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Charlottes web poster

Charlotte's Web, produced by Hanna-Barbera and released to theaters by Paramount Pictures, is a 1973 animated musical adaptation of the classic novel by E.B. White. By embedding messages in her web, Charlotte the spider repeatedly saves Wilbur the pig from slaughter.

  • Henry Gibson as Wilbur, a pig who was almost killed due to being a runt. Over time, however, he grows so much that one would never have known he was once a runt. When he learns of his fate of being slaughtered, Wilbur instantly breaks down into tears, until Charlotte tells him that she will do whatever it takes to save him. Wilbur is a friendly pig, but also prone to anxiety.
  • Debbie Reynolds as Charlotte A. Cavatica, a spider who lives on a web in a corner of Homer's barn above Wilbur's pig pen. She is very loving and motherly, but sometimes grows frustrated at Wilbur's anxiety issues. At the end of the film, she dies after laying 514 eggs, but three of them decide to stay with Wilbur.
  • Paul Lynde as Templeton, a care-free, egotistical rat who lives at Homer's farm. He helps Charlotte get new ideas for her webs on the condition that he is promised food. At the end of the film, as well as the sequel, he has four bratty children of his own: Henrietta, Lester, Ralphie, and Junior.
  • Agnes Moorehead as the Goose, an unnamed goose who is the one that encourages Wilbur to speak for the first time. Her seven goslings later hatch, although there were actually eight eggs (one was rotten). In the sequel, she was named Gwen.
  • Don Messick as Jeffrey, a young, undersized gosling whom Wilbur befriends shortly after his birth. He initially lives, eats, and sleeps with Wilbur rather than his mother and siblings. At one point, Avery remarks that he sounds more like a pig than a gosling, which pleases Jeffrey. When Wilbur is loaded into a crate destined for the fair, Jeffrey casually walks in to join him, amusing the humans but they still remove and restrain him nevertheless. International VHS releases show a deleted scene in which Jeffrey is briefly seen riding with Avery in the back of the Arables' truck, until it stops so Avery can put him down in the middle of the road. Distressed at being separated from Wilbur, Jeffrey tries to catch up with the truck to no avail, leaving him heartbroken. His mother gently directs him to the pond to join his siblings. Despite his previous insistence that they be friends forever, Jeffrey does not reunite with Wilbur when the latter returns from the fair nor does he appear in the rest of the film.
  • Herb Vigran as Lurvy, Homer's farmhand who is the first to notice the messages in Charlotte's webs.
  • Pamelyn Ferdin as Fern Arable, John's daughter who convinces him to spare Wilbur's life.
  • Martha Scott as Mrs. Arable, Fern's mother who first tells her of what was going to happen to Wilbur.
  • Bob Holt as Homer Zuckerman, Mrs. Arable's brother and Fern's uncle.
  • John Stephenson as John Arable, Fern's father. He was about to "do away" with Wilbur until she intervened.
  • Danny Bonaduce as Avery Arable, Fern's older brother.
  • William B. White as Henry Fussy, a boy of about Fern's age, whom she soon starts spending time with while Wilbur is at the fair.
  • Dave Madden as the Ram, one of the first animals Wilbur meets at Homer's farm. He is the first to tell Wilbur that it is a pig's fate to be slaughtered and turned into smoked bacon and ham. Madden also voiced other characters in the film.
  • Joan Gerber as Mrs. Zuckerman, Homer's wife. She comes up with the idea of giving Wilbur a buttermilk bath. Gerber also voiced Mrs. Fussy, Henry's stern mother who never lets him have fun.
  • Rex Allen as the Narrator
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