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Starring Magda Szubanski, James Cromwell, Mickey Rooney, Mary Stein, lots of animals and
their voices including E. G. Daily, Danny Mann, Steven Wright and Glenne Headly.
Directed by George Miller.
After winning the sheep herding championship with Mr. Hoggett (Cromwell), Pig (Daily) arrives home to the farm to a hero's welcome from the area residents. But soon after his arrival, Pig causes a problem in the well which results in his boss being laid up in bed with several broken bones. Mrs. Hoggett (Szubanski) tries her best to do her husband's chores as well as her own, but one day a pair of bankers in suits come to the farm to foreclose. After receiving a ton of fan mail, including some personal appearance fee offers, she decides to take Pig to the big city to earn some of those fees to save the farm. She and Pig land at the airport, but miss their connecting flight to the fair. Despondent, with no place to go, a kind stranger directs to a local hotel located in the big city. After settling in, Pig meets a family of chimps who are part of a circus act led by Himself (Rooney). But after a accident during a performance, Himself is taken ill to hospital, and the hotel owner (Stein) follows him there. When Mrs. Hoggett is out looking for Pig, Pig meets a bunch of local animals, and invites them back to the hotel to live. But when they are taken hostage by the city animal control unit, Pig and a few uncaught animals must try to find them and release them from captivity. A sequel to the original Babe, Babe Pig In The City is every bit as inventive as the original, and possesses the same heart and spirit. It adopts to good use the three singing mice that were used in the original to open and close out each episode. It also brings back many of the original characters of the first - Fly the dog, Ferdinand the duck and of course Mr. and Mrs. Hoggett. And Roscoe Lee Browne narrates the goings on again. But this time, the film is much larger in scope. From a flying scene with Ferdinand chasing the plane, to the ultra modern airport, to the sensational city scape and city neighbourhood, a lot more money was spent in creating a unique and interesting environment for Pig to explore. Many scenes, including a bunch of cats singing, a pit bull chasing Babe through the city streets and a ballroom rescue scene near the end, are beautifully choreographed and filmed, with inventive action sequences. The script contains the same heartwarming, but never sappy kindness and generosity that Pig displayed in the first film. The only difference is, even though youngsters will enjoy much of the film, some sequences will be upsetting to very young viewers (as well as some old ones), such as when the animal control people ruthlessly snatch the animals from their hotel home. It is likely adults will enjoy the film every bit as much as the kids. Because he is laid up in bed, Cromwell plays a very small role, only appearing at the very beginning and at the very end. The film is carried by the rosy-cheeked Szubanski, who is quite willing to undergo all kinds of pratfalls and costume indignaties, and amplifies the same warm, naive homebody from the first Babe. Stein is quite good as the animal lover who loves animals more than the cold people she shares the city with. I'm not sure why this film has done so poorly at the box office. Perhap all the competition from those pesky bugs. It is a first class production, showing us people can change when they are shown kindness, and loyalty to friends and loved ones is the best course of action. Perhaps a bit optimistic, but hey, it works. Take a kid or a friend to see Babe: Pig In The City today.  
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