Babe

30 June 2024

In the Playhouse

Cinema

Australia, USA | 1995 | English | Family

An Australian farmer’s piglet develops unusual skills herding sheep after bonding with a border collie, and enters into the sheepdog trials.

A trailblazing cinematic classic.

The Conversation

That’ll do, pig

This quintessential 1995 Australian classic won over the hearts of millions, and was nominated for Best Picture. Directed by Chris Noonan and co-written by George Miller, Babe follows gentle farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell), who wins a piglet named Babe at a county fair. Narrowly escaping his fate as Christmas dinner when Farmer Hoggett decides to show him at the next fair, Babe bonds with motherly border collie Fly and discovers that he too can herd sheep. But will the other farm animals, including Fly's jealous husband Rex, accept a pig who doesn't conform to the farm's social hierarchy?

Presented by Sydney Opera House

Trailer

Watch a clip from the film

Cast and Credits

Director 
Chris Noonan

Cast

James Cromwell 
as Farmer Hoggett

Magda Szubanski 
as Esme Hoggett

Christine Cavanaugh 
as Babe (voice)

Miriam Margolyes 
as Fly (voice)

Danny Mann 
as Ferdinand (voice)

Other information

You may also like

Wrong Side of the Road

4 Sep 2025

This documentary-style classic 80s drama follows the Indigenous bands Us Mob and No Fixed Address as they move from gig to gig. Blending dramatisation with real events, it captures the energy of life on tour while exposing the racism, hostility and harassment the musicians faced.

  • Cinema
  • First Nations

Africa Film Fest Australia: Fanon

5 Sep 2025

France, Luxembourg, Canada | 2024 | French and Arabic | Biopic | M Jean-Claude Barny directs a searing biopic of French psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon. Spotlighting a series of events in the 1950s when his methods profoundly clashed with those around him, FANON shines a spotlight on the efforts of this renowned and influential thinker, working at the epicentre of colonisation.

  • Cinema

Saturday Film Club: Children of Men

6 Sep 2025

United Kingdom | 2006 | English | Thriller/Action | MA15+ Join us for the first in our regular Saturday Film Club screenings, pairing a contemporary classic with an in-depth discussion featuring Alexei Toliopoulos and special guests. Ranked by Rolling Stone as the best sci-fi film of the 21st century, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men explores what it means to carry hope in hopeless times.

  • Cinema

Checking availability