Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure

Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure
DVD cover
Directed by	Mario Piluso
Produced by	James Wang
Screenplay by	Elana Lesser Cliff Ruby
Based on	Characters created by E. B. White
Starring	Julia Duffy David Berón Charlie Adler Amanda Bynes
Music by	Michael Tavera
Edited by	Christopher Hink
Production company	Paramount Pictures Universal Cartoon Studios Nickelodeon
Distributed by	Paramount Home Entertainment (North America) Universal Studios Home Entertainment (International)
Release dates	March 18, 2003 (2003-03-18)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure is a 2003 American animated direct-to-video adventure film, and the sequel to the 1973 film Charlotte's Web. It was produced by Paramount Pictures (as the logo is seen on worldwide releases), Universal Cartoon Studios (as the logo is seen on international releases), and Nickelodeon; and distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment in North America and Universal Studios Home Entertainment overseas.

The film centers around Wilbur, who lives on Homer Zuckerman's farm and is taking care of Nellie, Aranea, and Joy, Charlotte's three daughters. He also must save his new friend, a friendly black lamb named Cardigan, from being eaten by an evil fox named Farley. The film was released on March 18, 2003 to generally unfavorable reviews, with critics panning its animation and plot.

Plot

The film opens in springtime, about a year after Charlotte has died. Her three daughters, Nellie, Aranea, and Joy, are now in the stages of adolescence, with Wilbur serving as a companion and mentor.

During this time, Wilbur befriends Cardigan, a newborn lamb that is looked down upon by his siblings and the younger sheep of his flock because he has black wool. Wilbur takes him under his wing and shows him the farm, the ways of animal life, and dangers to look out for. However, after only a few weeks, Homer Zuckerman suddenly sells him to another farmer, so Wilbur, along with Nellie, Aranea, Joy, and Templeton the Rat, set out to visit him and make sure he is safe.

On the journey to visit Cardigan, however, Wilbur is hungry so he gets some grapes which make him look purple. Some bark from the trees comes and lands on his head. This makes him look like a wild pig. A near hit by a truck then reveals that two other guys have now seen him. This makes it hard for him to visit Cardigan.

Meanwhile, an evil fox named Farley comes and steals a hen from the barn, and Wilbur is blamed. Farley comes back, steals Cardigan, and plans to eat him. Wilbur now must save him, and does so by trapping Farley in a "pig web". Nellie, Aranea, and Joy spin the word "fox" in a spider web, and Fern arrives just in time to save Wilbur. Farley, while not shown, is probably disposed of. Aranea and Joy decide to stay with Cardigan, and the film ends as Wilbur has to babysit Templeton's children. He had promised to do so earlier when Templeton had to get Whim out of some brambles bushes, which also makes him look like a wild pig.

Cast

• Julia Duffy as Charlotte A. Cavatica, Wilbur's best friend who died at the end of the first film. She appears briefly through flashback.
• David Berón as Wilbur, a pig who lives on Homer's farm and is taking care of Charlotte's three daughters, Nellie, Aranea, and Joy. He still suffers from anxiety as in the first film. He befriends Cardigan, a lonely lamb. When Cardigan is sold to another farmer, Wilbur sets out to make sure he is still safe.
• Charlie Adler as Templeton, a care-free, egotistical rat who lives at Homer's farm. He has four bratty children of his own: Henrietta, Lester, Ralphie, and Junior. He accompanies Wilbur, Nellie, Aranea, and Joy on the journey to visit Cardigan on the condition that Wilbur babysit his bratty children. Adler also voices Lurvy, Homer's assissant.
• Amanda Bynes as Nellie, one of Charlotte's three daughters. She serves as their leader.
• Anndi McAfee as Joy, the cynical, sarcastic member of the trio.
• Maria Bamford as Aranea, the kinder, gentler member of the trio. She always gets upset because she can't spin a proper web. Bamford also voiced Button, Mrs. Hirsch's spoiled pet dog.
• Harrison Chad as Cardigan, a lonely lamb who Wilbur befriends. When Homer decides to sell him to another farmer, Wilbur becomes determined to see him again. Later Wilbur has to save him from being eaten by Farley.
• Rob Paulsen as Farley, an evil, pompous fox responsible for the loss of many chickens and eggs from various farms.
• Debi Derryberry as Fern Arable, the spirited young girl who saved Wilbur in the first film. She enters the tomato-growing contest at the fair. Her tomato, named Sal, wins the competition.
• Laraine Newman as Gwen, the goose who Wilbur befriended in the first film. She has a noticeably smaller role this time around.
• Dawnn Lewis as Bessie, a cow owned by Mr. Hirsch. She gets annoyed easily, but also learns to like Wilbur because he was the only one to find her milk taste good.
• Danny Mann as Mr. Hirsch, the farmer who buys Cardigan.
• Brenda Vaccaro as Mrs. Hirsch, Mr. Hirsch's wife who mistakes Wilbur for a wild pig.
• Jerry Houser as Homer Zuckerman, the current owner of Wilbur and former owner of Cardigan.
• Valery Pappas as High Strung Chicken
• Nika Futterman as Templeton's four bratty children: Henrietta, Lester, Ralphie, and Junior.
• Bridget Sienna as Flo, a snobby cow who mocks Bessie for producing sour milk.
• Bobby Block as Snotty Lamb
• Ashley Edner as Bully Lamb
• Pat Fraley as Donkey
• Frank Welker as Animals' vocal effects

Reception

Upon release, the film received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. Robert Pardi of TV Guide reviewed it saying that "This 20-years-later follow-up fails to capture the zest of the original cartoon, transforming E.B. White's beloved characters into cute sidekicks worthy of Barney. The animation is only workmanlike, and the character conceptions are as pallid as the "original" tunes".^[1] Brian Webster of Apollo Guide gave the film 59/100, stating "This is the sort of bland adventure that kids will have seen a hundred times before, with not-so-tense near-misses and not-so-exciting chases along the way."^[2] Mike Long of DVD Talk opined that "The lame story isn't helped by the mediocre at best animation. The art has no real style and could have come from any Saturday morning cartoon. The colors are good, but they only draw attention to the overall lack of detail here. For some reason, Wilbur has been given a ring of fur around his neck that keeps him from looking like the pig from the original film. Also, Fern looks nothing like the original. Typically, if an animated film is dull, viewers can hope for good animation to keep them entertained, but that's not the case here."^[3]

Richard Rowell of lifesuccessfully.com wrote a mixed review and concluded that "Overall, this film would have never done very well had it not be packaged with the DVD release of the original film. It was a direct-to-DVD film and it shows. While it makes for a cute spectacle for fans of the original story, it has all sorts of plot-holes that kill it for me. It's clear that there was some effort put into character development, and I did enjoy seeing Aranea, Joy, and Nellie come to life. They were the best part of the film for me. But overall, the film was so corny and cliched that it just can't hold a candle to the original. For what it is, though, it's OK. But unless you're a huge fan of the original story, it's not really worth watching."^[4] Jules Faber of dvd.net similarly called it "A disappointing excursion that merges old school with new school and succeeds in distancing itself from both. There are plenty of characters to amuse the children, but as far as grown ups are concerned, this is less than plausible. Bunches of pretty colours and some beautiful backgrounds were the highlight here for me and are also sure to capture the kids’ eye for the entire 80 minutes. I’ve seen better animation in better packages, but I’ve also seen much, much worse for around the same money."^[5] Mirella Roche-Parker of michaeldvd.com rated it with 1.5/5 stars with the final comment "Who can know the minds of children when it comes to children's movies? If your particular batch of little'uns enjoyed the original, they may very well enjoy this. For my taste, it simply made me miss the original more."^[6] The DVD made a cumulative gross of $5.26 million in rental revenue and $10.23 million in its total first quarter.^[7]

Soundtrack

• "It's Not So Hard to be a Pig" – Written and produced by Randy Rogel and Grant Geissman and performed by David Berón and Harrison Chad
• "Watch Out, Wilbur the Pig" – Written and produced by Randy Rogel and Grant Geissman and performed by Kevin Dorsey and Elizabeth Lamers
• "It's Good to be Me" – Written and produced by Randy Rogel and Grant Geissman and performed by Rob Paulsen
• "Charlotte's Kids" – Written and produced by Bodie Chandler and performed by Anndi McAfee, Maria Bamford, and Mimi Manners

References

External links

• Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure at AllMovie
• Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure at The Big Cartoon DataBase
• Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure at Rotten Tomatoes