Paramount Pictures, Dec. 2006, Directed by Gary Winick, 96 minutes, Cast:
Dominic Scott Kay (Wilbur), Julia Roberts (Charlotte), Dakota Fanning (Fern), Steve Buscemi (Templeton), John Cleese (Samuel), Oprah Winfrey (Gussy), Cedric the Entertainer (Golly), Robert Redford (Ike), Kevin Anderson (Mr. Arable), Essie Davis (Mrs. Arable), Gary Basaraba (Homer Zuckerman).

A delightful story based upon the popular children’s book by E.B. White.  Wilbur is born the runt of the litter and about to be eliminated by the farmer when his daughter Fern (Dakota Fanning) protests and saves the little piglet.  Fern raises the little pig and treats him like a puppy, even taking him to school one day.

The time finally comes when Wilber is too large to keep as a pet in the house.  The pig is moved to the barnyard of the uncle’s farm (Homer Zuckerman) across the road and Fern continues to visit Wilber every day.  A new story line begins as Wilber makes friends with all the animals in the barn, especially a spider named Charlotte (Julia Roberts).  All of the barnyard characters are quite interesting, particularly a rat named Templeton.

Out past the barnyard is a smokehouse that Wilber asks about.  The rest of the animals finally tell him about it and also warn him that ’spring’ pigs like him usually end up in the smokehouse and never live to see the wintertime or the snow.  Wilber wants to see the snow.  The rest of the story is about how Charlotte spins special webs with messages featuring the pig and how Wilber and Charlotte’s webs become a tourist attraction.  Oh yes, Wilber becomes a prize winning pig and lives to see the snows of winter.

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Posted: 01|14|07 at 9:52 pm. Filed under: Children, Family, Fantasy, Movies. New here? Follow this entry via RSS 2.0. Comment | Trackback