One spring, on a farm in Somerset County, Maine, Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning) finds her father about to kill the runt of a litter of newborn pigs. She successfully begs him to spare its life. He gives it to her, who names him Wilbur and raises him as her pet. To her regret, when he grows into an adult pig, she is forced to take him to the Zuckerman farm, where he is to be prepared as dinner in due time. Charlotte A. Cavatica (Julia Roberts), a spider, lives in the space above Wilbur's