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Charlotte saves her bacon
CHARLOTTE’S WEB
Directed by Peter Winick
Certificate U
THE book made me cry when I was a mere sniff of a lad, so it is hardly surprising I – and others of my generation – will enjoy introducing their children to this great piece of vegetarian propaganda.
Author EB White originally created the tale of the heroic spider Charlotte and her battle to save little pinkie Wilbur from a trip to the abattoir for his nieces and nephews.
He was a magazine columnist whose family were always asking him to tell them a story – and so he wrote Charlotte’s Web for them, after being inspired by the animals on is own homestead in Maine. It quickly became a best-selling children’s book, and has already made it to the screen in a 1972 version that introduced the farmyard story to a whole new set of admirers.
But now it is ripe for re-telling – with the enormous leaps in CGI, it was only a matter of time before Wilbur was given the Babe treatment.
It’s a real charmer without being overly sentimental and not slipping into the trouble of being too preachy. Yes, there are some morals but being good to one another but they are not ladled on too heavily.
Fern (Dakota Fanning) is the little girl who is beginning to learn about the facts of food production. And she doesn’t want Wilbur to become a rasher, even though she is happy to tuck in to a bacon roll.
When she gets up in the night to watch a batch of piglets being born, she saves the runt and vows to look after him.
Wilbur’s early days are piggy heaven, living inside the family home as little Fern’s new pet. When he is moved out to a barn his pampered background means the other animals are not overly keen on the new arrival – especially as he seems quite green about piggie facts of life, which consists of being fattened up and then being made into ham.
Wilbur is also soon told of his fate as he trots about the farmyard, and his best mate Charlotte – voiced by a well-cast Julia Roberts – decides the little porker needs all the help he can get.
The whole thing is folksy without being whimsical – the blue sky and quaint farmhouse tells of an untroubled time, harking back to a 1950s’ ideal which conveniently ignores McCarthyism, Korea, the Cold War and the loss of thousands of young farm hands on the beaches of Northern Europe – scars which were very much raw when White wrote the story.
John Cleese adds some light comedy touches as the voice of a sheep who doesn’t want his mates to follow each other blindly.
Other names include Robert Redford as a horse and Cathy Bates popping up as a cow, while Oprah Winfrey and Cedric the Entertainer make a good couple as betrothed geese, while Steve Buscemi is fast-talking Templeton the Rat.
Overall its good stuff – and will appeal to the adults taking their children to view this farmyard treat. |
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