Quick to remind us of its friendship message, this adaptation of E.B. White's children's classic comes to life with a wonderful voice cast and great visual effects. It's sentimental OUR TOWN-like narration from Sam Shepard brings the material to the brink of being too maudlin, but the film's good heart and good intentions save it from being a sap fest. There could be a subtler rendition of this story, but Gary Winick's version keeps true to the heart of the book and does it in a first rate way.
Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay, THE WILD) is the runt of a litter of piglets. Fern (Dakota Fanning, WAR OF THE WORLDS) saves Wilbur from the chopping block and adopts him as her pet. When he gets too big to be a house pet, Fern takes Wilbur to stay in the barn at her uncle's house. The menagerie of animals in the barn begrudgingly co-exists and warns Wilbur that spring pigs don't ever see a winter. Wilbur then befriends the outcast spider Charlotte (Julia Roberts, PRETTY WOMAN), who with the bribed help of hungry Templeton the rat (Steve Buscemi, FARGO), begins to write words about Wilbur in her web, which causes a sensation.
The other animals includes Samuel the Sheep (John Cleese, A FISH CALLED WANDA), Gussy the Goose (Oprah Winfrey, THE COLOR PURPLE), Golly the Goose (Cedric the Entertainer, ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY), Bitsy the Cow (Kathy Bates, PRIMARY COLORS), Betsy the Cow (Reba McEntire, TV's REBA), Ike the Horse (Robert Redford, THE STING) and Brooks the Crow (Thomas Haden Church, SIDEWAYS) and Elwyn the Crow (Andre Benjamin, FOUR BROTHERS).
As for the talking animals, the vfx work is amazing. It really got overlooked by the Academy come Oscar time. I will admit that Wilbur looks funky at times, but it's usually during scenes when he's doing unusual pig actions like back flips. But for the most part, you can't tell whether you're looking at a real pig or a digital creation. The almost flawless work comes in the creation of Charlotte and Templeton. From the natural movement to the nearly photo-real look the characters are brought to life engagingly and realistically. Charlotte is particularly effective due to slightly tweaked character design to make her look "ugly" like a spider, but come off as a caring character as well. Roberts great voice work adds to the accomplishment.
Likewise, Buscemi is the perfect choice as the conniving, but good-hearted, rat. The only less than perfect voice casting comes from Kay, whose performance is too cute at times to the point of being grating.
This sweet story is a classic for its wonderful message. Winick (13 GOING ON 30) brings to together an amazing cast, which really brings life to all the characters. It's some of the best voice work lives heard in years. Like BABE, it brings its real looking talking animals to the screen in a natural and believable way. There is a touch of old fashioned class to this production and that's not a bad thing.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
