Charlotte's Web: What Makes a Classic

In this bonus feature from the Charlotte's Web DVD, we get various opinions about why E B. White's book has been so popular. I quote or paraphrase from some of the contributors:

"White had second home in Maine, a barnyard full of animals. He always knew he was nurturing them for a fate they would not enjoy: being butchered.....so he felt like a little bit of a traitor. He thought about the magical pig and how he could save him, through the book.

"White's popular book addresses basic values: loneliness, life and death and the choice to value life, that there's a life worth saving. It also has this very small creature (a spider) making a difference. It appeals to kids, thinking they can do something in a bigger, grownup world, too, like the spider ("Charlotte"). Selflessness, friendships, loyalty to the end (Wilbur to Charlottes' babies at the end) are more are great themes, it is said here, in this classic children's tale."

Finally, Lucien Agosta, author of "E.B. White: The Children's Books," comments, "It's too bad White didn't live in an era where they could have the technology to make a movie like this with real animals, something he always wanted to see happen."