Charlotte's Web is a 1973 animated film, based
upon the 1952 children's book of the same name by E. B. White. Paramont released a direct-to-video sequel, Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure, in the US on March 18, 2003 (Universal released the film internationally). A live-action film version of E. B. White's original story was released on December 15, 2006.

Directed by Charles A. Nichols and Iwao Takamoto. Written by E.B. White (book) and Earl Hamner Jr. (screenplay).

That humble radiant terrific book is now a humble radiant terrific movie. taglines

The Goose

• [to Templeton] You'll worry alright when winter comes! If Wilbur is killed, and his trough stands empty, then you'll grow so thin we can look right through your stomach and see objects on the other side!

Templeton

• The goose was right! This fair is rat's paradise! Bye, bye my "humble" Wilbur! Fair thee will, Charlotte, you old schemer! This will be a night to remember!

Wilbur

• [after Charlotte is gone] Charlotte? Charlotte?! CHARLOTTE!! [bows down and begins to cry]

• I miss Fern!

Dialogue

Wilbur: (singing) Isn't it GREEEEAATT!/That I articulate?/Isn't it grand?/That you can understand?/I don't grunt/I don't oink/I don't even squeak or squawk/When I wanna say a-somethin', I open up and talk! I can talk! I can talk, talk, talk, I can...

Old Sheep: Why don't you keep it down?

Wilbur: I CAN TALK!

---

Wilbur: [to a lamb] Wanna play?

Lamb: [to older sheep] May I, papa?

Old Sheep: Certainly not. In the first place, you can't get out of your pen. In the second place, sheep do not play with pigs.

Wilbur: Why not?

Old Sheep: Oh, it's a matter of status. Sheep, for instance, are highly regarded by Zuckerman, because we furnish him with good quality wool. With pigs, on the other hand, it's just a matter of time.

Wilbur: Time to what?

Old Sheep: 'Til you're fat enough to kill.

Wilbur: What did you say?!

Old Sheep: Oh, everybody knows it. In the fall, you'll be turned into smoked bacon and ham. Just as soon as cold weather sets in... they'll kill you.

---

(Wilbur asks the Goose if she would like to play with him)

Goose: I'm no flibberty-ibberty-gibbit! I'm staying here and hatching my gosings!

---

Charlotte: Salutations.

Wilbur: Salu-what?

Charlotte: Salutations.

Wilbur: What are they? And where are you?

Charlotte: Salutations are greetings. It's my fancy way of saying hello.

---

Avery Arable: Can I have a pig too, Pop?

John Arable: I only distribute pigs to early risers, Fern was up at daylight trying to rid the world of injustice. [Avery's frog escapes his jacket and jumps all over the breakfast table] Seems to me you've already got more wildlife than you can take care of, Avery.

---

(Wilbur is eyeing Charlotte's egg sack)

Charlotte: I'm versatile.

Wilbur: Does "versatile" mean "full of eggs"?

Charlotte: No it means I can change with ease from one thing to another.

---

[Templeton returns from his night of gluttony]

Templeton: [Hiccups] I'm back!

[Charlotte and Wilbur glare at him]

[Templeton hauls himself up and into the pen, revealing his overstuffed stomach]

Templeton: What a night! Never have I seen such leavings! Everything so well ripened, seasoned with the passage of time and the heat of the day... Oh it was rich, my friends, RICH!

Charlotte: You aught to be ashamed of yourself. It would serve you right if you had an acute attack of indigestion.

Templeton: [pats his gurgling stomach] My stomach can handle anything.

Wilbur: Templeton, if you weren't so dopey, you'd notice that Charlotte has made an egg sac.

[Templeton looks up at the sac and squints. He hiccups again and pats his belly sleepily.]

Templeton: Hurray for Charlotte.

Wilbur: She's going to become a mother! For your information, there are five hundred and fourteen eggs in that peachy little sac!

Templeton: This has been a night...

[Templeton rolls over onto his full belly and drags himself across the pen to the crate, his stomach bubbling and gurgling the whole way. He hiccups once more and disappears.]

---

[Charlotte is looking for a new message to write in her web]

Lamb: How about "Pig Supreme"?

Charlotte: No good. It sounds like a rich dessert.

Goose: How about terrific, terrific, terrific?

Charlotte: Cut that down to one terrific and it will do nicely. I think terrific might impress Zuckerman.

Wilbur: But Charlotte, I'm not terrific.

Charlotte: You're terrific as far as I am concerned. Does anybody know how to spell it?

Goose: I think it's T, double-E double-R, double-R, double-I, double-F, double-I, double-CCC.

Charlotte: What kind of an acrobat do you think I am? It would take me all night to write that.

Old Sheep: I would advise you not to consult geese in matters of spelling. The word is spelled T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C.

The Goose: [crossly] I STILL think it's prettier spelled: T, double-E, double-R, double-R, double-I--

Charlotte: Please! Let me spell it my way.

---

[The family arrives at the farm to take Wilbur to the fair]

Homer Zuckerman: There he is!

Mr. Arable: That's some pig.

Lurvy: He's terrific.

Avery: He's radiant.

Mrs. Zuckerman: Well, he's clean anyway. That buttermilk certainly helped.

---

[After the goose's eggs have hatched]

Wilbur: Congratulations! How many are there?

Goose: There are seven.

Charlotte: Seven is a lucky number.

Goose: [proudly] Luck has nothing to do with it! It was good management and hard work.

Templeton: [looking at a solitary unhatched egg] Why didn't, uh, this one hatch?

The Goose: [gloomily] It's a dud, I guess.

Templeton: What are you going to do with it?

The Goose: [sternly] You can have it! Roll it away and add it to that nasty collection of yours! But be careful - a rotten egg can be a regular stink bomb!

Templeton: [patting the egg] I know what I'm doing. I handle stuff like this all the time. [rolls the egg away]

---

Wilbur: I haven't got you a gift for worth, Charlotte. But you saved me, and I would gladly give my life for you.

Charlotte: I'm sure you would.

Wilbur: Oh, won't it be wonderful to be back to the barn with the sheep and the geese, Charlotte?

Charlotte: I will not be going back to the barn.

Wilbur: Not going back? What are you talking about?

Charlotte: I'm done for, Wilbur. In a while, I'll be dead. I haven't strength enough to climb down to the crate.

Wilbur: Oh no! [sobbing]

Charlotte: Oh, come, come, now Wilbur. Let's not make another scene. Everybody loves a happy face. Chin up, remember?

Wilbur: But I can't stand it! I won't leave alone you here to die! I shall stay too!

Charlotte: Oh, don't be ridiculous, Wilbur. Zuckerman's on his way here right now. You'll be going home in a few minutes.

Wilbur: (recognizing the egg sac) Charlotte, where's Templeton?

---

Charlotte: I want to see the lay of the land.

Wilbur: What does it look like from up there, Charlotte?

Charlotte: There's a pig in the next pen, and he's enormous. I think I'll drop down and have a closer look. [to the pig] May I have your name, please?

Pig: No name, just call me "Uncle".

Charlotte: Are you a spring pig?

Uncle: Sure, what did you think I was, a spring chicken? [chuckles] That's a good one, huh, sister?[chuckles]

Charlotte: I've heard funnier ones. Glad to have met you. I must be going.

---

Wilbur: Is it true what the old sheep says?! Is that awful thing true?!

Goose: It's a dirty-irty trick, but it's true.

Wilbur: I don't want to die! I want to stay here in my warm munre pile! And breathe the beautiful air, and lie in the beautiful sun...

Old Sheep: You're certinally making a beautiful noise.

Wilbur: I DON'T WANNA DIE! I DON'T WANNA DIE![sobbing]

Charlotte: Quiet Wilbur! Now, chin up!

Wilbur: Who said that?

Charlotte: Do you want a friend?

Wilbur: Yes, I want a friend. But I want to live too.

Charlotte: Well, chin up. I'll be your friend and I'll try to save your life. I've been watching you and I like you.

Wilbur: I can't see you. What do you mean "chin up"?

Charlotte: Now go to sleep. You'll see me in the morning, and I'll explain everything then.

Narrator: Wilbur's stomach was empty, and his mind was full. And when your stomach is empty and your mind is full, it's always hard to sleep. But sleep and Wilbur finally found each other.

---

Wilbur: Templeton, pay attention!

Templeton: What kind of monkeyshine is this?

Wilbur: Listen to me! Charlotte has only a short time to live. She can't go home with us. It's absolutely necessary that I take her egg sac with me. You're the only that can reach it.

Templeton: [yawns] So, it's old Templeton to the rescue again, is it?

Wilbur: Templeton, hurry up!

---

Avery: Why isn't that gossling with his mother?

[Jeffrey runs to Wilbur]

Fern: Because he likes Wilbur.

Avery: Shrimping little thing.

[Jeffrey oinks at Avery]

Avery: Sounds more like a pig than a gossling.

[Jeffrey oinks]

Avery: Wow! Look at that big spider! I'm going to catch it for my collection!

Fern: Avery, you leave that spider alone!

Avery: That's a fine spider, and I'm going to catch it--

[Jeffrey and Wilbur run up at Avery]

Avery: [after being lifted up by Wilbur] What's the matter with you Wilbur?

Fern: He doesn't like you in there, now get out!

[Wilbur throws Avery, destroying the rotten egg]

Fern: What have you done Avery?!

Avery: Oh, Good night! What a stink!

[both run away]

---

Lurvy: That's some pig!

Homer Zuckerman: He's teriffic.

Lurvy: Yeah, he's a wonderful pig. You'll get some extra good ham and bacon when it comes time to kill that pig.

[Wilbur gasps and faints]

Jeffrey: Charlotte! Look at Wilbur!

[The goose runs away and honks in horror]

Charlotte: Templeton, please! Can you revive Wilbur, please?

[Templeton comes up to Wilbur and bites his tail]

Wilbur: Charlotte, they're going to kill me! I don't want to die!

Lyrics

• There must be something more to us than you and me
  It must be tangled up somehow with destiny
  I used to think the sum of one and one was two
  But we add up to more, me and you
  • "There Must be Something More"

• Isn't it great
  That I articulate?
  Isn't it grand
  That you can understand?
  • "I Can Talk"

• Oh, we've got lots in common where it really counts
  Where it really counts we've got large amounts
  What we look like doesn't count an ounce
  We've got lots in common where it really counts
  • "We've Got Lots in Common" (Wilbur)

• You're born to swim, and me to spin, but we both love this world we're in
  We share the sun, the earth, the sky, and that's the reason why
  • "We've Got Lots in Common" (Charlotte)

• Fragile and magical shadows
  Silently start to appear
  Lovely and lyrical
  Silvery miracle
  Charlotte's web
  • "Charlotte's Web"

• Sometimes when somebody loves you
  Miracles somehow appear
  And there in the warp and the woof is the proof of it
  Charlotte's web
  • "Charlotte's Web"

• How very special are we
  For just a moment to be
  Part of life's eternal rhyme
  How very special are we
  To have on our family tree
  Mother Earth and Father Time
  • "Mother Earth and Father Time"

• He's some pig
  Some pig
  Some terrific, radiant, humble pig
  He is some pig
  • "Zuckerman's Famous Pig"

Cast

Henry Gibson	Wilbur
Debbie Reynolds	Charlotte A. Cavatica
Paul Lynde	Templeton
Agnes Moorehead	The Goose
Pamelyn Ferdin	Fern Arable
Bob Holt	Homor Zuckerman
Joan Gerber	Edith Zuckerman/Mrs. Fussy
John Stephenson	John Arable
Don Messick	Jeffrey
Rex Allen	Narrator
Martha Scott	Mrs. Arable
Herb Vigran	Lurvy
Dave Madden	Ram