James Cromwell On Making Babe, The Talking Pig Classic

Published on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025

In 1995, 30 years ago this year, a polite little pig trotted into cinemas worldwide and proceeded to win hearts and become a box office smash-hit which continues to be fondly remembered to this day.

Based on Dick’s 1983 book The Sheep-Pig, Babe describes the tale of an orphaned piglet who is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget. Adopted by Fly, the kind-hearted sheep-dog, Babe and is determined to learn everything he can from the mother figure. Babe knows he can’t be a sheep-dog. But maybe, just maybe, he might become a sheep-pig…

During the filming of Babe, 48 specially trained female pigs were used to portray the titular character, along with animatronic models. James Cromwell, who played Farmer Hoggett in Babe, formed a tight, and somewhat unexpected bond with them, along with the menagerie of other animals including live ducks, sheep, dogs and geese.

Cromwell recalls the profound effect that working with these animals had on his outlook and his life – ‘I went vegan on the second day of filming’.

In this new article by The Guardian, we hear from Cromwell about his experience with Babe, three decades later.

We also hear from Neal Scanlan, the special effects artist on the ground-breaking animatronics used, effects which went on to win the Academy Award for Special Effects the following year.

That’ll do pig. That’ll do.

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