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'''Charlotte's Web''' is a live-action/computer-animated feature film, based on the popular book of the same name by E.B. White. It is directed by Gary Winick and produced by Paramount Pictures, Walden Media, The Kerner Entertainment Company, and Nickelodeon Movies. The screenplay is by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick, based on White's book. It is the second film adaptation of White's book, preceded by a 1973 cel-animated version produced by Hanna-Barbera for Paramount Pictures. It was distributed in Switzerland, Spain, and Netherlands by Universal Pictures.
The film was at one time intended for a June 2006 release, but was pushed back to December 2006 to avoid competition with two other films from Nickelodeon Movies - ''Nacho Libre'' and ''Barnyard'' - as well as ''Over the Hedge'' and ''Cars'' among other films. It was released in Australia on December 7, 2006 and in the United States and Canada on December 15, 2006. The U.S. and Canadian release date matches that of 20th Century Fox's ''Eragon'', another film with fantasy elements and a young protagonist. The scheduled release date in the UK is February 9, 2007.^[1]
The film was rated G by the MPAA, being Paramount's first theatrical film to be rated G by the MPAA since 2001's ''. The DVD was released on April 3, 2007 in the United States and Canada and was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on May 28. The Region 1 DVD release date matches that of another animated film ''Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea''.
The slogan of the film, according to the trailer and website, is "Help is coming from above."

Contents

Plot summary

Reviews

Comparison with previous versions of the story

Production details

Music

Video game

References

External links

Plot summary

When Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning) learns that her father plans to kill the runt of a litter of newborn pigs, she successfully begs him to spare the piglet's life. The farmer gives the tiny pig to Fern, who names him Wilbur and raises him as her pet. To Fern's regret, when Wilbur grows into an adult pig, Fern is forced to take him to the Zuckerman farm, where he is to be prepared as dinner in due time.
Charlotte (Julia Roberts), a spider, lives in the space above Wilbur's sty in the Zuckermans' barn; she befriends Wilbur and decides to help prevent him from being eaten. With the help of the other barn animals, including a rat named Templeton (Steve Buscemi), she 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". Charlotte gives her full name as "Charlotte A. Cavatica", revealing her as a barn spider, an orb-weaver spider with the scientific name ''Araneus cavaticus''.
The farm family, Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton go to a fair, where Wilbur is entered in a contest. While there, Charlotte produces an egg sac. She cannot return home with Wilbur because she is dying. Wilbur tearfully says goodbye to Charlotte but 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.

Reviews

Reviews were generally positive, especially with respect to Dakota Fanning's portrayal of Fern. Michael Medved gave ''Charlotte's Web'' 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".^[2] ''Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman complains that the film is "a bit noisy" but applauds the director for putting "the book, in all its glorious tall-tale reverence, right up on screen." He goes on to say that "What hooks you from the start is Dakota Fanning's unfussy passion as Fern."^[3]

Comparison with previous versions of the story

★ The goose is joined by the gander, a feature from the original 1952 book. The gander does not appear in the 1973 film or in the 2003 sequel.

★ The goose is given her third name since ''Charlotte's Web'' was first adapted to the screen. In the 1973 version, she was simply known as "The Goose". In the 2003 sequel, the goose was named Gwen. In this version, the goose's name is Gussy.

★ Charlotte's appearance is much more like a real spider than her previous portrayal as a spider body with a woman's head (although she has two very human-looking eyes and six 'eye-spots' compared with a real spider's eight compound eyes). Her personality is more casual than her 1973 version. She also does not explain as much.

★ Templeton's personality was severely toned down in the 1973 film, to the extent that he was decidedly more civil than in the present film, and only slightly self-serving. This is in high contrast to the book, in which it is said he "had no morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything." The lack of these positive traits is reestablished in the 2006 film.

★ Jeffery the gosling was left out of the 2006 film.

★ Gussy's habitual word repetition was toned down for the new film.

★ The 2006 film is based in the fifties, but with props such as cameras and automobiles actually ranging from the fifties to the late 1970s. The 1973 film was based in the thirties.

★ The 2006 Wilbur has a more childish voice than the 1973 version and can also speak far before he grows up.

★ The 2006 Fern is about seven whereas the 1973 Fern is about ten.

★ The 2006 film has a few moments of bathroom humor, whereas the 1973 film was devoid of it. The same goes for satire (the 1973 film only had the clever "Man will believe anything he sees in print"). Oddly, that quote was left out of the 2006 film.

★ Wilbur receives a marching band performance in celebration of his fame in the 2006 version, but the band does not march.

★ Wilbur's attempt at spinning a web is done without an audience and without frustration.

★ Templeton's time at the fair is done without a song, and was not previewed in a conversation between him and the goose.

Production details

This was Thomas Haden Church's second family film to be released by Paramount Pictures in 2006, the first being ''Over the Hedge'', which was made by DreamWorks Animation. Paramount had distributed the film as a result of its acquisition of DreamWorks, whose animation division became its own company in late 2004.
This was the first film based on a book by E. B. White since 2001's ''The Trumpet of the Swan''.
This was the second film where Julia Roberts voices an arthropod, the first being ''The Ant Bully'' where she voices an ant.
Major shooting was completed in May 2006. It was filmed on location in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria and suburbs in Melbourne, Australia. The fair scene in the story was filmed in Heidelberg in Melbourne, Australia at Heidelberg West Football Club's football ground.
Visual effects are by Rising Sun Pictures, Fuel International, Proof, Rhythm and Hues Studios, Digital Pictures Iloura and Tippett Studio. The visual effects supervisor for the film as a whole was John Berton, who noted that a live action version of ''Charlotte's Web'' has become much more practical in recent years due to advances in technology.^[4]

Music

Danny Elfman left ''Spider-Man 3'' to score this film. Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan performs a song entitled "Ordinary Miracle" for the movie, which was written by Glen Ballard and David A. Stewart of The Eurythmics. The film's soundtrack CD, titled ''Charlotte's Web: Music from the Motion Picture'', was released on December 5, 2006, and featured primarily Elfman's score, plus "Ordinary Miracle". A CD compilation of "Music Inspired by the Motion Picture" was issued on December 12, 2006.

Video game

Main articles: Charlotte's Web (video game)

A video game of the movie, developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by THQ and Sega, was released on December 12, 2006 for the GBA and Nintendo DS. A Wii and Gamecube version is scheduled for release on December 18, 2007.

References

1. Charlotte's Web 2007
2. Charlotte's Web
3. Movie Review: Charlotte's Web
4. Filming in "Radiant" Victoria Australia

External links

★ Official website

★ Official website at Nick.com

★ Official website at Walden Media

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