Animal Farm

Ashley Xu

05/28/14

Block: G

Ms. Golub

Animal Farm Movie Review

            After being mistreated by the owner, the animals lead a revolt to take power over their own land. In the movie Animal Farm, directed by John Stephenson, a satire of communism throughout the Soviet Union and communist leaders Stalin and Trotsky are translated into a different scenario a standard farm. Because most of the characters are animals, voice actors came into play. With Kelsey Grammer voicing as Snowball and Patrick Stewart as Napoleon, this film was released in 1999. After reading the novel by George Orwell, my English class watched the movie to compare and contrast and bring the words to life.

            While they are under the head farmer’s, Mr. Jones, rule, the animals are under-feed and over-worked. When Mr. Jones unintentionally murders an older pig, Old Major, the animals come together as one force to drive away Mr. Jones, taking over the farm and renaming it “Animal Farm”. The pig Snowball is voted into power, but Napoleon seizes control unrightfully. At first, the animals are pleased to have gotten rid of the humans, but Napoleon proves to be a more unfair ruler than Mr. Jones. Seeing Snowball as a threat of his power, Napoleon constantly throws Snowball under the boat. Eventually, Napoleon evolves into a very human-like character, such as drinking alcohol and wearing clothes. Eventually the reign of Napoleon dies when he does by the death of his own greed.

            The idea for communism starts with Karl Marx, similar to Old Major’s original thoughts of reform for the farm. Napoleon has the same name as Bonaparte, but his counter-part is the notorious Joseph Stalin. Snowball represents Leon Trotsky. Just like Snowball and Napoleon, Stalin comes to power and bans Trotsky. Napoleon has an “animal guard”, consisting of large dogs that murder Snowball. Trotsky’s death is by the hands of Stalin’s men. The book and movie has endless parallels with the Russian Revolution and totalitarian rule.

            The movie was filmed in Ireland and accurately represents the details in George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm. The faux animals were made in London at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, while the real dogs were casted from Fircroft Kennels. Because Animal Farm is only a representation of communist rule, the setting does not correlate with historical references; however, the parallels made connect well with history.

            Reading the book as a freshman was complete torture, and the movie was not much better. The fake puppet animals were by far the creepiest thing that could be imagined, especially when Old Major died. The actors did their role, nothing spectacular, but the overall experience itself was a little bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, there is a great amount of credit that must be given to Orwell for his great work. If the film had been created more recently, it might be less creepy, but talking animals seems odd no matter what. Even though I would not watch this again, I would recommend it because it helps us remember and understand the history of communism.