Porcine Pals

"You swine!"
"Your room's a pigsty!"
"You eat like a pig!"

Phrases like these do pigs an injustice. They are actually very bright (for barnyard animals), clean (they wallow in the mud only in hot weather to keep cool and protect themselves from insect bites), and delicate in their eating habits (OK, I'm lying about their appetites--but remember they were bred to eat like pigs). Pigs need a PR campaign to clean up their image, and Hollywood seems to know it. If you don't believe me, check out these great starring vehicles for porkers:

• Charlotte's Web (1973): Young and innocent Wilbur the pig is being fattened up for his date with the slaughterhouse, but doesn't know it. The wily spider Charlotte saves Wilbur by turning him into a celebrity, and along the way teaches him some valuable lessons about life. This quality animated version of E.B. White's children's classic faithfully captures much of the spirit of the original tale (but no movie can equal the magic of White's words).

• Gordy (1995): A live-action pig tale with a country-and-western ambience. Young Gordy's mother and siblings are sent off to be fattened and slaughtered, and he sets out to find and save them (he succeeds). Along the way Gordy has a number of amusing adventures, is befriended by a little girl and her widower dad, and becomes a hero. Children will enjoy the little pig who talks to the audience, and adult country-and-western fans can pass the time identifying celebrities like Roy Clark and Mickey Gilley who appear in cameo roles.

• Babe (1995): This fantasy blends filmed live animals with animatronic animals (like a chorus of singing mice who appear throughout the movie) so skillfully that the seams never show. The plot focuses on Babe, a bright, courteous, and resourceful young pig who is determined to make himself so useful to his owner that he won't be sold for bacon. But the plot is merely a device on which to hang brilliant character studies of Babe, the other farm animals, and their master. Simply the best animal movie ever made--so good that many serious critics chose it as best picture of the year. You'll never look at a pig the same way again.

Porcine Pals is part of the Mostly Animals Family Film Festival. Check it out for more comedies and dramas starring animals -- animated, fantastic, and real.

All recommended films are available on video cassette.

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