©AF archive / Alamy Stock Photo

The story of Babe has delighted children since the novel made its debut in 1983. The tale of talking animals on an Australian farm started out as Dick King-Smith's book, The Sheep-Pig, which was then made into a hit film, Babe, in 1995. Grossing $254 million at the box office, the movie was a huge success, winning the Golden Globe for best motion picture, the Academy Award for best visual effects and the Saturn Award for best fantasy film. Babe was nominated for an additional six Academy Awards, including best picture. Film's origins English author Dick King-Smith's book, The Sheep-Pig, published in 1983, was also known as Babe: The Gallant Pig in the United States. The author was an ex-serviceman, who had served with the Grenadier Guards in Italy during the second world war. An animal lover, he had always been surrounded by pets and in interviews he said it was good fun putting words in their mouth. His first children's book to be published was The Fox Busters in 1978. It was about a gang of clever chickens, who pitted their wits against cunning foxes who were stalking them at Foxearth Farm. King-Smith hadn't started writing until he was a teacher in his 50s. He called his animal stories "farmyard fantasy" and often wrote about his favourite creatures, pigs. His book, Saddlebottom, was about a pig who was ridiculed because of his unusual colouring - resembling a saddle on his bottom. Eventually, the much-maligned pig ran away to have many adventures with his friend, the cat. The author enjoyed major commercial success at the age of 61 when he wrote The Sheep-Pig. It told the story of a lonely pig who wanted to be a sheepdog, fighting convention with his unusual ambition. Babe had realised that most pigs ended up on the dinner table, after being separated from his family as a piglet. Alone and scared on the farm, he decided he didn't want to end up being someone's Sunday dinner too. This spurred him into trying to make himself useful by herding the sheep. Babe the movie It took seven years to develop Babe into a film following the initial idea. Producer George Miller and director Chris Noonan co-wrote the screenplay. It was filmed in New South Wales, Australia, in the town of Robertson. The animal characters were played by a mixture of real animals, including pigs and Border collies, combined with animatronic animals. Jim Henson's Creature Shop (famous for The Muppets) and Rhythm and Hues Studios provided the visual effects for the characters. The young pig, Babe, voiced by Christine Cavanaugh, meets the family's sheepdog, Fly. As Babe tries to adjust to life, Fly looks after him and helps in his quest to learn how to herd sheep. Still, Babe feels lonely and begins to build closer relationships with the other farm animals, no matter what their species. He stays in the barn with Fly and her mate, Rex, where he meets a duck called Ferdinand. The duck has started crowing like a rooster to wake everyone up, being of the same school of thought as Babe - that by making himself useful, he may stave off ending up as someone's dinner. However, when the farmer gets an alarm clock, Ferdinand begins to feel redundant, so he enlists Babe to help him break in to destroy the clock! Unfortunately, their mission goes wrong after they wake up the house cat, Duchess. In the ensuing confusion, the farmhouse's living room is wrecked and Ferdinand has to go on the run! Rex, aiming to be a fatherly figure to Babe, warns him he must sever all contact with the duck. Babe asks if he can call Fly "mum" after her puppies are sold. The leading human character, farmer Arthur Hoggett, is played by James Cromwell. Hoggett doesn't notice anything unusual about Babe at first, but the piglet proves his worth after alerting the farmer to sheep rustlers. The next day, the farmer notices how Babe is organising the hens, sorting out the white from the brown ones. He decides to let Babe try his hand at herding sheep and is amazed at his skills. What he doesn't realise is that an older ewe, named Maa, is helping the pig by telling the younger sheep to co-operate. The film isn't without its tragic moments - including when Babe is almost shot after being mistaken for a sheep-killer. A pack of feral dogs attacks the flock one night and sadly, Maa is killed. Hoggett thinks Babe must be the culprit and is going to have him euthanised. Fly finds out the truth from the rest of the sheep, so distracts Hoggett to give Babe a chance to escape. Luckily, the farmer's wife, Esme, finds out from the police that feral dogs have been worrying sheep in the area, so Babe is reprieved. Hoggett enters Babe into a sheep-herding contest at a local fair. The pig is used to working with Hoggett's sheep, who know him and co-operate. However, the strange sheep at the fair object to being herded by a pig and ignore him, making him look foolish. Luckily, Rex runs back to the farm and asks the sheep what he should do. They give him their secret password to pass on to the sheep at the fair, letting them know they should co-operate with Babe. The fair's sheep then follow the pig's instructions and he achieves the top score of the day. Vegetarian boom Although enjoying a happy ending, the film was credited with making audiences think about what was on their dinner table. Four months after Babe was released in the United States, it was reported in the Vegetarian Times that sales of pork had slumped due to the film's "strong vegetarian message". The fact that the main character of Babe was a little pig described as "adorable" was credited with the increase in people adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet. The news story pointed to figures released by the US Department of Agriculture in 1995, showing the demand for pork had gone "stagnant", while retail sales of tinned meat, including spam, were at a five-year low. It was also reported that there was a boom in sales of pet pigs and that more pigs originally destined for the abattoir had been abandoned instead by owners who couldn't face taking them. In particular, children and younger viewers announced they were no longer going to eat meat. The phenomena became known as "the Babe Effect". The film's human star Cromwell admitted afterwards that his own eating habits had been altered by the poignant script. He had been a vegetarian in his youth but had lapsed. However, he became vegetarian again after starring in Babe. Animal stars Babe's appeal, apart from the gripping storyline, was the fact it had so many animal actors. A total of 48 white Yorkshire pigs played the role of Babe! This was because the piglets grew so quickly during filming that it would have been impossible to use just one. Six piglets at a time were used for filming over each three-week period. There was one animatronic robotic pig. Animal trainer Karl Lewis Miller was reportedly reluctant to use the robot pig, preferring real animals, but it was needed for some wide-range shots, where there was no place for the trainer to hide and guide the pig during filming. In total, there were 970 animals on set, according to Lewis Miller, who had 59 assistants to care for their needs. As well as the pigs, animal stars included cows, cats, horses, goats, ducks, mice, pigeons and sheep. Babe appealed to audiences of all ages, with children being enthralled by the talking animals and the adults more enjoying the plot. Its success at the box office led to a sequel in 1998, Babe: Pig in the City. Cromwell himself, now aged 79, is a real-life animal welfare campaigner. He has protested about the use of orca whales at SeaWorld in San Diego, California. He interrupted the show to speak over the microphone about the alleged cruelty of keeping whales in captivity to perform in shows. He also narrated a documentary called Farm to Fridge, produced by the animal protection organisation, Mercy for Animals. Here in Cornwall, MA Grigg’s country store has an exclusive range of top clothing brands, such as Joules, Hunter, Barbour, Timberland and many more. Established in 1970, we provide high-quality countryside clothing and leisurewear for all seasons. Please contact us for further information on our wide range of items, or pop into our Cornwall store in person, where you'll receive a warm welcome.