Charlotte’s Web

Dakota Fanning has been in so many big movies and is so recognizable I was not sure how it would be to see her in the role of Fern Arable, the loyal champion of her best friend Wilbur. I am happy to say that she was excellent—not one bit showy or theatrical, but a real, live girl. Her hair was scraped together in a messy ponytail, she wore dusty overalls for most of the movie, and she really appeared to love that little pig.

The CGI work on the animals has mixed success. The sheep, horse, and pig look natural in movement and voice. On the other hand, the geese looked very much like the animatronic chickens in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, and Templeton the rat looks cut and pasted into most of his scenes. At times, the film brings to mind another famous pig movie, Babe, which did a much better job of bringing speech to live animals over ten years ago. One would think with all the new technology out there the filmmakers could have done a better job of making some of the animals more natural. On the positive side, the all-important web looks amazingly realistic.

I’m not sure what to say about Charlotte (voiced by Julia Roberts.) Julia Robert’s voice is very distinctive, and kept me from being immersed in the story at first because every time Charlotte spoke I pictured the actress in a studio somewhere recording the dialogue. The filmmakers went for more realism than cuteness when they designed the spider. She looks like a real, large spider, down to the multiple eyes, tufts of hair about the face, and long jointed legs. The effect is disquieting, especially when shown in close-up, which the filmmakers do in most of her scenes. At my screening, the audience would gasp each time Charlotte was shown in her extreme close-up, and I must confess at times I couldn’t look directly at the screen due to my arachnophobia. I know there were probably a few reasons they decided to treat Charlotte this way. One of the emphasis of the film (and in the book) is on friendship, and how true friendship overlooks size, shape, and even species. Some of the animals in the barn express repugnance that an ugly, scary spider can be a friend for Wilbur, and Charlotte herself makes self-deprecating comments about her looks. Yet Wilbur loves her and thinks her beautiful. By the end of the film, it’s not as much of a shock to look at her, and there were plenty of tears in the audience during her farewell scene at the county fair.

The film stays close to the original book. Some of the dialogue is lifted right from the pages, and all the memorable little vignettes—Mrs. Zuckerman washing Wilbur in buttermilk, Fern leaving the awards ceremony early to walk the fair with Henry Fussy, Avery breaking the rotten egg—are there. The supporting character animals in the barn are named, unlike the book, but have the same personalities for the most part. John Cleese adds humor to the formerly dry character of the oldest ram, and instead of a single goose there are now a pair in the barn, voiced by Oprah Winfrey and Cedric the Entertainer. A pair of crows are added (voiced by Thomas Hayden Church and Andre Benjamin) to give a little comic relief when things get serious. The filmmakers wanted to be sure there were plenty of laughs along with the sniffly parts, so a few fart jokes are sprinkled in that E.B. White certainly did not write, but help to keep the littlest kids laughing. Some will miss the songs that were written for the 1976 version of the film, but they are not needed to bring the humor and emotion out of the story.

I think the film will appeal to many different ages: children who have never read the book or seen the older version will enjoy some of the silliness in the barnyard and hopefully learn a few things about friendship. Older kids who are familiar with the book will be able to understand the underlying themes and appreciate the more serious aspects of the story. And grown-ups will enjoy the nostalgia of seeing Charlotte and Wilbur brought to life “for real.” All in all, it’s an excellent family movie for the holidays.

Charlotte’s Web is a Walden Media/Paramount Pictures release.

Wide theatrical release December 15.

Directed by Gary Winick.

Screenplay by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick.

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Dominic Scott Kay, Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi.

Rated G for some scary images.

Running time: 97 minutes

Lisa’s Rating: 8 (out of 10).