During the Spring time, a little of pigs is born including one runt at the Arable farm. As John (John Stephenson) prepares to "do away" with the runt, his daughter Fern (Pamelyn Ferdin) objects saying he shouldn't be killed for simply being small with John agreeing to let Fern take care of him. Fern names the pig Wilbur (Henry Gibson) and the two form a strong bond as Wilbur continues to grow. Eventually the time comes for Wilbur to be sold despite Fern and Wilbur's objections otherwise with Wilbur now living at the farm of Fern's uncle Homer Zuckerman (Bob Holt). While initially despondent, Wilbur is encouraged to talk by a good hearted mother goose (Agnes Moorehead) and begins seeking a friend among the farm. Eventually Wilbur learns he is fated to be killed during the Winter to become bacon and ham leading to further despair. Wilbur is then approached by a spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica (Debbie Reynolds) who befriends Wilbur and tries to help save Wilbur's life.
Charlotte's Web is a 1973 animated film adaptation of E. B. White's 1952 Children's book of the same name. Attempts have been made been as far back as 1967 when husband and wife team of John and Faith Hubley were interested in the film rights and while White liked them, the project fell apart due to lack of financing. The rights eventually landed at Sagittarius Productions and while the film's creative team saw many come and go until Hanna-Barbera got involved through a two-picture deal with Charlotte's Web one of the film's to be produced. The film was cast with some familiar names including Debbie Reynolds who said she'd be willing to join the project without being paid. While critical reception was positive skewing (albeit with many saying the animation was only passable), the biggest critic of the film was White himself. Despite the film being fairly faithful to the novel, White voiced displeasure with tonal issues in the film such as the Sherman Brothers' musical numbers and the depiction of the State Fair in the final act of the film which White claimed was too fantastical in comparison to his more realistic take. Despite only being a modest performer in its day, Charlotte's Web much like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory found a second wind through TV airings and home video including becoming a top seller in 1994 on VHS. Charlotte's Web doesn't reach the level of other children's classics, but the strength in the writing retains the key themes from the novel.
The movie does a good job of setting up the emotional weight of the film especially in its first act where Fern and Wilbur bond and you care about the two. There's a very tough "slice-of-life" element to the story in spite of its lowkey fantastical nature which makes sense when you consider White mined his experiences from growing up on his family farm in Maine for certain events in the novel. While there is that looming shadow of the threat of Wilbur's death lingering over the story, it never becomes overwrought as levity is provided by Debbie Reynolds' Charlotte and Paul Lynde's Templeton. While Charlotte is a kind and altruistic character, she's also assertive and shows a limited tolerance for Wilbur's neuroses such as a recurring gag of Wilbur fainting. Paul Lynde is also good as Templeton and despite being a late addition to the film replacing Tony Randall, Lynde's iconic delivery fits Templeton's care-free self-interested character perfectly and leads to some amusing moments throughout. In terms of the Sherman Brothers' songs, I only partially agree with White on them. While songs such as "I Can Talk", "Chin Up" and "We've Got Lots in Common" don't provide much aside from tangents in the main story, some such as "There Must Be Something More", "Deep in the Dark", and "Charlotte's Web" do feel more tonally appropriate to this story. And while not strictly necessary I do like Lynde's energized "A Veritable Smorgasbord" coupled with the accompanying animation.
Charlotte's Web is a good film that's inches away from greatness. You can tell that the main issue at play is one of tonal consistency despite the movie being mostly faithful to the original novel's content. While not without issues, the film is nonetheless a solid family film with a good emotional core.
