Directed by Gary Winick
Produced by Jordan Kerner
Screenplay by Susannah Grant
Karey Kirkpatrick
Based on Charlotte's Web
by E. B. White
Starring Dakota Fanning
Julia Roberts
Steve Buscemi
Cedric the Entertainer
John Cleese
Oprah Winfrey
Thomas Haden Church
Andre Benjamin
Reba McEntire
Kathy Bates
Robert Redford
Narrated by Sam Shepard
Music by Danny Elfman
Cinematograp Seamus McGarvey
hy
Edited by Susan Littenberg
Sabrina Plisco
Production Kerner Entertainment
company Company
Walden Media
Nickelodeon Movies
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
December
7, 2006 (Australia)
December
15, 2006 (United
States)
Running time 97 minutes
Language English
Budget $85 million[1]
Box office $144,877,632
Plot
One spring, on a farm in Somerset County, Maine, Fern Arable
(Dakota Fanning) finds her father about to kill the runt of a litter of
newborn pigs. She successfully begs him to spare its life. He gives
it to her, who names him Wilbur and raises him as her pet. To her
regret, when he grows into an adult pig, she is forced to take him
to the Zuckerman farm, where he is to be prepared as dinner in
due time.
Charlotte A. Cavatica (Julia Roberts), a spider, lives in the space
above Wilbur's sty in the Zuckermans' barn; she befriends him 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". She gives
her full name, revealing her as 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. She cannot return home because she is
dying. Wilbur tearfully says goodbye to her 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.
Charlotte's Web is a 2006 American 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 K 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.
Here's a welcome surprise: A children's movie that's thoughtful,
entertaining, and enchanting. This newest big-screen version of
CHARLOTTE'S WEB, based on E.B. White's 1952 Newbery
Award-winning book mixes performances by real-life actors and
animals with animated mouths, slipping gracefully into the world of
the barnyard without ever doubting its magic. Whether you're new
to the story or already adore the book, Gary Winick's movie is a
special treat.
The one questionable lesson offered by Charlotte's Web is that
embodied by Fern. A tomboy through and through, she worries her
mother (to the point that she visits a doctor, trying to understand
why her daughter spends so much time with the farm animals).
When Fern at last abandons her overalls for a pretty yellow dress,
Mom (Essie Davis) feels reassured. But the film needn't offer this
transformation as a sign of Fern's "proper" socialization. Really,
tomboys can be mature too.
Cast
Live-action actors
Dakota Fanning as Fern Arable
Kevin Anderson as John Arable
Beau Bridges as Dr. Dorian
Louis Corbett as Avery Arable
Essie Davis as Mrs. Arable, Fern's mother
Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Edith Zuckerman
Gary Basaraba as Homer Zuckerman
Nate Mooney as Lurvy
Voice actors
• Dominic Scott Kay as Wilbur the Pig
• Julia Roberts as Charlotte A. Cavatica, the Spider
• Steve Buscemi as Templeton the Rat
• John Cleese as Samuel the Sheep
• Oprah Winfrey as Gussie 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, a large Pig
• Sam Shepard as Narrator
Charlotte's Web Summary
One morning at the breakfast table, eight year old
Fern sees her father leave the house with an axe
and asks her mother where he's going. Her mother
delivers the shocking news that Mr Arable is going
out to kill a runt that was born the night before.
Fern chases her father down and persuades him to
spare the runt, telling him that it is unjust to kill a
piglet just because it is small. Moved by his
daughter's plea, Mr Arable decides to give the runt
to her to look after.
Fern names the piglet Wilbur and looks after him
like a baby, pushing him in her pram alongside her
doll and feeding him with a bottle. At five weeks
old Mr Arable insists that Wilbur is sold and he
goes to live in the Zuckerman barn down the road.
Wilbur initially struggles at the barn because he
misses Fern so much but soon he becomes
acquainted with new friends, the best of whom is a
lady grey spider called Charlotte. Wilbur is
fascinated by Charlotte, although to begin with he
is slightly suspicious of the way she catches her
food - he doesn't like the idea that she spins bugs
in her web and sucks their blood. He soon realizes
that Charlotte is everything but cruel and
bloodthirsty and that her method of eating is
entirely necessary for a spider.
