Review of Animal Farm (1954) by Doug B — 28 Jun 2008

A landmark in British animation. On release, the main criticism of the film was the 'disneyfication' of Orwell's satirical novella. I have to say that at times this criticism is correct, however the disney style 'gags' are there to relieve the tension of what is a heavy story.

However for the most part the style is daringly simplistic and much darker than Disney's 'pre-watershed' style with vivid and sometimes graphic deaths on screen. The aspect of this film I like most is that it can be appreciated on so many different levels, whether it be iconography, satire or humor.

The controversial ending may have been chosen for the wrong reasons (allegedly the film was funded by the CIA that insisted the communist government must fail at the end) but it did foreshadow the eventual fall of communism whereas when Orwell was writing there was no end of it in sight.

So all things considered, this ending is more appropriate for the film. All in all, very good stuff.