It’s hard to believe that it was nearly 17 years ago that this surprisingly endearing movie about a piglet who aspired to be a sheepdog was first released. It’s even harder to believe that both the story, the casting and the technology used to make the movie still stand up after all this time. To put the plot in writing makes it sound insufferable – a cast consisting of humans who interact with real and CGI animals who talk amongst themselves when nobody’s looking play out a comic fable about the sweet-natured pig who doesn’t want to accept his lot in life (to become a holiday dinner) and learns to herd sheep by treating them with respect and kindness – but if you’ve actually seen Babe you know that it’s anything but. Director Chris Noonan, for whom this was a first feature film, managed to pull together a serious but not-overly-earnest fable about kindness, acceptance and refusing to accept that the way things are is the way they should be – one that appeals to adults and kids alike. – Erin Sullivan