Based on the novel The Sheep-Pig by British writer Dick King-Smith, Babe follows the adventures of a plucky piglet who is separated from his mother, brought to Farmer Hoggett's farm, and adopted by Fly, a kindly sheep-dog. His desire to emulate her and her mate, Rex, leads to farmer Hoggett training him as a 'sheep-pig' and entering him in the local sheep-dog trails, despite the derision of the other farmers.