

"That'll do, pig, that'll do"
The Sheepdog Championships Contest

• amidst wild applause and cheers from the human audience in the grand-stands, the narrator described the tremendous accomplishment: ("And so it was, that in all the celebration, in all the hubbub of noise and excitement, there were two figures who stood silent and still, side by side...And though every single human in the stands or in the commentary boxes was at a complete loss for words, the man who in his life had uttered fewer words than any of them, knew exactly what to say") - the congratulatory words of kind-hearted, prideful owner Farmer Hoggett were simply: "That'll do, pig, that'll do"; Babe looked up and sighed