The Big Potato is now Pig Potato thanks to Samuel Hall. Photo: Rachel Ware Photography.
Robertson’s “Big Potato” has swapped its starchy roots for a cinematic twist, transforming into the “Pig Potato” to celebrate 30 years since the beloved film Babe was shot on family farms in the area.
Painted by Corrimal artist Samuel Hall, the iconic landmark now features Babe, Ferdinand the duck, and the three singing mice from the Oscar-nominated film — bringing a playful dose of nostalgia and community pride to Robertson.
Samuel, who is renowned for his murals, street art and canvases, spent four days painting the 10-metre structure, turning the famous roadside attraction into what locals have dubbed ‘Pig Potato’.
A lifelong fan of the 1995 film, the 33-year-old who grew up in Kiama approached the project with Robertson Discover More and Robertson Business Chamber with both nostalgia and community spirit.
“I’m old enough to remember Babe. It was one of my favourite movies growing up, funnily enough,” he said.
“Especially with Dad being a bit of a farm-y, it was quite a big movie when it came out and obviously Dad loved it and Mum did as well,” he said of his former sports photographer father who was a second- or third-generation Jamberoo resident.
“I’d honestly watched it so many times and I really loved it as a kid, so it was like one of those things where you go, ‘Yeah, I love Babe’.
“Things like this can get things like Babe back into the limelight. You see it often with weird old songs that get played on a Netflix show.
“But speaking to a lot of the kids around Robertson that would come past after school and asking, ‘Have you seen Babe?’ and so many of them said, ‘No’.
“You’d hope that something like this would spur on a nice little Sunday afternoon family time on the couch to watch Babe together.”
The movie, centred on friendship and the benefits of being a nice person, tells the story of farmer Arthur Hoggett’s pig Babe, who wants to do the work of a sheepdog.
Produced by George Miller (Mad Max), it was filmed in 1994 and released the following year, going on to receive several Academy Award nominations.
But painting the pig was no mean feat for Samuel.
The large potato, which was built in 1977 by farmer Jim Mauger to showcase the main crop of the area, features a challenging spray concrete surface.
Samuel admitted he had a lot of help to get it done, including from business Action Hire which donated a scissor lift, which made the task far more manageable.
“Because it’s curved, it’s hard to reach places,” he said.
“On this job, I decided to freehand the whole thing, because it was too hard to actually use a sketch.
“It’s a pig, so you just have to make sure it looks like a pig, but she has very specific eyes and so I used reference points for that.
“It’s not my most expansive work and it’s not something I’ll think is my greatest work ever, but it’s allowed me to have a bit of fun.
“It was more about being something for the community.”
Some of the characters painted on the pig. Photo: Rachel Ware Photography.
Samuel said during the week he spoke to long-time residents amazed by what he was able to create, witnessed the changing reactions of students as they stepped off the bus each day, and even got to speak to the original potato sculptor – who loved it.
He said some locals didn’t know Babe was filmed in the town, while tourists “rocked up to take a photo with a giant turd and were quite disappointed”, referencing it long being thought to look like a poop.
“I had a group of four people that had lived in Robertson for about 50 years,” he said.
“They looked like little kids. They were jumping around and getting photos together and laughing and smiling.”
At the time, he was filming an interview and talking about the reasoning behind the project.
“I just turned around and said, ‘Look, that’s my ‘why’’, seeing grown adults and older people just reinvigorated by something that just takes a little bit of paint and a little bit of community support, and you can really do great things.”
He said there was an obvious pride for the town.
“I mean, who hasn’t said, ‘That’ll do, pig’ at some stage in their life?” he said, laughing.
“And the ‘La la la’ I was constantly singing in my head, that’s why I put it on at the end.”
This isn’t the first of Samuel’s works to be featured in the Highlands, with one of his most meaningful jobs immortalising firefighters Brian Coates and John Matters on the Hill Top RFS station – two men who built the station and have been volunteers for more than 70 years.
Samuel now hopes the Big Potato can become a dynamic canvas, potentially featuring different themes throughout the year, from Easter eggs to charity designs.
Robertson Business Chamber president Jennifer Macquarie said while it was never the original plan, the attention this week had now opened up that conversation.
Jennifer said they were planning a host of Babe celebrations to attract people to Robertson, including businesses creating displays, the Robertson Men’s Shed turning timber pallets into pink pigs to march down the street, and its not-for-profit community technology centre screening the movie.
“The other thing we’re planning towards the end of the year is to hold Babe’s Country Fair,” she said.
“It’s going to be very much in the theme of the traditional school fetes and the kind of vibe you see in the movie with sheep trials and baby animals.”
She said because of Roberston’s proximity to Jamberoo and Albion Park, there were strong connections with the Illawarra, stemming back to the days of farmers travelling between the communities for country dances.
