PETA Marks 30 Years of ‘Babe’ With Video Message From James Cromwell

For Immediate Release:
July 29, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

Los Angeles –

When Babe hit theaters in 1995, it wasn’t just a family-friendly box office hit, it was a wake-up call that inspired countless viewers to rethink their relationship with animals. Now, as the movie celebrates its 30th anniversary, PETA explores Babe’s legacy:

James Cromwell, who went vegan on the second day of filming, became a steadfast advocate for animals and a PETA Honorary Director. He recently reprised his role as Farmer Hoggett in this video where he sings “If I Had Words” to a piglet PETA rescued after he fell off a truck transporting him to be fattened for slaughter. The piglet—who Cromwell lovingly named Babe—now lives in peace at an animal sanctuary, where he will spend the rest of his days sniffing green grass and enjoying dirt baths with other rescued pigs.

Attachment — *Cromwell, decades after* Babe’s release, sings to rescued piglet Babe.
*Credit: PETA*

“Thirty years ago, a pig named Babe trotted into my life—and my heart,” Cromwell says. “He helped me see pigs not as ingredients, but as individuals. They love. They grieve. They dream. Their hearts beat with the same quiet tenderness we feel in a dog’s gaze or a cat’s purr. They are someone, not something.”

And in the last 30 years, humans’ compassion for pigs like Babe has changed drastically.

· Vegan sausage, bacon and other pig-free pork products are now widely available, from baseball stadiums to restaurants, and popular brands like Nathan’s Famous and Oscar Mayer have launched vegan hotdogs.

· Vigorous campaigns by PETA have helped stop branches of the U.S. military, as well as dozens of universities and medical centers worldwide, from using pigs as human stand-ins for invasive medical training procedures.

· PETA also pushed Ford Motor Company to stop funding gruesome crash test experiments on pigs.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.