Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure

G 4.3
2003 1 hr 19 min Adventure , Animation , Drama , Family

Wilbur the pig knows how important friendship is - he learned that from a spider named Charlotte. So when Wilbur meets Cardigan, a lonely lamb, Wilbur immediately makes him his friend.

  • Cast:
    Julia Duffy , Charlie Adler , Amanda Bynes , Maria Bamford , Debi Derryberry , Laraine Newman , Anndi McAfee

Reviews

Lovesusti
2003/03/18

The Worst Film Ever

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Greenes
2003/03/19

Please don't spend money on this.

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Kien Navarro
2003/03/20

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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Kirandeep Yoder
2003/03/21

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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whisperstar
2003/03/22

I watched this movie a lot as a kid, so I don't think I have it in me to hate it, especially since it's clearly not trying to live up to the original film. But I re-watched it for the first time in years recently, and I have to say, I've never in my life laughed so hard just from watching a film.The story is very simple. Wilbur has gone back to his normal life on the farm alongside Charlotte's three daughters, and he ends up befriending a newborn black sheep after everyone else on the farm mocks him for being different. After the sheep, named Cardigan, is sold to another farmer, Wilbur sets out to visit him and make sure he's doing alright, but ends up being mistaken for a wild pig after a fox makes off with some of the other farm's livestock. Bound by a promise he made to stay with Cardigan until his wool is shorn (yes, that's really why he can't just leave and go back home), Wilbur has to find a way to prove his innocence before the gaggle of angry farmers hunts him down.The relationship between Wilbur and Cardigan is one of the weirdest parts of the film - for starters, Wilbur spends the first twenty minutes teaching Cardigan to act like a pig, and none of the human characters ever take issue with this, even as Cardigan takes part in things like eating Wilbur's pig slop. I get that it's supposed to be heartwarming or something, but why not just have Cardigan act like a normal sheep while still being friends with Wilbur? There are also a lot of times where they cuddle together or nuzzle each other's noses...Rewatching it, I briefly found myself wondering if Cardigan was supposed to be a female. (As far as I know, he's not.)But despite the decrease in quality, the film wasn't all bad. I think the best parts of it were when it focused on Charlotte's daughters. The three of them get a subplot about trying to live up to their mother's legacy, complete with a song number as they try to spell out Wilbur's innocence in their web. Even as an adult, I found them to be pretty endearing as characters and I was sort of invested in their arc, and I wish more of the film's running time had been devoted to them. (Though this investment did make their subplot's payoff a little disappointing for me - without giving too much away, the girls do eventually manage to convey the truth about the situation to the human characters, but a few minutes later, it's revealed that a key piece of evidence was sitting just a few inches away during the entire scene, so the truth probably would've come out whether the spiders had been there or not.)Some minor notes, before I end it off...This film had a lot of songs sprinkled throughout - almost all of them were pretty pointless, but I give them credit that at least the tunes were a little catchy. The voice acting was alright, and there was a surprising amount of intentional humor, despite how inept the film was as a whole. Apart from the three spiders, one other character I was sort of fond of was this sassy cow with a milk problem that Wilbur meets at one point. She didn't need to be in the film at all, but for a side character, she was surprisingly likable and contributed to a good deal of the comedy.All in all, I could summarize this film as what a lot of people see the Disney direct-to-DVD sequels as being like - it's inept and unnecessary, but not without at least a little bit of heart...At the very least, it'll give you some laughs if you choose to sit down for a watch.

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TheLittleSongbird
2003/03/23

Charlotte's Web while not a perfect animated movie was a charming and sweet one with likable characters and lovely animation. Now I'll give some credit, I do not consider this sequel the worst animated sequel ever, that's The Secret of NIMH 2, but along with the FernGully and Jungle Book sequels it is one of the most disappointing ones, and it was somewhat unnecessary too. Apart from some pretty backgrounds, a good voice cast and the fact I liked the three girl spiders(Charlotte was much more endearing though), what made Charlotte's Web so charming is sorely lacking here.Why do I say that? Well the music really isn't great. The music wasn't the biggest strength admittedly in Charlotte's Web, but at least it was memorable and mostly fitted with the story. The music here doesn't, and came across as very forgettable. That's not all, apart from the three spiders, the characters are not the same. Wilber is underused and no longer brave or adorable in fact he is a wimp here, Fern is not as warm or as loving, Templeton is now annoying with asides that make you groan rather than laugh and the fox villain is weak in pretty much everything. The most irritating character though was Cardigan. I did find Cardigan adorable once upon a time, but not anymore, quite the opposite actually, with an annoying voice and some ugly character animation.While the backgrounds are really pretty and colourful, the character designs I feel aren't so great, especially on the farmyard animals and the fox. The biggest failures however are in the script and the story. The story is really charmless and predictable, and feels way too rushed. The ending especially was really out of the blue and had a that's it? feel to it. The script was in general terrible, what was meant to be funny came across as cringeworthy and what was meant to be poignant or heart warming came across as sappy and cloying. I've already spoken about Templeton, the less said about him and his asides and sarcasm the better, but that's not the whole story. Nothing anybody said made me care about what was going on pretty much, and anything that tried to be quirky made me want to hit the wall with my head. Finally, the film is too short and rushed, consequently I felt next to nothing for anything that made Charlotte's Web work so well, no characters to care about, no asides or jokes to laugh or smile at, no music to hum along to and after and no story that feels special.Overall, a big disappointment. If you want charm, fun or likability, skip this and watch Charlotte's Web. 3/10 Bethany Cox

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disdressed12
2003/03/24

most kids will probably enjoy this movie,but maybe not as much as the original movie.it' has a pretty negative atmosphere throughout.it is more colourful and action oriented then the first one,as well.the pace is faster and the movie is louder,in general.the first movie is useful for helping children in their spelling and vocabulary.this one really isn't any help in that area.there is a little bit of a lesson on friendship and working together as a team,but not as much as the first one.however,this movie does not deal with any intense issues,such as death,like the first one did.again,there is nothing offensive here,and the movie is appropriate for any age group.overall,though i think this movie is inferior in most respects to the original movie.i'd give Charlotte's Web 2:Wilbur's Great Adventure a 4/10

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burt-25
2003/03/25

Sadly I have to watch this movie about 6 times a day, everyday. I think I know the script inside out now. The good points about this sequel is the 3 songs, they are quite good but it is best to listen to them without watching the movie as the acting? and out of sync suck. The voices are good, my favourites are Bessie and Nellie. The backgrounds are amazing, excellent artwork.The bad points are that this movie sucks. It doesnt follow on from the original. It looks hurried and not planned. The script sucks, the jokes poor, and it has the most ugliest lamb I have ever seen as a character in a cartoon. The voice of the lamb makes you feel like smashing up your TV and then burn your house down - its damn grating and annoying.At first I hated the film, now I just loathe it. I still enjoy listening to Bessie and Nellie as the voices are great, shame they are reading a crap script.I agree with the other person that posted here, its not worth watching. The story sucks, the Wilbur character has been turned into a wimp you want to kick up the ass, the lamb is ugly and provokes anger, the jokes are from a christmas cracker, the script is from a TV commercial.

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