Babe – Deluxe Expanded Edition – Limited 1500 – Nigel Westlake

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Babe was a massive surprise hit in 1995. A children’s film starring a talking pig seemed to be the last thing anybody expected from visionary filmmaker George Miller (Mad Max), but writer-producer Miller, adapting a 1983 book with director and cowriter Chris Noonan, created a universally praised, moving film about a farm pig (a combination of animatronics and computer graphics) who longs to be a sheepdog. With a memorable lead performance by James Cromwell as Babe’s farmer-owner, Babe received glowing reviews and seven Oscar nominations, winning for Best Visual Effects.

 

A major part of Babe’s exquisite, perfectly pitched storybook tone is the charming, resonant symphonic score by Australian composer Nigel Westlake. Westlake interpolated a tapestry of classical works, most notably the maestoso section of Saint-Saëns’ third (Organ) symphony, to perfectly capture the human emotions of the film’s animal characters, while ironically treating the humans with an animal-like comedy and whimsy. (The Saint-Saëns melody had been adapted into the British reggae pop hit, “If I Had Words,” by Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Kelley; a sped-up version is used in Babe’s end credits.)

 

Babe was released as a music-and-dialogue album at the time of the film. This CD Club edition features the expanded score as music only, packaged with a new essay by Tim Greiving featuring insights from Miller, Noonan, Cromwell and Westlake.

Track Listing

 

1. Opening Titles (From the Motion Picture Babe) – Piggery (4:02)

2. Fairground (Extended Version) (3:16)

3. I Want My Mum / The Way Things Are (4:40)

4. Fly Would Never / Crime And Punishment (3:50)

5. Anorexic Duck Pizzicati (Extended Version) (3:21)

6. Repercussions / Into The Knackery (2:23)

7. Pig, Pig, Piggy / Mother And Son (2:28)

8. Pork Is A Nice Sweet Meat (3:26)

9. Christmas Morning (Extended Version) (5:08)

10. Separate The Chickens / Round Up (2:37)

11. Babe’s Round Up (Extended Version) (3:59)

12. Mad Dog Rex (1:14)

13. The Sheep Pig (Extended Version) (1:47)

14. Dog Tragedy (1:36)

15. Hoggett Shows Babe / Maa’s Death (2:58)

16. Home Pig / Hoggett With Gun (2:48)

17. Pig Of Destiny / Up To Trouble (3:29)

18. The Cat / What Are Pigs For (2:26)

19. Where’s Babe / Hoggett’s Song (3:23)

20. Babe In The Kitchen / Help For Babe (4:32)

21. Baa Ram Ewe / Rex On Truck (1:46)

22. The Gauntlet / Moment Of Truth (Extended Version) (1:45)

23. Finale – That’ll Do, Pig, That’ll Do (1:39)

24. If I Had Words (2:54)

25. Toreador Aria (Excerpt) (:22)

26. Pork Is A Nice Sweet Meat (With Vocals) (3:51)

27. Blue Moon (Excerpt) (:40)

28. Cantique de Jean Racine (Excerpt) (:41)

29. If I Had Words (Hoggett’s Song) (1:52)

 

Music Composed and Produced by Nigel Westlake

Performed by the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra