Certainly, nobody could have anticipated that a movie about a talking pig would bring in oodles of bacon at the box-office. But not only did Babe ham it up on the big screen and charm millions of moviegoers by being anything but a boar, but the film managed to get nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1995. Not a bad feat for a loveable swine.

The movie begins when a kindly farmer named Hoggett wins the recently orphaned Babe at the county fair. He brings his hog home – and Babe quickly gets acclimated to farm life, not to mention adopted by Sly, the family sheepdog. Babe is feeling pretty good about things until the resident cat mentions that Babe’s fate will likely be a good ol’ fashioned farm feast. Babe decides he better make himself useful around the place before he ends up with an apple in his mouth. He finds he has talent as a shepard and that his innocent ways are far more successful than the methods employed by the farmer’s dogs. His charming demeanor, in fact, goes a long way towards breaking down animal prejudice in the farm community and in the outside world as well.

Thanks to a bevy of special effects, a cast full of colorful critters, including the high-pitched singing mice trio, and the charm of a simple and honest plot, Babe was a sleeper hit, beloved by folks of all ages who held a soft spot for the personable pig. Three years later, Universal would try their luck again with Babe: Pig in the City, a decidedly darker film with the innocent pig making his way into the big city. Unfortunately, the sequel didn’t fare as well as the original, although critics were mostly favorable in their reaction. Of course, some bad reviews weren’t enough to get a happy-go-lucky pig like Babe down in the mud. He knew there was more bacon to be eventually had in DVD sales.