Product: Animal Farm
Rating: 5.0
Somewhat different from the book, but.......
Okay folks, if you read Orwell's original, you might be disappointed in the differences in this film, but so what? What movie ever faithfully follows a book 100%?With that said, enjoy the film for what it is. It's a really deep and thought-provoking film about how the exploited often becomes the exploiter. In this case, a group of animals overthrow and evil farmer and create a new society called "Animalism" which stresses cooperation among non-humans. The Pigs wind up as the rurlers of this Brave New World and a pig maned Napoleon slowly and subtly beomes their dicator. Even those who are unaware that the story is based on Stalinist Russia will be moved by what happens to Boxer the horse (this scene is pretty faithful to Orwell's original) and be repelled by the corruption of Napoleon the Pig (aka Joseph Stalin).Made by a British company in 1955, this was probably the first adult-oriented cartoon feature. CERTAINLY not for the kiddies, as they may find it overtly grim and depressing. Nor is it a "date flick" or film you would invite your buddies over for beer and pizza (unless you want some intellectual discussion afterwards). It's a real thinking person's film and I would recommend it for high school and college history classes as a means of sparking discussion on how revolutionary movements often become reactionary.. It's amazing in modern times how this story closely mirrors what happens in a lot of so-called third-world countries today.