James Cromwell has played so many memorable film roles over the years that it would be difficult for two people to agree on which is the best. However, based on the actor's ringtone, it would appear that he has a special place in his heart for one particular performance. The actor's phone apparently went off while he was being interviewed recently, and it turns out that his ringtone is actually his own voice, repeating one of his most quoted lines, the famous "That'll do, pig," from the movie Babe.
It's not too surprising that Babe holds a special place in the heart of James Cromwell. Babe is one of those movies that it seems everybody loved. The film made over $250 million at the global box office, in 1995 dollars, and received almost universal acclaim from critics as well. In addition to Babe being popular among movie fans, it also earned Cromwell his only Academy Award nomination to date, certainly making it an important film for him personally. So why wouldn't he make his most famous line from the movie his own ringtone, as The New Yorker discovered?
If it were anybody else we'd wonder about the ego of somebody who made their own voice their ringtone. It does seem a little strange. However, James Cromwell has never come across as somebody who thought too highly of himself. It's quite possible he thinks hearing one of his most famous lines of dialogue every time his phone rings is just funny. We certainly do.
Babe tells the story of a pig, voiced by Christine Cavanaugh, who successfully prevents becoming dinner by proving himself to be a remarkably adept sheep dog. Eventually, Babe's owner, farmer Arthur Hoggett, played by James Cromwell, enters Babe in a sheep herding competition, which the pig successfully wins. The film ends with Cromwell uttering the famous line as a way to praise the pig which he has grown so close to. You can watch the ending in the clip below.
So many of us remember the final line of Babe that there are other things about the film we may have forgotten, like the fact that it was written by George Miller, the same man who created Mad Max. It's just another of Babe's remarkable claims to fame. In the end, it's great to see the legacy of Babe surviving, even if it is in James Cromwell's phone.
