Babe (1995) is the story of an ordinary pig going to extraordinary lengths to find acceptance. The worldwide hit, co-written by Mad Max and Happy Feet director George Miller, earned seven Academy Award nominations and won Best Visual Effects.
Bringing Babe to life was a feat of careful planning, storytelling and animal training. Every shot was pre-planned and storyboarded, with call sheets mapping out the complex coordination of human, animal and animatronic performers. You can see the storyboards in the case for the scene playing above.
Director Chris Noonan treated the animals like actors, working to capture natural performances that expressed human emotion. A total of 48 piglets played Babe, each trained in groups of six and swapped out as they grew older. Live pigs performed most scenes, while animatronics and puppets handled dialogue. Babe’s signature tuft of hair was glued on daily, and black dye was used on the piglets’ eyelashes to ensure their eyes were visible on camera.
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Collection
Not in ACMI's collection
On display until
18 June 2028
ACMI: Gallery 1
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
197766
Curatorial section
The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Worlds → MW-01. Storyboarding → MW-01-C02
Object Types
Group