n.  Hugo Weaving ~Babe 

AU/US Movie 1995:     Hugo content: approx  10%   (89 mins )
Character: Rex ~ gravel-voiced,  jealous, anger-filled, Alpha sheepdog
Cast: Christine Cavanaugh   Babe,  Miriam Margolyes   Fly the Female Sheepdog, Danny Mann   Ferdinand the Duck,  Hugo Weaving  Rex the Male Sheepdog, Miriam Flynn   Maa the Very Old Ewe, Russi Taylor  Dutchess the Cat, 
James Cromwell  Farmer Arthur Hoggett, Magda Szubanski   Esme Hoggett, Zoe Burton   Daughter, Paul Goddard   Son-in-Law
Dir: Chris Noonan  Wri: Dick King-Smith (novel) George Miller (screenplay) 
Availablity: DVD and video available.
Hugo Weaving, Babe, cover

Hugo Weaving: Babe Plot/Comments:

Based on Dick King-Smith's tale The Sheep Pig, Babe is a beautifully-made, clever film (cunningly set in an amalgam of rural Australia/New Zealand/Britain/America) with a lot of heart and superb performances.

Babe is the runt of a litter of factory-farmed pigs who is taken away from his family and misses his chance to go on the Big Truck to Pig Paradise…at the slaughterhouse. 
     He is offered as a prize at a local fair, where he is won by Farmer Hoggett (a superb James Cromwell) and taken back to the farm to fatten up. Luckily for Babe, Hoggett ~ a prize-winning trainer of sheepdog trial champions ~ is warm, caring and much happier with the company of animals than humans.

   Babe is surrogated by Fly the sheepdog, who cares for Babe like one of her own pups. Unfortunately, her mate Rex, the growling Alpha-Male of the farm, is adamant that a mere pig should know its place; at the bottom of the farm hierarchy...and food chain. 
     Being a polite, well brought up piglet, Babe manages to charm the farm's sheep into being herded and impresses The Boss (Hoggett) with his increasingly impressive tendencies as a sheep 'dog'.  This makes the disdainful and status-quo-protective Rex become insecure and aggressively jealous of Hoggett's attention to Babe, leading to an accidental attack on The Boss and Rex being permanently sedated as a result.
     With no lead sheepdog, Hoggett enters Babe into the trials, to the bemusement/outrage of all…
Hugo Weaving, Babe, with Fly

    Babe is a superbly made film, combining technical excellence (animatronics and CGI) with a clever script.
    The vocal vocal performances  are fantastic, particularly Christine Cavanaugh as Babe; Miriam Margoyles as the nurturing and protective Fly; and Hugo Weaving as the embittered, gutteral Rex. There are really only two 'regular' actors, both excellent, with the brilliant James Cromwell as Farmer Hogget deservedly winning an Oscar.

Back: Arcadia
Next: Bordertown
Web Weaving

Hugo Weaving  content: 

Rex tragically lost his keen hearing when rescuing a flock of "ignorant" sheep from storm floods, making his career as a Champion Sheepdog over: he blames himself and the sheep equally for this. 

    Bizarrely, Rex is a very Hugo Weaving part, bursting with a strange mix of leadership, devotion to his master, self-doubt and a huge amount of self-loathing and intense anger.
Rex is there mostly to grunt noncommital retorts to Fly's sensitive enquiries.  However, when speaking, Weaving's voice moves between gruff leader and a rough, rasping, desperately emotional roar (especially when he screams at Fly for her indulgent and 'traitorous' treatment of Babe). 

Typical Hugo Weaving  Quotes:

  • "All animals must be in their proper place"
  • "I forbid you to talk to or consort with that duck ~ is that clear? He should accept what he is and be thankful for it. That goes for all of us"
  • "Enough!"
  • "You and I are descended from the great sheep dogs...we stand for something. And today I watched in shame as it was betrayed"
  • "You put these ideas into his head, you traitorous wretch"


Comments and Queries:

  • Oscar: Best Supporting Actor - James Cromwell
  • Hugo Weaving has also provided voice work for animation on The Magic Pudding and Babe: Pig in the City
  • George Miller produced  Bodyline, The Dirtwater Dynasty, Babe, and directed Babe: Pig in the City. Although they have no scenes together in Babe, Paul Goddard co-starred in Arcadiaand later worked with Weaving as Agent Brown in The Matrix. Andrew Lesnie was the cinematographer of Bodyline, Melba and The Lord of  the Rings. See The Usual Suspects for a huge list of regularly recurring Weaving workers.
  • Margoyles provided the voice for transvestite monk Tripitaka in cult 70s/80s Japanese TV series Monkey, plus numerous voices for other characters in Monkey andThe Water Margin (this will make no sense to anyone not British and of the Star Wars generation). She can be seen in 2003 performing with the Sydney Theatre Company.


 
Hugo Weaving, Cannes 1994