“Runt” is a sweet and ever so slight Aussie farm country comedy in the “Babe” tradition.

There’s a drought. A family might lose their farm and sheep to it or the greedy old neighbor with the onomatopoeia name “Robert Barren.”

Then along comes a stray mutt of a terrier who happens to be a natural at agility trials. If only this adorable “Runt” can win the Big Prize…

Saying the formulaic script writes itself is a disservice to screenwriter Craig Silvey or the AI template he decorated with details like the Mum (Celeste Barber) who’s an awful cook, amateur botanist Dad (Jai Courtney) and the plucky, freckled little daughter (Lily LaTorre) he keeps taking out of school early because her inherited gift for tinkering means she’s the only one of the lot who can fix anything on this farm way out in the interior, a place playfully called Upson Downs.

Can daughter Annie “fix” the drought? How about their money problems? She’ll need Runt’s help for that.

There’s “breeding doesn’t matter” and “Sometimes it’s OK to tell a lie if you have good intentions” messaging. Nobody wants to be the one to tell Mum her humble pies are godawful, after all.

There are villains aplenty in this edge of the Outback town, starting with the dog catcher who never quite nabs the mutt Runt as he steals from the butcher’s shop. Oz film legend Jack Thompson is the robber baron “Earl Robert Barren.” Matt Day is the bedazzled “Best in Show” refugee Fergus Fink who has made winning the world agility trial title his dream.

The always formidable Deborah Mailman (“The Sapphires”) turns up as a former queen of agility trials whom Annie visits for advice.

The movie’s littered with cute running gags. Annie’s brother Max (played by Lily LaTorre’s brother Jack LaTorre) is a ten year old would-be daredevil. Mum is always cooking more pies. And there are all these names sound like what they are — Fergus Fink, Robert Barren, the sheep raising Shearer family, a town aptly named Upson Downs.

Director John Sheedy ensures that there’s just enough suspense between scenes with the cute bundle of personality who is the film’s title character to keep the young audience “Runt” is aiming for interested. And then one and all find their way to a finale that is almost shockingly touching and affecting.

“Slight” implies there’s not a lot to this “Runt.” But what there is should delight small children and give their parents a giggle or two, and maybe even a tear.

Rating: TV-PG

Cast: Lily LaTorre, Jai Courtney, Celeste Barber, Jack LaTorre, Matt Day, Jack Thompson and Deborah Mailman.

Credits: Directed by John Sheedy, scripted by Craig Silvey. A Samuel Goldwyn release on Amazon.

Running time: 1:33