This might not be pure television news but I think it's worth a mention for us Aussies.
The bacon's back.
Babe, 1995's sleeper hit and surprise Best Picture Oscar nominee about a talking porker--is returning to the farm for seconds. Production has just started in Syndey on Babe in Metropolis, according to sources close to the pigsty.
Here's the skinny on the pork. When Babe returns victorious and unbeaten from the National Sheep-Dog Trails, the sweet-tempered piglet's jubilation gets out of hand, and his high spirits cause an accident that puts Farmer Hoggett in traction. With the farm in danger of foreclosure, Mrs. Hoggett is forced to take a generous offer for Babe to travel to an overseas state fair to demonstrate his sheepherding prowess for big-city folk.
With the controversy over McDonald's adoption of the anti-meat-eating "Babe" as a mascot, the ultra-smart sequel will almost certainly take on merchandising and media-mad publicity events as worthy targets for satire.
Fresh from a turn as a much darker father figure in L.A. Confidential, the Oscar-nominated James Cromwell again plays the animal-centric Farmer Hoggett and Magda Szubanski returns as Mrs. Hoggett.
Mickey Rooney joins the cast as a no-doubt crusty-with-a-heart-of-gold stranger they meet on the way to the big city. Among the dozen or so voices for the sequel's roster of eccentric animals, which began recording in July, are Steven Wright, Glenn Headley, E.G. Daily, David Warner and cartoon-voice veterans Eddie Barth, Danny Mann and Bill Capisci.
George Miller, best known for the Mad Max series, takes the directing reins this go-round from Babe's rookie director Chris Noonan. Miller repeats as co-producer and co-writer. Universal will distribute again for Kennedy Miller Productions.
