CHARLOTTE'S WEB

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

My family like to tease me about one thing in particular: how easily I start the waterworks whenever I watch an "animal movie." It never fails. One look at an adorable puppy rescued from a horrible fate, from a proud little pig who can herd sheep, or the last scene in Homeward Bound where Shadow goes bounding into his master's arms, and I start blubbering all over the place. Charlotte's Web always made me cry when I was a kid, despite my abhorrence for spiders. And wouldn't you know it, it still does.

One stormy night, Fern (Dakota Fanning) awakens to see lights on in the barn, indicating that the long-awaited birth of the piglets has come at last. Pulling on her raincoat and running out to the warmth and comfort of the shed, she is horrified to see her father picking up the smallest piglet, with the intent of killing it, because it's a runt and doesn't have a chance at survival. Rather than allow the piglet to be murdered, Fern vows that she will take care of it. And that is just what she does. Her mother (Essie Davis) is more than a little concerned that Fern is better friends with the pig, dubbed Wilbur, than she is with her classmates, but everyone assures her that this fascination will be outgrown with time. When the time comes to sell the pig, Fern cannot bear saying goodbye, so Wilbur is given a place in the barn across the road, belonging to her uncle. There, he quickly meets his fellow barn mates but cannot seem to find anyone willing to be a friend.

Until he meets Charlotte (voiced by Julia Roberts). A spider who has taken up residence in the corner of the barn doorway, her soft voice and ultimate sweetness make up for the fact that she has eight legs and sucks the blood of flies. While Fern is away at school, she keeps Wilbur entertained with conversation, until Templeton the Rat (Steve Buscemi) snidely informs Wilbur that when Christmas rolls around, he's going to be the main course after a one-way trip to the smokehouse. From that moment, Charlotte vows to find a way to prevent Wilbur from becoming roast ham, enlisting the minds of the barnyard animals as she tries to come up with the perfect word to weave in her web to describe the marvelous little pig that has won over her heart. The story is much like the old cartoon version, but made more charming through its host of big-screen icons as voices, and the fact that it's live action.

Robert Redford, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, and Cedric the Entertainer add their voices, among others, to bring to life an amusing assortment of creatures, from the goose that longs for freedom but is tied down to his family, to the horse who cannot bear to look at Charlotte without breaking out into hives. Then there are the crows who are afraid of the scarecrow in the local corn field, and the underground lair of the rat, filled with junk. The story is just as good as I remember it, and quite appropriate for family viewing with one or two minor cautions. Very young children will be distressed at the ongoing theme that Wilbur might wind up Christmas dinner. The opening scene of the farmer intending to kill a helpless piglet might also bring forth a few fearful tears, as well as the fact that one of the main characters does not make it to the end. (Cue the waterworks.) Other than that, the only thing that bears mentioning is the fact that one of the cows is rather flatulent. 

I never thought I would see a cuter animated piglet than Babe, but Wilbur takes the cake. There are times when the computer animation is rather obvious, but for the most part he is adorable from beginning to end. Charlotte is realistic enough to make my skin crawl at her close-ups, but also beautiful in her own unique way. The DVD also has some great features on it, including interviews with the vocal cast that should bring a smile to your face. It's the mark of an enduring child's story that adults can still love it years later, and it's nice to finally have a live-action version to replace the wonderful cartoon one that I grew up watching faithfully, along with other animal classics. But if you're like me, sneak along a tissue, because it's as much a nostalgic journey of memories as the depiction of one small pig's strive for greatness.