Babe (1995) · 37 quotes
3rd most-quoted character in Babe (1995): in 13 of its 37 quotes
Most scenes with: Babe (7), Fly the Border Collie (5), Maa (4)
There are many perfectly nice cats in the world, but every barrel has its bad apples, and so it is well for everyone to pay attention to the old adage: "Beware of the bad cat holding a grudge."
Narrator This is a tale about an unprejudiced heart, and how it changed our valley forever. There was a time not so long ago when pigs were afforded no respect, except by other pigs. They lived their whole lives in a cruel and sunless world. In those days, pigs believed that the sooner they grew large and fat, the sooner they would have to be taken to Pig Paradise—a place so wonderful that no pig had ever thought to come back.
Narrator And so it was that in all the celebration, in all the hubbub of noise and excitement, there were two figures who stood silent and still. Side by side.
Narrator And so it was that in all the celebration, in all the hubbub of noise and excitement, there were two figures who stood silent and still. Side by side.
Ha, ha, ha, ha! The pig did it! The pig did it! The perfect score! [laughs]
Whoo! Whoo-hoo! Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!
Narrator And though every single human in the stands or in the commentary boxes was at a complete loss for words, the man who in his life had uttered fewer words than any of them knew exactly what to say.
It was my mistake. I was trying to loosen facts up a little. But, no. Today proves that it doesn't work. From now on, we'll all respect the rules. To each creature, its own destiny and every animal in its proper place. And a pig's proper place is under the old cart, not in the barn and absolutely never in the house. Is that understood?
Yes, sir.
Now, Pig, regarding the company you keep. Being young, it's hard to discriminate, so I'll make it easy for you. I forbid you to speak to or consort with that duck ever. Do I make myself clear?
Uh...what's "consort"?
It means, young man, that you must not go anywhere near that duck.
And as for the fugitive duck, when he shows himself, let him know this, being a duck he must behave like a duck. No more of this crowing nonsense. He should accept what he is and be thankful for it. That goes for all of us.
Here, here!
Narrator Rex continued long into the night. Elsewhere, there was more talk. The subject was Christmas dinner and whether that year the main course would be roast pork or Duck a l'Orange.
And pork is a nice, sweet meat. Then there's the crackling. That always adds interest and texture.
Fly, may I call you Mom?
[Fly nuzzles the piglet tenderly. At last, Babe has truly found his place on Hoggett's farm. As the nights grow longer and colder, Babe grows bigger. First, Mr. and Mrs. Hoggett's daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren come to visit. The farmhouse is suddenly filled with all sorts of bright, shiny facts. There is singing and laughter. And the people pile brightly wrapped boxes under a tree inside the house]
Hello!
The Hoggetts' son-in-law: Hey, folks, how are you? Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas! How's my favorite girl? Nanny has a jellybean. Give us a kiss. And guess what we're having for Christmas dinner? Roast pork.
The Hoggetts' granddaughter: I hate pork.
Darn silly carry-on, if you ask me.
The cat says they call it Christmas.
Christmas! Christmas dinner, yes. Dinner means death. Death means carnage! Christmas means carnage! CHRISTMAS MEANS CARNAGE!! [runs off in fear]
Eating pigs! Blaah! Barbarians!
Oh, young'un, tragic there ain't more of your kind. I'll be thinking of you always.
I could come and visit you, Maa.
I'd like that, but...well, we shouldn't hope for too much. [gets yanked as the cart pulls forward, she follows]
La la la, la la la, la la la lala. La la la, lala la la, lalala la la la la, hey!
Narrator And then, it was Christmas Eve, and time had run out for the pig.
Are you doing him tonight, then?
Huh.
Sure. The blood will drain by morning.
Pity.
What's that?
Nothing.
What on earth are you rambling on about?
Exchange to miss out on the best ham prize at next year's fair, is all. Nice plump haunches he's getting. Beautiful. Yet...silly to wait, I suppose so.
Here it is!
The bird.
The Hoggetts' granddaughter: Yuck. Chicken?
The Hoggetts' daughter: No, it's Duck a l'Orange. And, Mother, it looks absolutely superb.
The Hoggetts' granddaughter: I'm not going to eat any of it!
The Hoggetts' daughter: Oh, this is fabulous.
Ferdinand!
If you're out here, who's that in there?
Her name's Rosanna. Why Rosanna? She–She had such a beautiful nature.
Oh, Ferdinand.
I can't take it anymore.
Really!
The fear's too much for a duck. It eats away at the soul. There must be kinder dispositions in far-off gentler lands.
The only way you'll find happiness is to accept that the way things are is the way things are.
The way things are stinks! I'm not gonna be a goner. I'm gone! I wish all of you the best of luck.
Where will you go?
No idea. But I'm a clever duck. I could do with an adventure.
I'll miss you, Ferdy.
Ferdy? Ha! No one's ever called me that before. Ha ha ha! Hey, good luck, Pig. Ha! I am out of here. [jumps up on the gate and turns to Babe]
Bye-bye.
Hey! Oh! Ow! And would you do me a favor, old thing?
Anything Good Luck, Ferdinand and Farewell.
Open the gate, right pig, huh? [with that said, he takes off]
Farewell!
Narrator The pig knew it was against the rules to leave the farm. But something was certainly wrong.
How lovely, darling. What is this?
The Hoggetts' son-in-law: It's a fax machine, Mother. You can send us letters by phone.
Huh.
Oh.
Narrator At any other time, the pig would've been tickled pink by his first visit to the sheep fields. But now, there was fear in the air. Maa and her kind were under threat.
Hey, Frank, feel like pork for dinner tonight?
Young'un! You're alive!
Maa! What's going on? Who are these men?
I'll get him out. Come around, Sniff! [whistles]
Where's our boss? It doesn't seem right. [gets knocked over by Sniff]
[Babe runs for dear life, with the dog barking and snapping at his heels. He wriggles back through the fence and runs squealing louder to the farmhouse. The Hoggetts' granddaughter opens her last Christmas present in a greedy excitement to reveal the beautiful, extravagant, ultra-realistic handcrafted dollhouse her maternal grandfather, Arthur, made for her, unexpectedly lets out a loud, anguished shriek]
What's wrong, dear?
The Hoggetts' granddaughter: [complaining and sobbing] It's the wrong one! [shrieking tearfully as we see Arthur smirking at his granddaughter's tantrum, trying not to laugh] I WANT THE HOUSE I SAW ON THE TELEVISION!! [crying]
Oh, there, there.
[We see see the Hoggetts' daughter chuckling and grinning at her daughter's tantrum. We see Fly and Rex past the fireplace. Fly watches this scene with pity in her eyes as if to say "Poor little tyke", but Rex lays down on the floor, looking away without showing any care or worry about his owners' granddaughter. Mr. Hoggett sees Fly's ears perk up at the sound. She starts barking. Something is wrong. The farmer races away in his truck. The dogs run across the fields. Rex reaches the other truck first. It is yet empty. The thieves hit the tailgate shut and smash through the fence at top speed. Rex is yet barking until Fly and Hoggett arrive. They are followed by an exhausted Babe. Hoggett pats Fly's head]
Nice dog. [Fly jumps into the truck bed. Then the farmer lifts Babe up behind her] Nice pig.
I'm very proud of you, my boy.
I'm going to be a nice sheepdog if I grow up, aren't I?
None of my pups would have done any better than you did so today.
Rex? [Rex doesn't answer] I know it was hard for you today, watching all that happening. But surely it's not worth all this misery. Please, darling. Not on such a beautiful night.
Get down! Down, Rex! [Rex accidentally bites his hand] Rex...
Narrator A dark cloud had descended on the valley. And the pig felt that the dangers were all his fault. But he was certain, he knew how to set things right.
Um, excuse me, sir. But I-I-I-I think all this trouble-
Well, it's not distemper. Can't be rabies. Must be the hormones.
What about Hoggett's notion, the dog being jealous of the wee pig?
Oh, I don't see that myself.
No. Then what have we done?
Well, you can keep him locked up or snip, snip. I can do it Tuesday.
No.
Or Wednesday.
Hoggett doesn't want the dog operated on. He's a breeding dog.
Well, now, I can sedate him, of course, but he'll be useless as a working dog. [injects Rex] Now I'm gonna give you some pills to put in his food.
Good dog.
Narrator A pig doing the work of a sheepdog? With Rex out of action and Fly injured from the fight, Farmer Hoggett had no choice.
Maa! Maa! The boss has to give you some medicine.
Oh, dear, I thought so! It's horrible stuff, that.
I know, but it's for the best.
Oh, our young'un, if you say so.
Shoo! Shoo!
Narrator As the thought first came to him, Farmer Hoggett dismissed it as mere whimsy, but like most of his harebrained ideas, it wouldn't go away.
What are they doing here?
It's a sheepdog trial.
Then it's like a competition for sheepdogs.
And their bosses. It's like an obstacle curse.
How do they decide who wins?
Well, it's time and mistakes. You get points for how fast you are and they take points away for every mistake. Every time a sheep goes the wrong road, that's a mistake and you lose points.
Looks like fun!
Oh, for a sheepdog, there's no prouder moment. You know, Rex and I used to...never mind.
Narrator It was at that time that Mrs. Hoggett began to worry about her husband. But Farmer Hoggett knows that little ideas that tickled and nagged and refused to go away should never be ignored for in them lie the seeds of destiny.
Close the gate... like that, and you're done.
Mom. Mom! Mom! Can we start work early today?
Oh, dear, it's not even dawn yet. You can go to work until the rooster crows. Go back to sleep.
Excuse me. Hello, sir. Excuse me, but it's almost dawn and......
Rooster Wait, what?
I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's almost dawn, and I wondered if you'd mind crowing just a few moments early this morning.
Rooster Get out of here!
But, well, see I just...
Rooster Get lost!
Oh, okay Rooster.
Narrator Now the pig understood why the sheep called all dogs wolves. And he was filled with a deep and horrible rage.
Maa! Maa! Are you alright?
Hello, young'un.
Oh, Maa, can you get up?
It's over, Maa. The wolves have gone far off. I'll get the boss up here to look after you. You'll be alright. You'll be alright! [but her eyes are far apart. Her head droops and life leaves her] Oh, Maa! Maa! [chokes back sobs, then bleating depressed as the sheep saying his name] MAA!! MAA!! MAA!!! MAA!!! [the Boss's truck rumbles up]
Narrator Fly knew that there was only one fate for any creature that took the life of a sheep on Hoggett Farm.
Narrator But Fly could never believe that Babe was a sheep-killer, so she remained in the field to do something she'd never done before... talk to the sheep.
Tell me. Who killed the old one?
Wolf!
Wolf. Is that the only words you half-wits know?
Wolf!
Are you saying it was a dog?
Babe! Where's Babe?
Was it wolf or Babe?!
Wolf! Where's Babe?! Wolf! Babe!
Narrator Farmer Hoggett was carrying something in the crook of one arm. A kind of black, shiny tube.
Come, pig.
Narrator The pig had a vague memory that shiny tubes produced food and guessed that some quite unexpected reunion would come out of the two small round mouths.
Narrator Fly decided to speak very slowly, for it was a cold fact of nature that sheep were stupid, and no one would ever persuade her otherwise.
Please, tell me what just happened this morning.
Narrator The sheep spoke very slowly, for it was a cold fact of nature that wolves were ignorant, and nothing would convince them otherwise.
Babe came! He saved us! The wolves killed Maa. But Babe drove the wolves away!
Thank you. Thank you! Thank you all very much!
Pleasure talking to ya.
Hoggett! Hooey! Hoggett! ARTHUR! [Fly is shown running toward the shack. Farmer Hoggett walks out of it as she passes him to get inside] Well, there you are! What do you think? That was the police on the telephone. They said there are wild dogs about. Apparently, the Mitchells lost six lambs this morning. [notice the shotgun on his hand] What on earth are you doing here with that gun?!
Oh, err... nothing. [Esme frowns at him, but lets out a sigh and walks back into the house as we see Farmer Hoggett with a pleading look on his face upon learning the truth and removes the shells on his shotgun]
