Charlotte's Web is the 2006 American live-action/computer-animated comedy-drama film based on the 1952 novel of the same name by E. B. White and the remake of Paramount's 1973 animated film of the same name. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures, Walden Media, Kerner Entertainment Company and Nickelodeon Movies.
the film itself premiered in Australia on December 7, 2006 and was released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on December 15, 2006 in the United States. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, yet was only modestly commercially successful. The movie grossed only $82 million and $61 million elsewhere for a worldwide total of $144.9 million against an $85 million budget, as well as grossing an additional $95.2 million in home media sales.[2]
Plot[]
On a farm in Somerset County, Maine, Fern Arable finds her father John about to kill the runt of a litter of newborn pigs and successfully begs her father to spare the piglet's life prompting John to give the piglet to Fern which she nurtures the piglet lovingly and naming him Wilbur. To her regret, when Wilbur has matured Fern is forced to take him to her uncle Homer Zuckerman whose barnyard he is left yearning for companionship but is despised by other barn animals until he is befriended by Charlotte, a spider who lives in the space above Wilbur's sty in the Zuckermans' barn. When the other animals reveal to Wilbur that he will be prepared for dinner in due time, Charlotte promises to hatch a plan guaranteed to spare Wilbur's life.
With the help of the other barn animals including a comedic rat named Templeton, Charlotte convinces the Zuckerman family that Wilbur is actually quite special, by spelling out descriptions of him in her web: "Some pig", "Terrific", "Radiant", and "Humble". She gives her full name to be Charlotte A. Cavatica, revealing her to be a barn spider, an orb-weaver spider with the scientific name Araneus cavaticus.
The Arables, Zuckermans, Wilbur, Charlotte and Templeton go to a fair where Wilbur is entered in a contest. While there, Charlotte produces an egg sac containing her unborn offspring and Wilbur, despite winning no prizes, is later celebrated by the fair's staff and visitors (thus made too prestigious alive to justify killing him). Exhausted from laying eggs, Charlotte cannot return home because she is dying. Wilbur bids an emotional farewell to her as she remains at the fair and dies shortly after Wilbur's departure but Wilbur manages to take her egg sac home, where hundreds of offspring emerge. Most of the young spiders soon leave, but three named Joy, Aranea, and Nellie stay and become Wilbur's friends.
Cast[]
- Dakota Fanning as Fern Arable
- Kevin Anderson as John Arable
- Beau Bridges as Dr. Dorian
- Louis Corbett as Avery Arable
- Essie Davis as Phyllis Arable
- Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Edith Zuckerman
- Gary Basaraba as Homer Zuckerman
- Nate Mooney as Lurvy, the Zuckermans' farmhand
- Julian O'Donnell as Henry Fussy
Voice Cast[]
- Dominic Scott Kay as Wilbur the Spring Pig
- Julia Roberts as Charlotte A. Cavatica the Spider
- Steve Buscemi as Templeton the Rat
- John Cleese as Samuel the Sheep
- Oprah Winfrey as Gussy the Goose
- Cedric the Entertainer as Golly the Gander
- Kathy Bates as Bitsy the Cow
- Reba McEntire as Betsy the Cow
- Robert Redford as Ike the Horse
- Thomas Haden Church as Brooks the Crow
- André Benjamin as Elwyn the Crow
- Abraham Benrubi as Uncle the Pig
- Briana Hodge as Nellie the baby Spider
- Maia Kirkpatrick as Joy the baby Spider
- Jennessa Rose as Aranea the baby Spider
- Sam Shepard as the Narrator
See also[]
Release[]
Template:Multiple issues The film was scheduled for a June 2006 release, but was pushed back to December 15, 2006 to avoid competition with two other films from Nickelodeon Movies - Nacho Libre and Barnyard - as well as Over the Hedge (which also featured Thomas Haden Church in the cast) and Cars among other films.
Home media[]
Charlotte's Web was released on DVD on April 3, 2007 in the United States and Canada and on May 28, 2007 in the United Kingdom. It was then released on Blu-ray on March 29, 2011 alongside The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.[3] Nearly 10 years later, the film was re-released on DVD on January 24, 2017.
Reception[]
Box office[]
The film debuted in third place at the box office with only $11 million. Having spent 14 weeks in theaters, the film grossed $82 million domestically and $61 million overseas for a worldwide total of $144 million before closing on March 22, 2007.[1]
Critical response[]
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 78% "Certified Fresh" rating based on 147 reviews with an average rating of 6.97/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Kids will be entertained by the straightforward plot and cute animals, and adults will be charmed by how quiet and humble the production is, a fine translation of E.B. White's genteel prose."[4] On Metacritic the film has a score of 68 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[6]
Michael Medved gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "irresistible" and "glowing with goodness". Medved also said that Dakota Fanning's performance was "delightfully spunky".[7] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly stated that the film was "a bit noisy" but praised the director for putting "the book, in all its glorious tall-tale reverence, right up on screen." He later went on to say that "What hooks you from the start is Dakota Fanning's unfussy passion as Fern."[8] Conversely, Colm Andrew of the Manx Independent gave the film a score of 6/10, saying that the main problem was "the ultra-cute characterisation of Wilbur, resulting in half the audience rooting for his demise" although overall it was "a competent retelling of a classic story that won't offend".[9]
The film won the 2006 Critics' Choice Award for Best Live-Action Family Film,[10] and Fanning won the Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards.
Prizes[]
Year | Award | Category | Receiver | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix Film Critics Society | Best Family Film | Charlotte's Web | Winner | |
St. Louis Film Critics Association | Best Animated or Children's Film | La Telaraña de Charlotte | Nominated | |
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards | Best song | David A. Stewart y Glen Ballard | Winner | |
Best Family Film | La Telaraña de Charlotte | Winner | ||
Visual Effects Society | Excellent visual effects in a movie | Karin Joy, Blair Clark y John Dietz | Nominated | |
Excellent performance of an animated character in a live action movie | Grant Adam, Daniel Fotheringham, Avi Goodman y Paul Buckley | Nominated | ||
Excellent performance of an animated character in a live action movie | Todd Labonte, Jason Armstrong, Sven Jensen y David Richard Nelson | Nominated | ||
BMI Awards | Best Music | Danny Elfman | Winner | |
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Family Film (Live Action) | Charlotte's Web | Winner | |
Best Young Actress | Dakota Fanning | Nominated | ||
Best song | TSarah McLachlan | Nominated | ||
Genesis Awards | Best Family Feature Film | Charlotte's Web | Winner | |
International Film Music Critics Association | MBest Original Score for an Animated Film | Charlotte's Web | Nominated | |
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite female movie star | Dakota Fanning | Winner | |
Satellite Awards | Best Youth DVD | Charlotte's Web | Nominated | |
Movieguide Awards | Best Fantasy Film | Charlotte's Web | Winner | |
Best Family Film | Charlotte's Web | Winner | ||
Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Dubbing Role: Young Actor | Dominic Scott Kay | Winner | |
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Lead Actress | Dakota Fanning | Winner | ||
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films | Best Fantasy Film | Charlotte's Web | Nominated | |
Best special effects | Karin Joy, John Andrew Berton Jr.y John Dietz | Nominated |
Soundtrack[]
- Main article: Charlotte's Web: Music from the Motion Picture
Charlotte's Web: Music from the Motion Picture was released by Sony Classical on December 5, 2006. In addition to the instrumental score by Danny Elfman, the soundtrack includes a song named "Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan, which she herself performed during the opening ceremonies of her hometown Vancouver Winter Olympics. A CD compilation of "Music Inspired by the Motion Picture" was issued on December 12, 2006.
Video game[]
- Main article: Charlotte's Web (video game)
A video game based on the movie, developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by Sega, was released on December 12, 2006, for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PC.
Another game based on the film was released in Europe for the PlayStation 2 by Blast Entertainment on April 5, 2007.[11]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Charlotte's Web (2006)". Internet Movie Database.
- ↑ https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Charlottes-Web#tab=video-sales
- ↑ "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Blu-ray". Blu-ray.
- ↑ "Charlotte's Web (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ↑ Charlotte's Web Reviews - Metacritic
- ↑ "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
- ↑ Medved, Michael (December 15, 2006). "Charlotte's Web". MichaelMedved.com.
- ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (December 15, 2006). "Movie Review: Charlotte's Web".
- ↑ Review by Colm Andrew Archived February 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, IOM Today
- ↑ "Charlotte's Web", Variety.
- ↑ "Charlotte's Web Box Shot for PlayStation 2 - GameFAQs". www.gamefaqs.com.
External Links[]
v - e - d | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|