Jamie, the Little Pig (also known as Janis the Little Pig in the film and Babe in the Italian version) is an "animated movie" made by the infamous Dingo Pictures, and was released in 1996. It is noticeable for being the only one to not be made into a game by the infamous Phoenix Games.
Plot
In a farm, a young female pig name Jamie/Janis goes on an adventure.
Why This Film Should Be Turned Into Pork-chops
- This film is a shameful rip-off of Babe, right down to having the main protagonist being a pig. It even rips-off some scenes from Charotte's Web.
- Very poor introduction, in which the first minute is nothing but animal noises and music, Jamie/Janis does not even get properly introduced until 3 minutes into the film.
- Bad voice actors.
- Misleading Title:
- The front of the cover/box-art makes it look like the film has decent animation, while in the actuate film, the animation is the typical Dingo-Style Animation.
- Also, the front of the cover/box-art shows two adult pigs, while in the movie, there's only one adult pig (Jamie/Janis' mother Margot) that appears in the film.
- It also implies that the two adult pigs are also gonna be the main characters, yet Margot barely appears in the film.
- It has terrible animation, looking more like something out of the 1950s and with each of the characters moving in very stilled-like moments, this is also unexcused as this came out in 1996, and previous animated films look way better then this.
- Heck, even some of the old Hanna-Barbera shows such as Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Pixie & Dixie that were MADE in the 1950s look better than this.
- Really confusing on what name the Protagonist is, the front of the cover/box-art says that her name is Jamie, but in the actuate film and even the title during the movie, her name is Janis.
- Poor soundtrack that plays only two music tracks.
- Unlikable characters, with Jamie/Janis being an annoying brat with little-to-no personality and having an annoying voice (not help by the fact that Jamie/Janis is voiced by the same actor who voiced Tio from another film made by Dingo Pictures "Dinosaur Adventure").
- Odd choices for voice actors, one infamous example goes to Matilda, who despite being a cow, has a male voice (and ironically, is voiced by the same actor who also voiced Colonel Pimpers from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", another infamous Dingo Pictures Film that they made), even tho cows are supposed to be females.
- Laugh-able dialog for some of the characters.
- Plot-Holes:
- How can Jamie/Janis talk even tho she was just born?
- Why does no one tell Jamie/Janis about the outcomes when a pig gets fat on the farm? Is she the ONLY one that the farm animals care about?
- Why do both the duck and old pig/warthog have clothes, and why does the duck have human hair?
- How does Alex know that the canned dog food has 40% pork?
- The film establishes that when young baby pigs get fat, they are sent to the Slaughter House, so why is Margot not sent to a Slaughter House even tho she's clearly fat? Does the Farmer have something agents Baby Pigs?
- Why does the Farmer harshly pick up and toss Jamie/Janis back to the farm when all she was doing is jumping with the Goat, yet does not do so when Jamie/Janis runs off into the forest?
- Why does non of the animals attempt to rescue Jamie/Janis as she's being sent to the Slaughter House by a human?
- How is it that the old pig/warthog is the only one that stands and walks like a human?
- How can the pigs in the Slaughter House not see any of the Corps?
- Bad lip-syncing, with some of the characters talking without even moving their mouths.
- Despite Janis/Jamie, the Little Pig being classified as a "kids" film, there are many moments in which it can get dark and even graphical, with characters swearing and/or saying a Mild Word on occasions, cannibalism (with Jamie/Janis accidentally eating Alex's Dog Food which was made from pigs) and, to most infamously, the Slaughterer House showing Corps of a random fat Pig ON-SCREEN.
- Noticeable audio error for the dialog of some of the characters, some of which cut in their lines while others just move their mouths with no dialog at all.
- Though out the film there's this old pig (later on gets turned into a warthog for no reason), who, aside from taking Jamie near the end of the film and becoming a father figure, serves no purposes other than be a filler character.
- Lame attempts of humor.
- The film has no focus at all, as it constantly keeps switching plots around to get to the 30-minute mark. At first, the film seems to be about Jamie/Janis liven happily in the farm and adjusting to the rules of the farm, given the film a somewhat Slice-Of-Life Vibe, but later on Jamie/Janis gets taken by an unnamed villain to be used for a Slaughter House, and then it's about her trying to escape this place, which by the way, happens 20 minutes into the film during the climax for no sudden reason whatsoever. This makes the film suffer from numerous plot holes (as described in the #11 segment) and inconsistencies scattered throughout the experience and also doesn't help the fact that it feels more like the writers gave up when making the script, which might explain how confusing the plot for this film is.
- As a matter of fact, the "climax" in which Jamie/Janis gets sent to the Slaughter House only lasts for three minutes, and even more baffling after Jamie/Janis "escapes" from the Slaughter House, it never brought up again for the rest of the film, so it's entirely possible to cut this scene from the film entirely, and the plot would be the same.
- Very poor pacing.
- LOADS of animation errors, one of which is when one of the characters as part of their bodies cut out of the images.
- The ending in which Jamie/Janis has decided to live with the old pig/warthog makes it sound like it's gonna be a very happy ending, tho in truth, it's actually kind of creepy if you think about it given the fact that it is an old guy looking after a little girl, additionally, after escaping from the Slaughter House and prior to her joining the old pig/warthog, Jamie/Janis NEVER TELLS her mother and/or her siblings about the Slaughter House and what ACTUALLY happens when the pig gets fat, and it also doesn't help by the fact that the villain is not defeated, meaning that it's very likely that Jamie/Janis' family is gonna get sent and killed in the Slaughter House by the villain. YOU KNOW...FOR KIDS!!!
- To add even more creepy vibes, the very end of the film shows Jamie/Janis taking a mud bath as the old pig/warthog watches, which in the animal world, pigs are taking a bath, so basically...an old man is watching a little girl get a bath.
Redeeming Qualities
- Some likable characters like Margot and the old pig/warthog.
- There are a few entertaining moments, such as Jamie/Janis yelling "You-you-you cannibal!" to Alex when finding out that the dog food that Alex eats is made of pork.
- The movie can be considered one of the best Dingo Pictures movies, although it’s still horrible.
Reception
Janis/Jamie, the Little Pig has been critically panned by fans and critics alike, with most criticisms going to its animation, unlikable characters, confusing story and the film for being considered too dark and graphical despite it being a kids' film.