Charlotte's Web

2006 "Something unexpected, unbelievable, unforgettable."
6.3| 1h37m| G| en| More Info
Released: 15 December 2006 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

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matthew_cantrell21 Albeit slightly sugarcoated it follows the book quite well.We start the movie with this beautiful opening that showcases the film's setting. We then see John Arable trying to decide what to do with a pig who is a runt. But, before he can do away with it his daughter Fern is able to stop him. John then decides that Fern can raise the pig until he's big enough to be sold. She develops a bond with the piglet and names him Wilbur, but the bond is cut short. Much to Fern's protest John then decides to sell Wilbur to his brother in law Homer Zuckerman this way Fern can come for a visit. Wilbur is lonely until he meets a spider by the name of Charlotte A. Cavatica. The two become friends and although Wilbur is excited to have made a friend he later learns that he will be slaughtered in the fall. Charlotte decides to help save Wilbur's life. With the help of a rat named Templeton Charlotte is able to write messages in her webs to describe Wilbur. The pig becomes famous and Zuckerman decides to take him to the county fair. Where a final message from Charlotte decides the fate of Wilbur. "Humble" is the word that makes Zuckerman decide that his pig will live to a ripe age. Charlotte is proud of Wilbur and decides to show him her egg sack containing 514 baby spiders. Sadly, Charlotte tells Wilbur she will not be able to go back to Zuckerman's farm because she is too old and exhausted. Charlotte passes away and Wilbur is saddened. Taking her egg sack Wilbur decides to keep her children safe until Spring when they hatch. 511 spiders are seen leaving the farm and this upsets Wilbur. Until he sees three little spiders up where Charlotte's Web used to be. He christens them Joy, Aranea and Nellie.This movie does a good job telling the story but the emotional scenes were toned down compared to the 1973 animated film. Added slapstick involving Templeton and a couple of crows and a celebrity heavy voice cast including Julia Roberts and Reba McEntire. Personally I think it's a fine adaptation and families will love it.
eric262003 On the Zuckerman farm, a sow just gave birth to 11 adorable piglets. When the runt of the litter is faced with death from Mr. Arable (Kevin Anderson), he is befriended by a young farm-girl named Fern Arable(Dakota Fanning) who names the little piglet Wilbur (Dominic Scott Kay). When he moves into the other barn, he also forms a bond with a very highly intellectual spider named Charlotte (Julia Roberts), who has great feelings of amazement in this rather humble porker. Wilbur is oblivious to the fact that once spring pigs enter the smokehouse up the hill, they never come back if you know what I mean. But the very resourceful arachnid starts using her web to spin out words for the adult pig as a way to persuade Farmer Zuckerman (Gary Basaraba) that this pig has a lot of talent that can't be turned into ham. It's an adorable innocent and very lively adaptation with great animation from the barnyard animals, I just wished it was more like a live-action film. The reason I say that is because most of the critics will eventually start comparing it to the 1995 "Babe: Pig in the City" which set the tone for other films to follow. Sure in 1973 Hanna-Barbara made a full-length animated film (featuring the voices of Debbie Reynolds and Paul Lynde), standard animation would've also been a real homage to the E.B. White classic children's story which gives younger age demographics the liberation to open their minds through the gaps where imagination is truly required. The animated farm animals are vibrant and adoring, but the real meal ticket to this movie is the dynamic chemistry between the pig and the spider that will tug at your heartstrings. Dakota Fanning is truly remarkable in her role as the caring and nurturing mother-figure to the young piglet Wilbur. And even though the barnyard animals are hard to ignore, Fanning's performance is also very enchanting as she plays a surrogate mother to young Wilbur like its her very own. She feeds him, wheels him on a doll pram and cuddles with to read stories together. Eventually, he get sent to the opposing barn where he's nor the main focus. He's usurped by other barnyard animals who could talk. And this is where Charlotte steps into the fray and becomes friends Wilbur. We worry about the young piglet that his future could be in danger because he doesn't know that the smokehouse nearby is where good little piggies magically morph into bacon. But Charlotte tries to avoid this from happening, by teaching the pig words by spinning her web and trying to prove to Farmer Zuckerman that he is no ordinary pig and to eventually win the hearts of the other barnyard animals. It ends in the traditional format that after Wilbur has entered a fair and he notices that Charlotte has created an egg-sac and that she is slowly dying and can't return home so as she dies he takes her egg sac home. The egg bursts out and hundreds of baby spiders come out and leave the premises with the exception of three named Joy, Aranea, and Nellie and they follow their late mother's legacy and became Wilbur's friends.The voice actors in this film were quite extraordinary. Julia Roberts tops the list as caring a sympathetic spider, Charlotte captures the essence of what you would expect from E.B White's penmanship. Steve Buscemi was also very engaging as the cranky rat named Templeton. Other strong notable voice performances come from Oprah Winfrey, John Cleese and Robert Redford. But the performance that will have you in stitches is the acting from Dominic Scott Kay as Wilbur the pig. The film is light and innocent and the subliminal messages about the circles of life are demonstrated flawlessly. The cinematography is a palette of beautiful colours, especially when it's autumn and the leaves are turning different colours. But it's the barnyard animals that carry the film and their characters bring life to the film. It's hard to believe that it took about 40 pigs to play the role of Wilbur. The only CGI moment of Wilbur was when he bumps his snout into a fence at high speed. The kids watching will enjoy the scenes when the animals interact and jive with one another.
SnoopyStyle It's the classic E.B. White children's book. Fern (Dakota Fanning) in Somerset County rescues the runt piglet, and names him Wilbur. Her parents sell Wilbur to Uncle Homer Zuckerman down the road. In the barn, Wilbur meets the various farm animals. Most importantly, he befriends Charlotte the Spider (Julia Roberts) who promises to keep Wilbur from being a spring pig that is used for food in the winter.There are a whole lot of big name voices and it's really unnecessary. Just because they are big stars, it doesn't mean they are great voice actors. It would have been better to use them for the human characters. The modern comparison is obviously Babe. That movie is gentle and heart warming. This one is less gentle and has a more edgy sensibility. The CGI animals are fine but I'm not good with the giant spider. It's very creepy and takes the magic out of the movie. It would so much better to have her be a small dot. The essentials in this movie is a heart warming message and it does deliver that.
jmschau I tend to be overly critical of movies, but this is the rare film that, even a week later, I still can't think of one nit to pick. Well, maybe one. All the voices of the many animals had character except one - the spider, voiced by Julia Roberts. Her voice lacked the interest that the others did. But that was minor. The little girl was a doll and the adults were not portrayed as dolts, which is a refreshing change. It's not a great movie in the context of film history, but I'm giving it a 10 because if you're looking for a kids movie, they don't get much better.You may ignore the rest of this summary because I've been confounded by the system that requires I type at least 10 lines. I guess the system does not hold brevity dear. I'll submit it again. Hope I've rambled on long enough.