I just thought of who else could play The Scarecrow: James Cromwell. He's an imposing actor (he's 6'7" IRL) and he can play an intimidating villain if the movie calls for it.
Watch this scene in
L.A. Confidential to see what I mean (watch
Babe and this movie back-to-back (1)--you won't believe you're seeing the same actor):
(1) Believe me, I was
stunned when I first saw this scene (in the book, you know Dudley's evil, but the movie hides it until this moment, and it was a wise decision, IMO, one of the many the writers adapting the screenplay made). (2) (3)
(2) In hindsight, James Cromwell comes off as the good guy here, knowing what we know now about Kevin Spacey...
(3) While
Titanic won Best Picture (and deserved to), I can see why many wanted
L.A. Confidential to win. BTW, James Ellroy, the writer of the book, loved the movie adaptation...