Babe (film)

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For other uses, see Babe.

Babe is a 1995 Australian-American film about a pig who wants to be a sheepdog.  It is directed by Chris Noonan, based on the book The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith, and written by George Miller and Chris Noonan.

A little pig goes a long way. (taglines)


  • This is a tale about an unprejudiced heart, and how it changed our valley forever.  There was a time not so long ago when pigs were afforded no respect, except by other pigs.  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 would have to be taken to Pig Paradise—a place so wonderful that no pig had ever thought to come back.
  • There are many perfectly nice cats in the world, but every barrel has its bad apples, and so it is well for everyone to pay attention to the old adage:  "Beware of the bad cat holding a grudge."
  • [as the crowd cheers for Babe's remarkable performance at the sheepdog trials]  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.

Farmer Arthur H. Hoggett[edit]

  • If I had words to make a day for you
    I'd sing you a morning golden and true
    I would make this day last for all time
    Then fill the night deep in moonshine
  • [repeated line]  "That'll do, pig. That'll do".

Ferdinand the Duck[edit]

  • Christmas dinner, yeah.  Dinner means death.  Death means carnage!  Christmas means carnage!  Christmas means carnage!
  • The fear's too much for a duck.  It—it eats away at the soul!  There must be kinder dispositions in far-off, gentler lands.
  • [laughs in joy] The pig did it!  The pig did it!  The perfect score!

Fly the Border Collie[edit]

  • The Bosses only eat stupid animals like sheep and ducks and chickens.
  • [to Babe] It's only your first try. But you're treating them like equals. They're sheep; they're inferior.


  • Maa: [about Babe] You see, ladies? A heart of gold.
  • Sheep: [to Babe] Well, I wouldn't call that a bite myself. You got teeth in that floppy mouth of yours or just gums?


Puppy: It does look stupid, Mom.
Fly the Border Collie: Not as stupid as sheep, mind you, but pigs are definitely stupid.
Babe: [clears throat] Excuse me. No, we're not.
Fly: Good heavens! Who are you?
Babe: I'm a Large White.
Fly: Yes, that's your breed, dear. What's your name?
Babe: I don't know.
Fly: Well, what did your mother call you to tell you apart from your brothers and sisters?
Babe: Our mom called us all the same.
Fly: And what was that, dear?
Babe: She called us all "Babe."
Horse: Perhaps we shouldn't talk too much about, uh, family.
Babe: [sobs] I want my mom. [cries]
Fly: [stares at Babe, then goes up to him] 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 till you find your feet. [Rex shows up, sees Babe] The little pig's a bit low. He's going to sleep with us, just till he finds his feet.
Rex the Male Sheepdog: [growls] Until he finds his feet. [leaves]
Puppy: But, Mom, he'll wet the bed!
Fly: Nonsense! [to Babe] If you do want to do anything, you'll go outside, won't you? Good boy!

Ferdinand: Humans eat ducks!
Babe: [gasps] I beg your pardon?
Ferdinand: Ah, most ducks would like to forget it, but the fact is that humans like to eat plump, attractive ducks.
Babe: Ohhh, I don't think so. Not the Boss, not the Boss's wife.
Ferdinand: Oh, come on. Humans don't eat cats--why?
Babe: Well, they're…
Ferdinand: They're indispensable—they catch mice! Humans don't eat roosters--why? They make eggs with the hens and wake everyone up in the morning.
Babe: Right…
Ferdinand: I tried it with the hens; it didn't work. So I turned to crowing, and lo! I discover my gift! But no sooner do I become indispensable than they bring in a machine to do the job! Ohhhh-oh-oh, the treachery of it!—a mechanical rooster!
Babe: Oh dear me…
Ferdinand: Oh dear you?! [sighs/honks] I suppose the life of an anorexic duck doesn't amount to much in the broad scheme of things. But, pig, I'm all I've got!
Babe: Um…why do you need me to to do it?
Ferdinand: [sighs/honks] I'm allergic to cats.
Babe: Oh.
Ferdinand: They make me sneeze.
Babe: Oh. Don't worry, I won't wake the cat.

Rex: [after Ferdinand and Babe wrecked the house] It was my mistake. I was trying to loosen things up a little. But, no. Today proved that it doesn't work. From now on, we'll all respect the rules. To each creature its own destiny. Every animal in its proper place. And a pig's proper place is under the old cart, not in the barn. And absolutely never in the house. Is that understood?
Babe: [covered in blue paint] Yes, sir.
Rex: Now, Pig, regarding the company you keep. Being young, it's hard to discriminate, so I'll make it easy for you. I forbid you to talk to or consort with that duck…ever! Have I made myself clear?
Babe: Uh...what's "consort"?
Horse: It means, young man, that you must not go anywhere near that duck.
Rex: As for the fugitive duck, when he shows himself, let him know this--being a duck, he must behave like a duck. No more of this crowing nonsense. He should accept what he is and be thankful for it. That goes for all of us.
Cow: Hear, hear!

[The Hoggetts' granddaughter opens her last Christmas present in a greedy excitement to reveal the beautiful, extravagant, ultra-realistic handcrafted dollhouse her maternal grandfather, Arthur, made for her; unexpectedly lets out a wail]
Mrs. Esme Cordelia Hoggett: [upon seeing her little granddaughter devastated] What's wrong, dear?
The Hoggetts' granddaughter: [complaining and sobbing] It's the wrong one. [screaming loudly as we see Arthur smirking at his granddaughter's tantrum, trying not to laugh] I WANT THE HOUSE I SAW ON THE TELEVISION!
[We see the Hoggetts' daughter chuckling and smiling at her daughter's tantrum as Esme sympathetically gives her granddaughter a hug as she starts consoling her]
Mrs. Esme Cordelia Hoggett: Oh, there there. [we see Fly and Rex by the fireplace. Fly watches this scene with pity in her eyes as if to say "Poor little girl", but Rex lays down on the floor looking away without showing any care or concern about his owners' granddaughter]

Rex: You and I are descended from the great sheepdogs. We carry the bloodline of the ancient Bahou. We stand for something! And, today, I watched in shame as all that was betrayed.
Fly: Rex, dear, he's just a little pig.
Rex: All the greater the insult!

Fly: [trying to softly console her husband] Rex? [Rex growls] I know it was hard for you today, watching all that happening. But surely it's not worth all this misery. Please, dear. Not on such a beautiful night.
Rex: [angrily] You put these ideas into his head, two-faced traitorous WRETCH! [angrily attacks Fly in a fit of rage]
[cut to Arthur and Esme, who are already having dinner together when they hear a sound. Arthur takes off his bib, and pulls back the curtains to reveal Rex and Fly fighting. Arthur runs outside to stop the two dogs from fighting.]
Farmer Hoggett: Get down! Down, Rex. Fly! [Rex accidentally bites Hoggett's hand. Arthur flinches in pain as Rex backs away in shame, realizing he had gone too far. Esme is outside too and glares at their male dog]

Narrator: [Rex is chained to the doghouse as punishment for attacking Fly and bitten Arthur accidentally] A dark cloud had to send on the valley. And the pig felt that the troubles were all his fault. But he was certain he knew how to put things right again.
Babe: [in an attempt apologize for being better than him] Um, excuse me, sir. But I-I-I-I think all this trouble---
[Before Babe can finish his sentence, Rex growls and snarls angrily at Babe, who becomes so frightened that he squeals and runs away. Arthur notices this worried at Rex's behavior]

Babe: Was Rex a champion?
Fly: He had the makings of the greatest champion there ever was, but it wasn't to be.
Babe: What happened?
Fly: A while back when Rex was in his prime, the winter rains brought a great flood to the valley. Rex and the boss got most of the flock onto the high ground. Then Rex went back to look for the strays. He found them. They'd been stranded by the rising water. He tried to herd them across to safety, but they wouldn't budge. Too afraid and too stupid to save their own skins. It was freezing cold and the water kept rising. Rex stayed with them right through the night. By morning, the sheep were drowned. And when they found Rex, he was barely alive.
Babe: Oh, Mom.
Fly: Two weeks rest in front of the fire saw him back on his feet, but his hearing was never the same again. He'd never want anyone to know, but...he's almost totally deaf.
Babe: Is that why he's so…you know…angry?
Fly: That's not the half of it. All this was barely a month before the Grand National Challenge. He tried his best, but he couldn't hear the Boss's calls, and it slowed him up. The cold truth is that, but for the stupidity of sheep, Rex would've been the champion of champions.

Fly: QUIET!!!
Narrator: Fly decided to speak very slowly, for it was a cold fact of nature that sheep were stupid and no one would ever persuade her otherwise.
Fly: [struggling] Please. Please, would you be…so kind as to tell me what happened?
Sheep: Quiet.
Fly: Please. Tell me what happened this morning.
Narrator: The sheep spoke very slowly, for it was a cold fact of nature that wolves were ignorant and nothing would convince them otherwise.
Sheep: Babe came! He saved us! The wolves killed Maa! But Babe drove the wolves away!
Fly: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all very much!
Sheep: Pleasure talking to ya.

[Farmer Hoggett load shells on his shotgun and aims it at Babe with rope tied up on his neck, Fly is shown rushing back to the farm and barks repeatedly, Arthur lows his shotgun and looks at the door, hearing Fly barking, turns back to Babe and aims his shotgun again at Babe, angrily preparing to kill him, as he is about pull the trigger a voice calls him from outside]
Mrs. Esme Cordelia Hoggett: Hoggett! Hooey! Arthur! [Fly is shown running toward the shack, Farmer Hoggett walks out of it as she passes him to get inside] Well, there you are! What do you think? That was the police on the telephone. They said there are wild dogs about. Apparently the Mitchells lost six lambs this morning. [notice the shotgun on his hand] What on earth are you doing with that gun?!
Farmer Hoggett: [looks at his shotgun] Oh, nothing? [Esme glares at him, then lets out a sigh and walks back into the house, as we see Farmer Hoggett with a shame look on his face upon learning the truth and removes the shells on his shotgun]

Babe: Oh, well, but…
Duchess: Feeling good about tomorrow, are you?
Babe: Mm-hmm. It should be all right, I think.
Duchess: You know, 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 sheep dog business.
Babe: Why would they do that?
Duchess: Well, they say you've forgotten that you're a pig. Isn't that silly? They say you don't even know what pigs are for.
Babe: What do you mean?
Duchess: You know, why pigs are here.
Babe: Why are any of us here?
Duchess: Well, the cows are here to be milked. The dogs are here to help the Boss's husband with the sheep. I am here to be beautiful and affectionate to the Boss.
Babe: Yes?
Duchess: [sighs softly] The fact is that pigs don't have a purpose. Just like…ducks don't have a purpose.
Babe: I—I don't, uh…
Duchess: Alright, for your 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 animals without 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.
Babe: [horrified] They eat pigs?
Duchess: Pork, they call it. Or bacon. They only call them pigs when they're alive.
Babe: [frightened] But, uh, I'm a sheep pig!
Duchess: [giggles] The Boss's husband is just playing a little game with you. Believe me, sooner or later, every pig gets eaten. That's the way the world works. Oh, I haven't upset you, have I? [chuckles softly]

Fly: Babe? Babe? [rushes out of the barn, then she runs around the house] Babe! Baaabe! [Rex is shown under the wagon watching Fly calling Babe and she approaches him, informing of what Duchess has done to Babe] Babe's run away! Rex? Please?
[Rex regrets at what he had done earlier and changed his heart, gets up]
Rex: Call the boss. [Fly then barks at the window to alert Arthur of Babe run away, then they are shown following Babe's tracks and Rex rushes forward and finds Babe in the graveyard, shivering from the rain] He's over here! Hold on, pig. You'll be home soon. [Fly and Arthur approach him ready to bring him back home]

Fly: If those sheep won't talk to Babe. The boss is going to look like an idiot. I don't know what to do.
Rex: There's only one thing. [Fly tries to speak, but is cut off] I've got to go! I'll try to be back in time. :[runs off, as Arthur looks on with concern]

Narrator: [the crowd cheers at Babe's performance] 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.
Ferdinand: [rooster crows] Ha, ha, ha, ha! The pig did it! The pig did it! The perfect score! [laughs]
Mice: Whoo! Whoo-hoo! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!
Farmer Hoggett: [to Babe—last lines] That'll do, pig. That'll do.


  • A little pig goes a long way.


Quotes about Babe[edit]

External links[edit]

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