Quaint animal tale, freshly, ripely illustrated by prior documentarian Chris Noonan, about an orphaned porker who, taken in tow by a sheepdog, revolutionizes the business of herding when he introduces reason and politeness into it. Sometimes the cuteness gets overaggressive, but the absence of any obligatory child actor minimizes the effect. (The dour farmer and his blithering broad-beamed wife are rather queer ducks themselves.) And the slight distortions and exaggerations of barnyard noises — not the dialogues in proper English, but the cleverly orchestrated bleats and squawks and squeaks — are often very funny. With James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski, and the voices of Christine Cavanaugh, Hugo Weaving, Miriam Margoyles. (1995) — Duncan Shepherd
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