In the universe that consists of farms, barnyards, cutesey kids, and talking pigs – one name rules them all, BABE. However, this oh-my-God-these-animals-could-talk CHARLOTTE’S WEB is a certain wannabe. It’s fun, kid-friendly, family-huggable, colourful but sincerely speaking not as great as the real pig.

Based on the classic children’s book of the same title by E. B. White (I haven’t read it so don’t rub it in), it’s a nice depiction of a handsome looking farm with a normal living family with a not-so-normal kid in the name of Fern (played by Dakota Fanning), who saves the life of a young pig from being killed because he’s an extra pig and that he had no extra nipple from mama pig for him to suck on. He was named soon as Wilbur, and Fern took care of him. And as soon as Wilbur gets to know his world, he discovers the animals could talk, the sheep, the cows, the horse, the rat, and a spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica (nifty name for a spider, I didn’t know spiders have surnames, ya know).

Voiced by marquee-named stars such as Julia Roberts as Charlotte, Oprah Winfrey as Gussy the gander, Robert Redford as the horse, Kathy Bates as the cow, John Cleese as the sheep, Steve Buscemi as the rat, and Thomas Hayden Church as the crow (pardon me, can’t remember all their character names), as usual they were all usurped by a magnificent presence by this young wunderkind in the name of Dakota Fanning. I couldn’t really remember any film with Fanning in it in which she doesn’t shine at all, it must be her hair, or her eyes, or I don’t know. Fanning’s performance is as genuine as it could be as the pig-concerned Fern. Stand-out voice performances were from Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi and Thomas Hayden Church as the really, really hilarious crow, always glimmering at the scarecrow in the cornfield saying “Gosh, he doesn’t really move at all, doesn’t he? All these months, he doesn’t even move an inch!” Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey as the gander disappoints me, she feels as if she was reading her lines, not saying it.

The central message of this film made me feel a tingle deep within my ribcage. Especially Charlotte’s relentless belief for Wilbur that he’s a pig of some sort, and that the importance of a perfectly chosen word could sometimes save a life. I like this little tale about self-sacrifice, how Charlotte, although she’s as tiny as a grub that could be easily squashed, did something really big to a friend by helping him escape from being butchered at Christmas dinner.

CHARLOTTE’S WEB is far from a great film, flawed for obvious reasons. It’s not as classic as BABE, but its message of friendship certainly is. (Don’t forget that BABE is the only animal-talking film that was nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Pic, it takes the old one-two to beat that!) Kids would adore this film, and technically speaking, it’s a luscious looking picture filled with believable cinematic effects. Damn, these animals could talk.

Rating: B