Loosely based on the folklore of Paul Bunyan, the film is about two children exiled on their grandfather's farm in Minnesota who discover a lair where Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox have resided since their disappearance from the Dead Forest. The story sees Bunyan and Babe teaming with the two kids to stop an evil land developer from destroying a town.
Plot
12 year-old Travis Barclay and his little sister Whitney are sent begrudgingly on a summer trip to visit their grandparents' farm in Delbert County. A greedy land developer, Norm Blandsford, has been buying up the little country town, running the hard working residents off their land. After Travis has a run-in with one of Blandsford's men, he is chased into the forest where he stumbles upon a magic portal to the hidden world where Paul Bunyan lives. Paul has been in self-imposed exile for 100 years, ever since the advent of machines made his role in society obsolete and left him feeling of little value to the new world. Paul, reluctantly, escorts Travis back to the farm. But upon returning, Paul witnesses Blandsford's sinister plan. Suddenly filled by a long-forgotten sense of purpose, Bunyan and Babe, the blue ox, get wrapped up in a brand new adventure and together with the help of their new friends, Travis and Whitney, they save the town. They learn firsthand that you don't have to be big to accomplish big things.
Announced over ten years before its release, the film was planned to be a live-action/CG animation hybrid, with Jim Rygiel set to direct it. In May 2008, it was reported that Tony Bancroft would co-direct the film with Rygiel. Bancroft then worked some time on pre-production and, by 2014, he was attached as the only director, but he later left the project. Sparx Animation Studios, following its previous collaboration with Exodus Film Group on the 2008 animated film, Igor, was hired to provide writing and special effects such as modeling, rigging, animation and texture. The character design would be handled in the United States, due to Exodus' preference of an American look. The animation at Sparx was set to begin in July 2008. As of November 2008, when Sparx closed its animation studio in Paris due to the U.S. financial crisis, the studio was no longer involved in the film. On November 3, 2010, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and Bunyan and Babe would be another of MGM's last pre-Spyglass films to be released soon. In December 2010, MGM emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In May 2014, Cinedigm picked up North American rights to the film.
Reception
rated the film a 3 out of 5 stars, stating "Bunyan and Babe is an animated feature film that finds a modern-day young brother and sister connecting with the American folkloric lumberjack Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox. The two partnerships team up to help save a Minnesota town that is being taken over by an evil land developer. The kids and the ox face assorted perils, but there are no injuries or deaths. A few insults are delivered and expect some mild potty language. It's OK for kids who are comfortable with real vs. pretend violence."
