Cinema - Charlotte’s Web

Babe, the brilliant 1994 film about a talking pig, was one of those rare beasts, a kids’ movie which the accompanying adults could enjoy just as much, if not more, than their charges. Charlotte’s Web, which uses the same computer-wiz techniques as Babe to make its farmyard animals talk, tries hard to do the same, and doesn’t quite manage, for various reasons. It’s based on the much-loved 1952 children’s book by EB White. Wilbur, the runt of a pig litter, is destined for the slaughterhouse until the farmer’s daughter intervenes, promising to look after him, at least temporarily. But he becomes too big to be a pet, so he’s moved to a nearby barnyard to live out his last days amid a menagerie of talking animals before it’s time for the chop. Then something miraculous, fashioned by a Christ-like spider, occurs…

The little girl is played by the latest kid out of the Shirley Temple stable, Dakota Fanning, making you wonder why precociousness is held in such high esteem on the other side of the Atlantic. The voice-overs come, as ever, from an all-star cast (a curious phenomenon, this) including John Cleese, Julia Roberts, Robert Redford, Oprah Winfrey and, most memorably, Steve Buscemi. It’s a heart warming, and slightly tragic tale, which won’t stay in your head for long, but will stick in the heart of your children for years, and will no doubt be responsible for thousands of pre-teens becoming vegetarian. DL