12-21-2006, 01:00 PM
A good effort, but ironically, it pales as a film when compared to Babe, and such comparisons are inevitable. I've always liked the book Charlotte's Web and Mrs. DM recently read it to T, so it's really fresh in our minds. It's the first solid treatment of death in a children's book that most of us experience. E. B. White also did Stuart Little, which made for three odd new films (with Geena Davis no less), but I digress.
Julia makes a fine Charlotte, arguably better then Debbie Reynolds in the '73 cartoon. At least she doesn't sing. But I was a little disappointed with the death scene, which failed to generate the least bit of mistiness for DM, despite being set up well. Dakota gives Fern almost too much gravitas - she's too adult that kid, like a young Jodie Foster. The human world and the animal world are very distinct in atmosphere in this version, mostly because of her performance. Everyone is raving about Buscemi as Templeton, and he does nail it, although the tour of Templeton's lair with the Raiders homage involving the goose egg was silly. Cleese is rehashing his same-old-schtick as Samuel, but we still honor python and it's still funny. Oprah is lame as Gussy, aside Cedric as her gander, which is also kind of lame. Agnes Moorhead captured the part much better in the cartoon, although you have to overlook her duet with Paul Lynde (also a fine Templeton). Redford was unrecognizable, as was Reba and Bates (the cow humor was crass and unneeded). The addition of the crow characters came off a lot like Rut and Tuk in Brother Bear. Shepard was a fine narrator, of course. The effects were solid, a vast improvement of the puppetry et. al. of Babe (but that was '95). It's all CGI now, baby, except for one or two rather glaring moments.
It's really weird how parallel Babe is to CW. Both start with runt piglets, cross 4th of July and worry about being Xmas dinner. Both are saved by a little help from their friends. CW is make a better story. Babe makes a better film. T was by the office yesterday, and she watched Babe on the TV next to me again as I worked, and that's still a great film, even after a gazillion viewings. Still, CW 2006 wasn't bad at all. We were entertained by the update. Plus it had a preview of Shrek 3, but I was too busy trying to get my mom and dad seated (they have zero night vision anymore) so I didn't see it very clearly.
Julia makes a fine Charlotte, arguably better then Debbie Reynolds in the '73 cartoon. At least she doesn't sing. But I was a little disappointed with the death scene, which failed to generate the least bit of mistiness for DM, despite being set up well. Dakota gives Fern almost too much gravitas - she's too adult that kid, like a young Jodie Foster. The human world and the animal world are very distinct in atmosphere in this version, mostly because of her performance. Everyone is raving about Buscemi as Templeton, and he does nail it, although the tour of Templeton's lair with the Raiders homage involving the goose egg was silly. Cleese is rehashing his same-old-schtick as Samuel, but we still honor python and it's still funny. Oprah is lame as Gussy, aside Cedric as her gander, which is also kind of lame. Agnes Moorhead captured the part much better in the cartoon, although you have to overlook her duet with Paul Lynde (also a fine Templeton). Redford was unrecognizable, as was Reba and Bates (the cow humor was crass and unneeded). The addition of the crow characters came off a lot like Rut and Tuk in Brother Bear. Shepard was a fine narrator, of course. The effects were solid, a vast improvement of the puppetry et. al. of Babe (but that was '95). It's all CGI now, baby, except for one or two rather glaring moments.
It's really weird how parallel Babe is to CW. Both start with runt piglets, cross 4th of July and worry about being Xmas dinner. Both are saved by a little help from their friends. CW is make a better story. Babe makes a better film. T was by the office yesterday, and she watched Babe on the TV next to me again as I worked, and that's still a great film, even after a gazillion viewings. Still, CW 2006 wasn't bad at all. We were entertained by the update. Plus it had a preview of Shrek 3, but I was too busy trying to get my mom and dad seated (they have zero night vision anymore) so I didn't see it very clearly.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
