Babe is a comic fable about not fitting in and the lengths to which an ordinary pig will go to find acceptance. This fanciful film follows the tale of Babe, a pig who defies destiny by daring to be different, by daring to be, of all things, a sheepdog. All kinds of species live on the Hoggett farm. Each animal has a job to do, tries to do it well and knows his or her place in the world. They aim to keep their owners happy, but understandably, the pressure to avoid becoming Christmas dinner can make an animal do some pretty outlandish things. Babeís approach to barnyard life is different from all the others, and as we humans know, life can be more challenging, but all the sweeter, for the pig who marches to the tune of a different drummer. Universal Pictures and Kennedy Miller present Babe, a humorous look at the limitations and lunacy of a preordained society. Veteran producer George Miller and rising director Chris Noonan join forces with a company of conversing live animals--including a Large White Yorkshire Pig, two Border Collies, an Indian Runner Duck, two Border Leicester Sheep and a Blue Persian Cat--to create this light but deft look at a pig who bucks the social order. Doug Mitchell and Bill Miller co-produce along with George Miller. Co-starring are James Cromwell and Magda Szubanski, Australiaís leading comedic actress. Noonan directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Miller based on Dick King-Smithís book The Sheep-Pig. British author King-Smith has written more than 70 novels, all about animals, and is one of the worldís most recognized childrenís novelists. A key behind-the-scenes role, animal trainer, was filled by Karl Lewis Miller (Beethoven, Beethovenís 2nd). "I loved the story, and Iíve always believed that story is everything," said George Miller. "And like any proper fable, this one has many levels and makes its points subtly and with humor and warmth." Miller, a physician by training, has carved an eclectic career in film as a director and producer, skipping from genre to genre, but always energizing audiences with a highly cinematic visual style and, most often, working from stories he has co-written. He created a strange and depraved world for the Mad Max series, which is also renowned for its trend-setting visuals and remarkable action sequences; for The Witches of Eastwick, Miller conjured up a rich amalgam of black comedy, horror and sensual fantasy; in Lorenzoís Oil, a tale of faith and courage, he compassionately chronicled a real-life medical detective story. In his native Australia, Miller has produced a broad array of miniseries that have broken ratings records, tackling subjects ranging from the 1975 Australian Constitutional crises to the story of a cricket match between England and Australia that almost led to war between the two countries (The Dismissal and Bodyline, respectively). He has also produced the critically acclaimed feature films The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting, coming-of-age tales rendered with great sensitivity by director and fellow Australian John Duigan. Babe topped the Kennedy Miller list of desirable projects ever since George Miller first read Dick King-Smithís The Sheep-Pig nearly ten years ago. "I know that itís only a story about animals on a farm but thereís something epic about it," he explained. "The animal characters are so real that I felt we could best serve the story by using live animals; animation was never considered." Sensing that filming Babe would be an experience requiring lavish amounts of patience, Miller applied his talents to co-writing and producing. "I never intended to direct," he offered. "I gathered I would have gone nuts. Having spent a great deal of time on the set, I now know that I was right." Miller chose Chris Noonan, who makes his feature directorial debut with Babe, for his talent and extraordinary patience, which the producer witnessed firsthand when Noonan wrote and directed episodes of two Kennedy Miller miniseries (The Cowra Breakout and Vietnam) and directed the Australian telefilm The Riddle of the Stintson.He has extensive experience as a documentary filmmaker, including the prize- winning Stepping Out, about a theatrical group of mentally-challenged actors. A Squealer Among Us While the human actors in Babe occasionally have their say, dialogue between the animals accounts for 80% of the soundtrack. By redefining the limits of computer graphics and animatronics, the animals appear as if they are talking quite naturally, as if theyíd been doing it with such precision and emotion all their cinematic lives. Miller first decided to make the pigletís acquaintance while airborne and listening to in-flight audio. A critic, having just praised the book, was presenting a synopsis of her recommendation that was constantly interrupted by her own bursts of laughter. The risible reaction intrigued Miller, who bought The Sheep-Pig and shortly thereafter purchased the film rights. "I love the story," he said, "as much for its subtext as for its surface plot. Itís about prejudice on a farm where each animal has his preordained place. Into this biased world comes a pig with an unprejudiced heart who takes all other creatures at face value, and by treating the sheep and all the other animals as equals, he irrevocably changes their lives and becomes world champion sheepdog in the process." Young Babe had no way of knowing how much his world was about to be turned upside down when his mother was suddenly hauled off in a truck that takes pigs away but never returns them. The piglet winds up at the county fair where destiny lends a hand and sees to it that taciturn farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) and the tiny bundle of fear cross paths. Somehow they both sense this chance meeting is fraught with possibility. Changes start occurring soon after Babe arrives at the farm of Mr. Hoggett and his large and lively wife Esme. Some of the animals welcome Babe with open paws, but there are a few bestial sorts who resent the friendly and open little porker, betraying their own pig- headedness in the process. Breaking New Ground Changes also started occurring when the cast and crew of Babe arrived in the Australian town of Robertson on December 31, 1993. Driving along the outbackís Illawara Highway, one passes a sign that boasts: Robertson, population 275, height above sea level 730 metres, A Tidy Town. Thanks to Babe, the population quintupled and more than 500 extras, 500 animals and 200 crew members saw to it that Robertson, for a time, was a tad less tidy. Animal trainer Karl Miller became involved with Babe, he confesses, because he "loved the script and, for once, I had enough time--over a year--to prepare. And since this was the first time one trainer would be working with so many different species, the challenge was an extra bonus." Karl Miller arrived in Australia with just two assistants from the United States. The other 57 were selected from a group of Australian applicants who were either agricultural students or farm workers. Under Millerís supervision, they trained and handled the 500 animals that were used during the production. "Other than dogs, cows and horses, we took baby animals and hand-raised them from infancy for the film," said the trainer. Hamming It Up As pigs are now bred to grow quickly, casting the starring role posed a special problem. Pigs were trained in groups of six, explained Miller, because they could only be filmed while they were 16 to 18 weeks old. "Every three weeks, weíd start a new group so theyíd be prepared when the preceding group outgrew its usefulness." The porcine stars arrived when they were just two weeks old. Trainers spent two weeks bonding with them via constant coddling, bottle feeding and TLC. "We became their mother, father, sister and brother," said Miller. Week three they were put on solid food and taught that obeying commands brought a click sound and a food reward. Disobedience brought silence only. Three more weeks of basic training were followed by four weeks of a more advanced training during which piglets learned to perform specific stunts to prep them for their acting debuts. Trainers had a fine line to tread, offered Miller: "I told them not to discipline the pigs because they would sulk and not to baby them as they become too happy and giggle." Finding Indian Runner ducks posed another challenge. None were available, so they were hand-raised. Said trainer Miller, "We bought eggs and incubated them in the Kennedy Miller office in Sydney. All of us made sure that the eggs were turned twice a day." There Is No Such Animal As the number of animals grew, Hensonís Creature Shop in London and John Coxís Creature Workshop in Queensland, Australia, began the meticulous task of creating animatronic clones for the lead animals. They had to be exact doubles so that they could be shuffled with their live counterparts without the viewers noticing the difference. Once the key animals had been cast, Hensonís sculptors flew to Sydney to pose the animals. "Itís by far the toughest job weíve ever done," said Neil Scanlan, head of Hensonís 16-person crew. "Up to now, our animatronics never had to be exact matches with other animals. That multiplied the difficulty factor by ten." Creating an animatronic Babe was a major problem as none of the 48 piglets who would eventually appear in the title role had been born yet. A prototype was sculpted from a group of average-looking 16-week old small Large White Yorkshires, an oxymoron if ever there was one. After the other animals had posed for the artists, the finished statues were flown back to London where molds were cast and puppeteers and computer artists began applying their talents. A remote-controlled standing animal, packed to the skin with new and sophisticated computers, was created for each character. Sitting and lying down puppet versions, which would be hand-operated by Henson puppeteers, were also created as the human hand can add the extra touch that transforms a good moment into a great one. Once production began, cosmeticians who created the realistic animal coats after considerable experiments with various dyes and synthetic hairs had the exacting job of replacing, one by one, animal hairs damaged during the action. Chomping at the Bits Victuals were prepared both nutritionally and mathematically for the animal thespians. "Animals eat one meal a day," explained Karl Miller, "but when they were training or filming, we had to figure out in advance how many ërewardsí theyíd earn that day and cut their food into that many pieces. If the work doubled, weíd cut the pieces in half. We could increase the number of pieces but not the amount of food, because once theyíre full, they stop working." Home Work With pre-production scheduled to take 18 months, production six months and post-production 12 months, Kennedy Miller elected to stay close to home and shoot the entire film in Australia. A location with the look of a lush green valley that time had passed by had to be found. The Southern Highlands, a rustic area 80 miles south of Sydney and noted for this look, was selected as was Robertson for its rolling hills. Kennedy Miller agreed to develop and landscape the considerable acreage that it rented for filming Babe: roads were built; gas, electric and water facilities were piped in; two giant sheds and corrals were constructed to house the animals; and a unique farm house and barn were built to serve as the Hoggett homestead. When production designer Roger Ford joined the project, George Miller asked him to make a farmhouse that would be a character in the film. "If you look closely, youíll see a face on the housefront with windows forming the eyes," said Ford. "George suggested that the outside of the barn resemble a large, hairy Neanderthal animal on which a giant could jump and ride away and that the interior should have a cathedral-like atmosphere with vaulted ceiling." Before production began, every shot was meticulously pre-planned and storyboarded. With the number of different crew permutations and combinations involved, the call sheet, normally a simple document to read, resembled some form of hieroglyphics with the daily electronic, animal and human needs outlined in numbing detail. Getting Vocal When production began on Babe, the filmís voice cast visited Robertson to meet and observe their animal counterparts. Two days later, they began recording their parts. Americans Christine Cavanaugh and Danny Mann, respectively, voiced the trials and tribulations of Babe and Ferdinand the duck. Hugo Weaving, who co-starred as Tick in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, provided scripted sounds for Rex, the patriarch Border Collie; Miriam Margolyes was flown in from London to play Fly, Rexís mate. Actresses Miriam Flynn and Evelyn Krape, respectively, played Maa and Old Ewe, aging ewes; and Russie Taylor gave voice to Duchess, a cat whose words dig deeper than her sharp claws. Looping, normally one of the last items in the post-production chronology, took an earlier spot on the schedule in order to supply audiotapes for the puppeteers to program, by computer, into the animatronic clones, synchronizing their tongue, lip, jaw and facial movements with the dialogue. During actual filming, computer-armed puppeteers, under Chris Noonanís direction, manipulated the body movements of the creatures. "At the beginning, so much seemed impossible," director Noonan reminisced. "I was honestly afraid that weíd be chasing animals all over the place and not be able to give the film the look and emotion we wanted. In most animal films thereís an element of wildlife photography which distances you from the animals. Our story had animals that were true characters, so I wanted people to quickly abandon the idea that they were watching animals and just accept them as normal beings. That meant treating them as actors and moving them so that the camera could operate around them as it normally does with humans. We tried to create performances from them that clearly communicated an emotion. "Many things we didnít think we could do, we did, thanks to Karl Miller, a true master of animal psychology. If we were rushed and started to push things too fast and he thought it was adversely affecting ëhisí animals, heíd chew us out in no uncertain terms. He was very protective of his animals and, by being that way, he was protecting our film as well." Each species of animal was trained to react to a specific sound. Pigs responded to a clicker, sheep to a pennywhistle, ducks to a buzzer and dogs to their masterís voice. When all four animals worked in tandem, the noise was not only deafening but confusing. One trainer would shout "Stay," while another shouted "Mark," another "Sit" and still another "Go." Recalled Noonan, "It took a frustrating while, but eventually each animal knew his sound and responded properly, but at the start, we had some memorable traffic jams." The director lauds co-stars James Cromwell and Magda Szubanski as unsung heroes. "Here were two fine performers working in the midst of chaos. Yet their acting never suffered as they were able to block out the distractions and concentrate." Animal trainer Karl Miller added, "Jamie [Cromwell] is just natural with animals. He was always willing to bend to our needs to get the animals to perform in his presence. His pockets were filled with food and manyís the time, just before or after a shot, he was willing to have a pigís sloppy mouth eat out of his hand, knowing that that reward could make a big difference with the animalís performance." She Herd That Since the climax of Babe involved the pigletís ability to control a small herd of sheep, the sheep trainer was vital. Caroline Girdlestone was imported from New Zealand for this chore and proved to be a Svengali. Time between camera set-ups was frequently spent watching her choreograph her bovid ballet for the appreciative crew. A pennywhistle was always at the ready between her clenched teeth; she wielded a poncho like a matadorís cape to control her flock and held a large tin can full of pellets that made an ungodly sound when she shook it to gain sheepish attention. In a Pigís Eye Hair and make-up artist Carolyn Tyrer routinely began her day by gluing toupees to six squealing, wiggling piglets. As she looked at the line of six ducks and other assorted animals waiting their turn, the 15- year vet of British film and television was overheard muttering, "Who thought it would come to this?" In pre-production, George Miller decided that Babe should have some readily identifiable visual mark. When facial and body beauty spots did not work, the solution required Tyrer to affix a small tuft of hair to the porcine starís forehead. Additionally, the pigsí eyelashes also had to continually be dyed black since their normal white lashes had the effect of hiding their lovely eyes. To give Ferdinand the duck a world weary look, the make-up artist had to create bags under his eyes. Maa and Old Ewe, both ewes, had to be aged with special make-up and the punch holes in the ears of all the sheep had to be filled with wax. "Everything we did had to be done in multiples as the animals had to be interchangeable," explained Tyrer. "For Babe it was six, four for Fly, four for Rex, four for Maa, four for Ole Ewe, two for the horse and up to 16 for Ferdinand. Thank heaven Whiskey the cow was perfect." When the animatronic creatures worked, she added, they had to be made up to perfectly match their live counterparts. The Human Factor James Cromwell, who stands at six-feet seven inches, was by far the tallest, and, judging from the constant smile on his face, the happiest man on the set. "Why not?" he would ask punctuated by laughter. "Iím the male lead in a major film, Iím in almost every scene and have no worry about memorizing lines," an obvious reference to the fact that his is a taciturn character surrounded by chatty animals. Though Magda Szubanski may not be well known outside Australia, inside, she is highly regarded for her comedic talents. She writes the material for a variety of offbeat characters whom she has created and has brought to life on both the stage and television.The well rounded and round Szubanski, who makes her film debut in Babe, has no desire to be svelte: "I like being fat," she stated. "Itís a nice look. You know, if there werenít any fat folk around, weíd be missed. Youíd have to invent us." George Miller is especially pleased that the actors who play the Hoggetts make such a splendid couple. "They had just what we were looking for, that quality that lies somewhere between storybook and reality. Jamie [Cromwell] has that extraordinary Easter Island face and a youthful twinkle in his eye. While Magda defies description, sheís an absolutely unique talent." When Babe comes trotting onto the screens, nearly a decade will have passed since George Miller first entertained the notion of giving the story cinematic treatment. Had he anticipated the lengthy and arduous journey ahead of him, would he still have committed to the project? "Yes," he responds emphatically, because he knew that his path, like Babeís, wouldnít be easy but was certain to be gratifying. ABOUT THE VISUAL CAST JAMES CROMWELL (Farmer Hoggett) is probably most familiar to audiences from his role as Stretch on the popular television series All in the Family. In film, he appeared in the original Revenge of the Nerds and its two sequels, Pink Cadillac, The Man With Two Brains, The Cheap Detective and Murder By Death. His additional TV work includes roles on Easy Street, Mamaís Boy, guest appearances on L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Hill Street Blues, Dallas, M*A*S*H and Twilight Zone. Cromwell was born in Hollywood, California, to parents who worked in the entertainment business. (His mother was actress Kate Johnson; his father was John Cromwell, who directed the original versions of The Prisoner of Zenda and Of Human Bondage.) It was in Sweden that Cromwell, during his college years, watched his father direct a movie and first caught the theatrical virus. Upon returning to the United States, he entered Carnegie Mellon University and studied acting and directing. MAGDA SZUBANSKI (Mrs. Hoggett), Australiaís top comedienne, makes her feature film debut with Babe. She has demonstrated her versatility by performing serious drama with the Sydney Theater Company and lends her voice to many TV commercials. She is noted for inventing off-kilter characters, and three of Australiaís most popular comic figures are Szubanskiís brain children: dim-witted sportscaster Pixie Anne Wheatley, depilatory artist Chenille and skinhead Michelle. She wrote monologues for these characters, which she performed for university audiences, leading to regular appearances on D-Generation, a highly successful TV show that aired in her homeland. Szubanski also co- produced, co-wrote and co-starred in Fast Forward until its title was changed to Full Frontal. Though she initially auditioned for the voice of Fly, the canine stepmother of the piglet in Babe, her work was so impressive that George Miller and Chris Noonan thought she should be seen as well as heard. ABOUT THE VOCAL CAST CHRISTINE CAVANAUGHís (Babe) voice may sound familiar since she is Chuckie on televisionís Rugrats, Gosalyn Mallard on Disneyís Darkwing Duck and was the title character on Cathy, a TV version of Cathy Guisewiteís comic strip "Cathy." The Burbank, California, resident is also active on-camera, having guest-starred in such shows as Cheers, Wings, Empty Nest; she plays the continuing role of Mona Tibbs in Nickelodeonís Salute Your Shots. Cavanaugh trained in the theater and performs on stage as a member of the North Hollywood Playhouse West Theater Company. MIRIAM MARGOLYES (Fly) received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting performance in Martin Scorseseís The Age of Innocence and, in 1991, was voted Best Actress by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her role in Little Dorrit. Her feature film credits include The Butcherís Wife, I Love You to Death, Dead Again and Pacific Heights. The British nativeís stage work has also been singled out for recognition; Margolyes won the Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in her one-woman show Charles Dickensí Women. Earlier in her career, she had the distinction of being the only woman in the theatrical Footlights Review, which starred John Cleese and was directed by Trevor Nunn. DANNY MANNís (Ferdinand) voice starred with Robin Williams in Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, with Mickey Rooney and Drew Barrymore in Little Nemo in Slumberland and played the title role in Steven Spielberg and Tim Burtonís Family Dog. He co-starred with John Candy on Saturday morningís Camp Candy and is heard daily as Hector on the long- running series Heathcliff. He learned improvisation with The Groundlings, a group based in Los Angeles, and studied theater at Cal State University and UCLA. HUGO WEAVING (Rex) is one of Australiaís best known actors. For his starring role as Tick in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Weaving won an Australian Film Institute Best Actor nomination. He previously worked for Kennedy Miller starring in three of their miniseries, Bodyline, Dirtwater Dynasty and Bangkok Hilton. The actor has frequently appeared on stage, most recently starring in Tom Stoppardís Arcadia. MIRIAM FLYNN (Maa) plays the first real friend that Babe makes among the farmís flock of more than 400 sheep. She has appeared in the films National Lampoonís Vacation, Mr. Mom and Class Reunion. Flynn has guest starred on such television series as Full House, Cheers, Family Ties, L.A. Law, The Tracey Ullman Show and The Tim Conway Show. She spent four years as a member of the Chicago Resident Company of the famed Second City, winning an award as its Best Actress in 1978. Flynn has also appeared with Paul Sills & Company at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles and played the title role in Sister Mary Ignatious Explains It All To You at the L.A. Stage Company. RUSSIE TAYLOR (Cat) is the voice of the vicious cat who turns Babeís life upside down by telling him that a pigís purpose in life is to be eaten. Taylor, best known as the voice of Minnie Mouse, has spent eight seasons voicing Baby Gonzo on CBSís The Muppet Babies and speaks for Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby in Ducktales. She was also heard in the features Who Framed Roger Rabbit; The Jetsons: The Movie; and The Rescuers Down Under. The actress has done baby voice-overs for Terms of Endearment, Rocky III and TVís Roseanne. A highpoint in her career, said Taylor, was performing a duet with Elton John on a special titled Totally Minnie. EVELYN KRAPE (Old Ewe) plays the matriarch of the farmís flock of sheep, but is probably best known for her role in director Simon Wincerís film, Down Under. She has appeared on Australian television in Australia, Youíre Standing In It; The Flying Doctors; Boys From the Bush; Magic Bag and in the childrenís show Words Fail Me. Krape is an original member of the Australian Performing Group and a founding member of Womenís Theater; she also directed the play Add a Grated Laugh or Two, which was produced in association with International Womanís Year. ROSCOE LEE BROWNE (narrator) will sound familiar to many, as he has appeared in numerous films and television series. His feature film credits include the title role in William Wylerís The Liberation of L.B. Jones, Alfred Hitchcockís Topaz, The Comedians and Legal Eagles. He is currently seen as the biologist on SeaQuest DSV and recently played the rich and ruthless Rosemont of Falcon Crest. Browne won an Emmy for a guest performance on the television series The Card Game and received a nomination for a guest-starring role in Barney Miller. The actor began his career in the theater with the New York Shakespeare Festivalís inaugural season. Browne has performed all over the world and has won a number of awards including the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award as Best Actor for Dream On Monkey Mountain and a Best Actor Obie for Benito Cerano. ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS Though CHRIS NOONAN (director, co-writer) is celebrating 25 years as a filmmaker, Babe marks his major feature debut. The Sydney resident previously focused his talents on documentaries, including the prize- winning Stepping Out, about a theatrical group of mentally handicapped actors. Noonan accepted an invitation by George Miller to join a workshop of actors and directors and wound up writing and directing five hours of Kennedy Millerís ten-hour miniseries, The Cowra Breakout. Subsequently, also for Kennedy Miller, he wrote and directed five of the ten episodes of Vietnam, the highest rated miniseries of its time, and then directed the telefilm The Riddle of the Stinson. During this same period, he also served a two-year term as president of the Australian Screen Directors Association. Noonan recently served a three-year term as chairman of the Australian Film Commission. Noonan made his first film, Could It Happen Here?, when he was 16 years old. The short with a budget of $300 that spoofed high school life won a prize at the Sydney Film Festival and later aired on television. In 1973, Noonan was one of twelve students chosen to attend the Australian Film Schoolís inaugural course on direction. GEORGE MILLER (producer, co-writer) has successfully applied his creative skills to film genres that lie at opposite ends of the spectrum, and in so doing, has carved a notably eclectic career. As a director, he riveted audiences with the trend-setting visuals and action sequences of Mad Max and its sequels; as a producer, his work includes The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting, the critically acclaimed coming- of-age feature films directed by John Duigan. Born in a small Australian town where "the only experience of the outside world was the Saturday matinee," Miller has harbored a lifelong love affair with the movies. He attended school as well as medical school with his twin brother, John, who would go to lectures while George went to morning sessions of the movies. In 1971, the brothers were about to graduate from medical school when they entered a one-minute film in a student competition and won. The prize was a course at the Melbourne Film Workshop. John decided his future lay in medicine, so he let brother George attend the film course. It was there he met Byron Kennedy, a fellow student, and they collaborated on two short films. In 1972, Miller did his residency at Sydneyís St.Vincentís Hospital and spent his time off making experimental films. After gaining two years of that kind of experience, he and Kennedy pooled their every cent, for a tally of $1,500, and made Violence in the Cinema - Part One, a 14-minute parody of that eraís violent films. It won two Australian Film Institute Awards and was successfully presented at the Sydney and Moscow Film Festivals. That same year, they formed Kennedy Miller with an eye toward making a full-length feature film. It took them seven years to get $350,000 to make Mad Max as government funding bodies had no interest in investing in the film. During this frustrating period, Miller earned his keep as a doctor and Kennedy as a cameraman. The time and financial investment paid off handsomely as the film became an international hit, won the Special Jury Prize at Avoriaz and led to the The Road Warrior. Though Kennedy and Miller were uninspired by television, Rupert Murdoch, who had just purchased Australiaís Channel 10 at the time, made them an offer they couldnít refuse: "Do anything you want for us as long as itís bold." In 1982, Miller produced and co-wrote The Dismissal, a six-hour miniseries on a dry subject (the 1975 Australian constitutional crises) that broke all ratings records. That same year, Steven Spielberg asked him to direct the "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" episode of Twilight Zone: The Movie. After Kennedyís tragic death in a helicopter accident in 1982, Doug Mitchell joined the company. Their first two ventures were two ten-hour miniseries: Bodyline, the true story of a cricket match between England and Australia that almost led to war between the two countries; and The Cowra Breakout, a true story chronicling the escape of Japanese war prisoners in Australia during World War II. After Miller directed The Witches of Eastwick, an experience he found unsettling, he turned to producing. During a five-year period, Kennedy Miller produced the Duigan films, Dead Calm and two miniseries. Miller returned to directing with Lorenzoís Oil, which he co-wrote with Nick Enright; they received an Academy Award nomination for that screenplay. DOUG MITCHELL (producer) was born of Scottish parents in Bogota, Colombia, where his father was an executive with Price Waterhouse. He divided his childhood between summers with his family at their home in Medellin and winters at Scottish boarding schools. In 1982, Mitchell joined Kennedy Miller in Sydney, Australia, soon after receiving his qualifications as a chartered accountant in London. Mitchell became Kennedyís protege, adding his knowledge of finance and accounting to the artistic acumen of George Miller and Byron Kennedy. When Kennedy died in a helicopter crash, Miller appointed Mitchell as his partner. Mitchell served with Kennedy as executive producer on two of the companyís TV miniseries, Bodyline and The Cowra Breakout. Since then, he has produced all the Kennedy Miller projects, including the miniseries Vietnam, Bangkok Hilton and Dirtwater Dynasty as well as the telefilms The Clean Machine, The Fragments of War and Riddle of the Stinson. His feature films include Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Dead Calm, Lorenzoís Oil, The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting. The latter two won Best Picture of the Year Awards from the Australian Film Industry. BILL MILLER (producer) is the youngest of the four Miller brothers. Just like his older brother George who gave up a medical career to become a film director, Bill, a successful attorney in Sydney, quite recently gave up his legal career to be become a film producer. Babe marks his first effort. ANDREW LESNIE (director of photography) first met George Miller and Byron Kennedy on the set of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, where he was a cameraman for their documentary chronicling the making of that film. When Miller needed a cinematographer for the Bodyline miniseries second unit, Lesnie was hired. Since that time, Lesnie has been director of photography on 11 feature films, three miniseries and five second units. All but two of those projects were shot in Australia. Prior to his work on Babe, he worked on Spyder and Rose. Lesnie not only serves as director of photography, but also as his own camera operator. ROGER FORD (production designer/costume designer) won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Production Designer for director John Duiganís The Year My Voice Broke, with whom he also collaborated on Flirting and Sirens. Ford was recognized with an Australian Film Institute nomination for Best Production Designer on his debut feature effort, Dear and Departed. Earlier in his career, Ford, a native of England, worked as a production designer for the BBC. But after taking an Australian holiday some 20 years ago, he upped and moved there. MARCUS DíARCY (editor, post-production supervisor) is one of Kennedy Millerís first employees, who started his career with the company as a post-production assistant, later becoming a post-production supervisor and editor. He performed the duties of post-production supervisor and editor on the Kennedy Millerís miniseries Bangkok Hilton and co-edited Lorenzoís Oil and John Duiganís Flirting. Since 1983, he has acted as post-production supervisor on all of the companyís films and miniseries. During down time between Kennedy Miller projects, DíArcy produces and directs documentaries, which have included They Look Like Heroes, The Kurdish Calamity and the ten-part miniseries Sportz Crazy. JAY FRIEDKIN (editor) first worked for Kennedy Miller when he edited The Road Warrior for American television. He served as apprentice editor on the Academy Award-winning Ordinary People and has an extensive background in trailer editing. His trailer for Flashdance won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival trailer competition. Australian-born NIGEL WESTLAKE (composer) is currently writing scores for The Celluloid Heroes, a four-part television series celebrating the centenary of Australiaís film industry, and The Edge, an Imax film about Australiaís Blue Mountains. Since 1984, heís composed many scores for film and TV, including Antartica and Imaxís Breaking Through. Many of his works have been recorded on the Sony Classical, Tall Poppies, ABC Classics and Vox Australia labels. During his career, his work has been recognized with a variety of honors, including first prize in the Jazz Action Society Composition Competition and the Gold Medal from the New York International Radio Festival for Best Original Music. The versatile composer has also composed works for the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theater, Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Royal Australian Navy Band, The Flying Fruit Fly Circus and Synergy Percussion. In addition to receiving formal training at music schools, Westlake studied under his father, Donald, who at one time was the principal clarinetist with the Sydney Symphony. JIM HENSONíS CREATURE SHOP (animatronic characters) needs no introduction. Its work on Babe is only part of a natural progression that can be traced back to its best known creation, the ineffable Miss Piggy. The late Jim Henson recognized the artistic potential of computers, and to insure the new techniques would be used to enhance his beloved world of puppetry, he founded his Creature Shop in 1979. The Dark Crystal began their parade of successful films, which included The Bear, The Witches, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I & II and The Flintstones. JOHN COXíS CREATURE WORKSHOP (animatronic sheep characters), located in Queensland, Australia, produced ten talking sheep for Babe. The Australian Cox, a special effects sculptor with 15 years of experience, founded The Modelshop in 1983. That company created animatronic sharks for Kennedy Millerís Dead Calm and later evolved into the Creature Workshop. Cox had Robotronics, another computer shop in Queensland, supply the computer innards and puppeteers for his animals. RHYTHM & HUES (animation and visual effects) created more than 100 computer-generated images for Babe. Their work has been recognized with international awards and extends into the worlds of film (Hocus Pocus and A Brief History of Time, a documentary on physicist Stephen Hawking) television (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and commercials (Coca Colaís polar bear ads). KARL LEWIS MILLER (animal action) has applied his talents to a variety of feature films and television projects. Babe, however, marks the first time that one trainer has worked with so many species in one film. His film credits include Beethoven, Beethovenís 2nd, The Godfather, The World According to Garp, Cujo, M*A*S*H, Raising Arizona and K-9. His television credits include Charlieís Angels, Columbo, Mission Impossible, Twilight Zone, Bewitched, Perry Mason and The Beverly Hillbillies. Miller learned his skills in the U.S. Air Force, where he learned how to train guard dogs for watch duty. His first entertainment stint involved training German Shepard guard dogs for TVís Hoganís Heroes.