"Charlotte's Web" (1952) is a children's book (and film) that I missed as a child and heard about as a parent. Now that I am retired I came across the book lying around our house. It struck me as a masterpiece and I decided to check out the movie.
When a child is still figuring out what life is all about it is good that they can have a few gentle lessons. Life can be pretty rough. There are a few lessons offered by "Charlotte's Web", but you might want to learn it bit about it before you open the book and start reading to a youngster. Are they ready?
As an adult one of the notable themes is death, not too often encountered in children's books. One of the main characters dies at the end and Wilbur lives under the threat of the slaughter house. Putting that aside there is a lot of fun. Wilbur likes to frolic in mud and manure. Fooling adults is also fun.
The plot is simple enough. An adult realizes that one baby pig is not very likely to survive and it is better to kill it (they don't actually say that) right away and concentrate on the others from the same litter. Mr. Arabel walks by with a baby pig in one arm and an axe in the other. A young girl who has some suspicions offers to take care of it. She sees him, to be someone to play with. Her father decides to humor her, but requests her to keep him in a neighbor's farm. The cute little pig is named Wilbur and when not playing with Fern gets acquainted with some farm animals. Templeton, the rat hints about what happens to pigs when they get big. Wilbur is horrified, but has found a friend in a spider, Charlotte.
Charlotte promises to find a way. Soon she spins a web with two words "Some Pig" and it creates a stir such that Fern's father is impressed and it seems like Wilbur's life is a little more secure. However the storyteller realizes that such events are easily forgotten. So Charlotte decides to try another web word. In her quest she enlists the aid the rat, Templeton to go through garbage to find a suitable word. The result is "Terrific". Another word used at a fair is "Humble".
It has a happy ending, but as a responsible parent, aunt or uncle you should check out the ending before getting a young child engaged in the story. Charlotte knows she is going to die and sort of explains it to Wilbur and then asks one favor. He is to get her egg sac and take it back to the farm. Wilbur has to get Templeton to get it by promising first access to his pig slop. At the actual end Wilbur greets literally hundreds of baby spiders, but soon almost all of them are carried off by the wind to land wherever fate takes them. The good news is at least one stays and becomes Wilbur's friend. Oh,;Fern moves on to life outside the farm.
One interesting interlude is when Fern's mother, Mrs. Arabel is so concerned about her daughter and talks to the family doctor, Dr. Dorian. The mother wonders about the web word as some kind of miracle. Dr. Dorion points out that the spider web is a miracle. Then she is concerned that the animals talk to one another and asks if that can be true. Dr. Dorian reassures Mrs. Arabel that although he has never heard an animal talk, that is likely because he didn't pay attention.
The book and the film are essentially the same story with the same message, but there are a few differences. I mentioned that Wilbur likes to play in manure, but in the film it is just mud. In the film the animals have each an actor to say the words (read more in the section about director Gary Winick). In the film the doctor is relaxed and very reassuring. Charlotte is depicted by a large enough replica of a spider that slithers down to rest on Wilbur's face in the film whereas in the book Wilbur just listens from a distance. In the film Fern's mother is seen cooking bacon in a pan, reminding viewers (Fern seems oblivious) how pigs end up.
For city raised children seeing where their food comes from may stun them a bit, but make them more aware of how other people live.
The story was created by E.B. White who loved animals and was familiar with farm life. He attended Cornell University and became a reporter. He wrote articles for the New Yorker becoming a staff writer. White edited and updated "Elements of Style." Children's stories were inspired by a niece with three that received awards; "Stuart Little", "Charlotte's Web" and "The Trumpet of the Swan". In 1978 he was awarded a special Pulitzer Prize crediting him for essays and a full body of work. Later in life he developed Alzheimer's.
Gary Winick was the director. In 1999 he co-founded Independent Digital Entertainment known as InDigEnt to make film making more accessible. He has 25 producing credits and 112 for directing and 5 for editor including "Letters to Juliet" Regarding this movie he once was quoted "Working with animals is cute for about 15 minutes and then it becomes frustrating beyond belief." They had 47 pigs to portray Wilbur and it often took days for a single shot.
Danny Elfman wrote the music. In his youth he was part of street band called The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, performing, composing and building unique musical instruments. He has 141 composing credits, 119 for the music department and 23 for acting including "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993), "Sommersby" (1993), "Dolores Claiborne" (1995), "Good Will Hunting" (1998), "Big Fish" (2004), "Milk" (2009), "The Next Three Days" (2010), "Hitchcock" (2012), and "The Girl on the Train" (2016)
Seamus McGarvey was the cinematographer. He has built up a music video business that has included Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield. He has 78 credits for cinematography, 11 for the camera and electrical department and 1 for directing including "Atonement" (2007), "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" (2008), "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011), "Anna Karenina" (2012), "The Accountant" (2016), "Nocturnal Animals" (2016), "The Greatest Showman" (2017) and "Cyrano" (2022).
Sabrina Plisco was the editor. She has 55 editor credits, 2 for the editorial department and 1 for producing including "Into the West" (2005).
Dakota Fanning played Fern. She now has 72 acting credits 3 for producing and 1 for directing including "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008), "Ocean's Eight" (2018), "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019), "The First Lady" (2022) and "The Perfect Couple" (2024).
Beau Bridges plays Dr. Dorion His father, Lloyd Bridges had his own tv. show and that is one of the early acting experiences for him. He played basketball at UCLA under John Wooden and later at Houston University. Beau has 229 acting credits, 6 for directing and 5 for producing including "Jerry Maguire" (1996), "Into the West" (2005), "The Descendants" (2011), "The Mountain Between Us" (2017), "Greenleaf" (2018), "Homeland" (2018),"One Night in Miami" (2020) and "Lessons in Chemistry" (2023).
Sam Shepard was the narrator. His father was a WWII bomber and moved his family to various military bases. He competed in rodeos riding broncs and bulls. He has 66 acting credits 33 for writing and 2 for directing including "Days of Heaven" (1978), "The Pelican Brief" (1993), "Inhale" (2010), "Mud" (2012), "Safe House" (2012) and "August, Osage County" (2013).
The animals all have actors for their voices. Julia Roberts was the voice of Charlotte, John Cleese voiced a sheep, Kathy Bates a cow, Robert Redford a horse and Wilbur was voiced by Dominic Scott Kay.
Reading is a habit that can get started young and help one not only learn things, but understand them better. The book and the film likely are available at your local library.
As usual I have bolded the first mention of a movie I have seen. It is not a recommendation, but generally I foundt them worth while.
