Animal Farm Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Animal Farm
Year: 1954
Director(s):  Joy & John Halas-Batchelor 
Country: UK
Language: English 

At the time Animal Farm was produced, Walt Disney dominated full length animation. The husband-and-wife team of Halas-Batchelor were determined to get away from Disney's cutesy style of cuddly animals and colorful characters, in attempt to make a serious adult animated feature based on George Orwell's political novel. The British duo eagerly accepted a commission from the American Pioneer Louis De Rochement, which made their dream possible. 

In Animal Farm a successful farmyard revolution led by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong as the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.

The first-ever feature-length British animated film, Animal Farm sticks closely to Orwell's original novel; a satire of the betrayal of ideals of the Russian Revolution. The resident animals originally intend to set up a democracy, in which "all animals are created equal". However the pigs,  the most intelligent animals, gradually create a totalitarian state under the Napoleon Pig in which "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." To their horror the mass of animals have swapped one fuhrer, for another. Considering the novel/film was based on true events, the reality of what appears onscreen can be shocking.

Animal Farm faithfully preserves the same emotions felt while reading the novel. The compassion, anger and sorrow is only enhanced when introduced to Matyas Seiber's overwhelming score which blends traditional elements with modernism. The ending is changed to be more optimistic, which neither improves nor damages the original story. I  suppose some audiences couldn't take the bleak despair contained within the original novel.

In conclusion, while I encourage viewers to go read the novel first, the film is a wonderful supplement that definitely improves the source material. Animal Farm is brutal compared to the PG Disney and Dreamworks pictures, but it certainly has more substance and, I would argue, is of better technical quality. Praise it! 4.5/5