Charlotte's Web

1973 "That humble radiant terrific book is now a humble radiant terrific movie."
6.9| 1h34m| G| en
Details

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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Reviews

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
Sherrill777 An adaption of the book of the same title, this animation musical has a lot to recommend it... and a few things to detract from its enjoyment. The songs are varied and catchy, the animation is acceptable - not exactly what I'd call beautiful, but not clunky and cheap either. The characters are what make or break the story and while Wilber, our star pig, starts out as a bit whiny (not without due cause, however!), he grows up over the course of the movie. And growing up is probably the best way to describe the theme of this film. Several characters grow up in different ways, including minor/background characters. It is an excellent look at the passage of time and how it affects different creatures/people - hopefully for the better, but not always.There are several silly, humorous moments and overall the story is a romp, but the serious points can hit hard. In my personal opinion, it's a fun movie, but not 10 stars - there are definite points where it feels like a musical number is simply filler to make the movie longer and a few places that make me scratch my head at a plot point. But overall, a kid would probably love this and there's really not much objectionable about it.I'd rate this movie as acceptable for ages 6 and up, but there are a few scary themes - especially death - which may bring children to tears or prompt questions. The emotions in the end are probably bitter- sweet rather than purely upbeat, so I'd advice parental discretion.
Jacob (jacob-916-219982) Some people thought that Disney's Robin Hood was the only animated film from 1973, but we all know that's not entirely true. Several months before it, there came Charlotte's Web, based on EB White's book of the same name, produced by Hanna-Barbara and released by Paramount Pictures. It tells the story about a pig named Wilbur who learns he'll become food in the fall and becomes very sad, but faith would soon come to him in the form of spider named Charlotte who uses her web making skills to show the world that Wilbur is actually very special and not another meal on the table.For Hanna-Barbara's third animated film and first of three films not based on their shows and properties, I thought it was a pretty good animated film. The animation may not be Disney great as Hanna-Barbara was known for using Limited Animation seen in their TV shows, but it didn't bother me as kid and still doesn't as an adult and besides, you can't expect every animation studio to be like Disney. They have their own style at making animated features. The voice acting was good, same with the story, the songs by the Sherman Brothers, the music by Irwin Kostal, and the artwork. Even if it's not one of my favorite non-Disney animated films, it's still one the good animated films.
anthony-rigoni I loved Charlotte's Web mainly because of the songs, the story, and the characters. When Wilbur's life is in danger of becoming dinner, he turns to a clever and friendly spider named Charlotte for help. Desperate to come up with an idea to save Wilbur, how will she send the word that even the runt of the liter can be some terrific, radiant, humble creature? Starring Debbie Reynolds(From Singin' in the Rain) as Charlotte, Henry Gibson(From the Pound Puppies TV Special) as Wilbur, Paul Lynd(From The Perils of Penelope Pitstop and Cattanoga Cats) as Templeton, Agnes Moorehead(From Bewitched) as the Goose, Don Messick(From Scooby-Doo Where Are You?) as Jeffrey, Bob Holt(From various Dr. Seuss classics such as the Lorax and Dr. Seuss is On the Loose) as Mr. Zuckerman, Pamelyn Ferdin(From A Boy Named Charlie Brown) as Fern Arable, John Stephenson(From the Hobbit and Scooby-Doo Where Are You?) as Mr. Arable, and Rex Allen as the Narrator. Featuring memorable lyrics by Robert M Sherman(RIP) and Richard Sherman(They were known for Mary Poppins, Snoopy Come Home, The Sword in the Stone, and It's a Small World), this wonderful adaption from the book of the same name by EB White is perfect for everybody who read the book or thought that the 2006 live-action version is bad.
tedg This is at least an interesting story, but everything about bringing it to the screen is incompetent, save Debbie Reynolds' voice.The animation was crude even for its time, and the songs have no heft or hook.But the story! If you don't know it, here it is:A pig with no particular value is the focus. It is made clear that this is actually someone (yes, we are talking about people here) with fewer gifts than the average. He's a runt and would have been killed at birth. Throughout, he never grows into someone that can accomplish anything. This is a key element of the setup. In your normal children's story of the era, all beings are special, extraordinary: The ugly ducking becomes a swan. The chargirl becomes a wise queen. The younger brother solves the mystery.But here, this pig has no special qualities at the beginning, nor at the end. It is important that he be completely worthless, a simpleton, throughout the story. Otherwise, the "nothing should be killed regardless how worthless" device to work.The magic of the story is that he is saved by an effect that has nothing whatever with his doing. Something else creates a word not even of his choosing -- he doesn't even know what it means. People, instead of marveling over the spider who can read, write and speak, instead read the words and assign its meaning without question or examination of the "story channel" through which it came.This is a very peculiar phenomenon, now much tested in a scientific way. We usually think of it in terms of "if its in paper (or on TeeVee) it must be true." But the perceptual flaw is deeper. If it is in words; if it is a story, we accept the reality of it.That makes this is a tiny essay on the main tricks of misdirected value in storytelling and hence film-making. That people accept it as a children's story, sort of proves the point now doesn't it?Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.