The sequel to the 1995 sleeper hit Babe, Babe: Pig in the City may have been deemed occasionally too intense for the child audience, but that didn't prevent it from being as inventive and enchanting as the first film. Directed by Babe producer (and Mad Max auteur) George Miller, Babe: Pig in the City surpasses the original's visual riches when the guileless sheep pig, Ferdinand the duck, and the chorus of Edith Piaf-singing mice become stranded in a stupendous megalopolis that is an amalgam of several major international cities. The slew of animals Babe meets, including antagonistic dogs and cats, a dignified chimp, working circus monkeys, and a canine enforcer who sounds like a famous mafia don, may all sport an urban edge, but Babe's boundless generosity of spirit still prevails -- though he does acquire a punk collar. The animatronic beasts and lip-synched animal dialogue are as seamless and literately witty as in the first film, while the numerous urban perils -- particularly the city pound -- provide another lesson on animal rights and self-worth within elaborate, outrageously choreographed adventures. Opening against stiff competition from the animated A Bug's Life (1998), Babe: Pig in the City failed to match its predecessor's success.