SithVamp Reviews: Animal Farm (1954)

Welcome to another episode of SithVamp Reviews. In the early 20th Century, there lived an author named George Orwell. He wrote books such as Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, which are both about dystopia. Animal Farm was the story that made Orwell famous, and the animated adaptation of this little dystopian tale is the movie I’ll be looking at today. Based on George Orwell’s novel of the same name, this is Animal Farm, the Animated Movie…

The Animal Farm animated movie came out in 1954. The movie opens at Manor Farm, where the farmer, Mr. Jones is locking up the animals for the night and cursing at them. Mr. Jones is an alcoholic bastard and a terrible farmer, who abuses his animals, and that’s why they hate him. This is when we meet Old Major, an old Prize Boar, who’s respected by every Animal in the farm. Unfortunately, Old Major is dying, so he calls an emergency meeting to speak his last words to the Animals. And since he’s loved and respected by everyone, all the Animals go to see Old Major. These animals include Boxer the Biggest and Strongest Cart Horse and his best friend, Benjamin the Donkey, and the Pigs, including Snowball, Squealer and Napoleon.

Old Major knows that his time will soon come, that is why he called a meeting. He tells the Animals that only a few of them will make it to old age and the way they live is a nightmare: everything they produce is taken away from them by Mr. Jones (e.g. the chickens’ eggs or the cows’ milk), and even Boxer is asked whether he knows or not what will happen to him if that great strength of his reaches its end... Old Major even warns the Pigs that they’ll end up in the slaughterhouse.

Old Major tells the animals that the way they live isn’t right and encourages them to rebel against Mr. Jones. The Animals listen to Old Major and cheer for his words. The Old Pig however warns his Animal Comrades that once they chase Jones way they should not start acting like him, because Old Major believes that All Animals are Created Equal. Then all the Animals start singing an Animal Anthem (in Animal sounds of course, because the Pigs are the only ones who can talk in this movie). Unfortunately, during the song, Old Major dies right in front of all the other Animals. The Animals start mourning their dead leader, but not for long, because Mr. Jones hears the noises and silences the Animals by shooting his gun in the air. The Animals retreat to their sties and we see (symbolically of course) that Old Major’s soul is taken away by Moses the Raven (who represents the Grim Reaper).

The next morning the Animals find that there is no food for them, because Mr. Jones is a lazy bastard. One of the Pigs, Snowball orders the Big-Bodied animals, including Boxer, Muriel the Goat and the Cows to crash the door of the food storage room open. The Animals do this and they all start eating. However, the noise wakes up Mr. Jones and he storms in the food storage room and tries to intimidate the Animals with a whip. The Animals, however, all gang up on Mr. Jones and scare him away.

But that’s not the end of Jones: he runs to his favorite bar and returns to the Farm with reinforcements. Then the real battle breaks out: Humans vs Animals! Snowball bravely fights, but Napoleon doesn’t do anything. It’s a long and violent battle, and it even claims victims, including the Farm Dog, but in the end, the Animals win.

Then the Animals begin to get rid of everything around the farm that reminds of Mr. Jones. They take all the farm tools, pile them up and make a bonfire out of them at night. They sing around the bonfire. The Animals then enter Mr. Jones’ house and look around. They are horrified of all of Mr. Jones’ belongings, because they see dead animals among them. The Animals then agree that they’ll never set foot in Jones’ house ever again, but Napoleon thinks otherwise… he seems to enjoy the House and he takes the deceased Farm Dog’s puppies under his wing…

The Animals rename the farm Animal Farm and Snowball writes Commandments on the Barn Wall:
1. No Animal Shall Sleep in a Bed
2. No Animal Shall Drink Alcohol
3. Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad (The Chickens think this is discrimination against them, but Squealer assures them that wings count as legs. Oh, and this Commandment is the one that the Sheep repeat all the time)
4. No Animal Shall Kill Another Animal
5. All Animals are Equal!
The Animals like the sound of the Commandments and decide to obey them.

Taking care of the Farm by themselves is hard for the Animals, but, since they’re the smartest, the Pigs have an idea for everything. Then we see the Animals working on the Farm under the instructions of Snowball. Napoleon and his sidekick Squealer are working too, but not as actively as the others…

Animal Farm turns out to be successful: the Animals work without any help and their crops are always rich. Snowball even plans that they’ll make Animals living on other Farms join Animal Farm too. He sends the Pigeons to spread the word to other Animals. Some don’t believe it, some are happy with the way they live, but some are ready to join.

Snowball wants the best for the Animals of Animal Farm: he teaches them how to read, write and count, but some Animals are too dumb to learn. Snowball even has plans to build a Windmill to provide power for the Farm, but little does he know that Napoleon is watching him…

Then comes the fateful night, when Snowball is giving a speech to the Animals about his plans for the Future of the Farm, like electricity in the stables and 3-day weeks, but Napoleon dismisses all these ideas. Napoleon then calls his Guard Dogs, who may or may not include Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher among them, I don’t know, in this cartoon, the Dogs all look alike and the Narrator doesn’t address any of them by name. So anyway, the Dogs come, Snowball runs out of the Farm and the Dogs chase him into the Forest and kill him off-screen…

Now that Snowball has been taken care of, Napoleon declares himself to be the new leader of Animal Farm. He also states that Snowball was a traitor and planned to bring back Mr. Jones. And, since most of them are dumb as a post, the Animals believe Napoleon’s words and accept him as their new leader.

Napoleon, however, does like the idea of the Windmill, and the Animals to start building it. The strongest workers among them are Boxer and Benjamin. The Animals work from dawn until dusk, however, they get very little to eat, while the Pigs have the most food. As seasons go by, the Animals almost finish the Windmill.

But one night, Boxer and Benjamin see that the Pigs are all going to Mr. Jones’ house to sleep there. The next morning the Animals discover that one of the Commandments has been altered: No Animal Shall Sleep in a Bed with Sheets. Napoleon then notices that the pantry is getting empty, but he has connections: a man named Mr. Whymper comes to the Farm and brings him food. Napoleon pays Whymper with eggs, and Squealer tells the Chickens to make more eggs in order to pay for Napoleon’s food.

The Chickens are outraged, because they remember what Old Major said: no one shall take their eggs away from them. So what do they do? They sneak into the food storage room and tip over the milk and the feed. But the noise wakes up Napoleon, so he and the Pigs go to investigate and discover chicken tracks in the feed. And when they try to take their Eggs, the Chickens fly up to the crossbeams and drop eggs on the Pigs. The Pigs run back to the house, covered in eggs, and Napoleon calls the Dogs, who run to the barn, capture the Chickens and kill the Cat.

The captured Chickens are found guilty by Napoleon, who calls them accomplices of Mr. Jones and Snowball and tells the Animals that if anyone else is guilty, they must confess. A Sheep and a duck step forward, so Napoleon sends them to be executed. The Condemned are killed by the Dogs off-screen, while Moses the Raven is watching, and we see another Commandment being rewritten: No Animal Shall Kill Another Animal… Without Cause! Not convinced that Napoleon is a tyrant yet? Don’t worry, it gets WORSE!

Napoleon still has his connection with Mr. Whymper, so trade between Animal Farm and the outside world continues: Eggs and Milk for Food. Meanwhile, at Mr. Jones’ favorite bar, the Red Lion Inn, the Farmers are outraged, because they think a Farm operated entirely by Animals is ridiculous, so they form a Mob with Pitchforks, Guns and Axes to reclaim Animal Farm for the Humans and destroy the Windmill. However, they don’t take Mr. Jones with them, because they think “His time is done”. But Mr. Jones secretly does go to the Windmill and takes sticks of dynamite with him…

The Mob goes to Animal Farm and Napoleon rallies the Animals for battle. Then another fight begins: Animals vs Humans! This fight is also long and violent and a lot of Animals die or get wounded, and Boxer is among the wounded animals: he gets shot in the leg. All the while, Mr. Jones goes inside the Windmill and blows it up, and since we last see him drinking after lighting the fuse, he’s most likely killed in the explosion. Oh, and after the fight, we see Squealer drinking a bottle of beer, and with this, the Pigs have broken another rule: No Animal Shall Drink Alcohol…

Napoleon orders the immediate rebuild of the Windmill, so the Animals start working. Boxer and Benjamin work the hardest, despite Boxer still having an injured leg. The Animals work, while the Pigs laze off. We also see that even when the other Animals stop working, Benjamin and Boxer work overtime, but since they don’t get enough to eat, they get weaker and weaker…

The Animals keep working on the Windmill, but Boxer’s wound is getting worse, and he’s getting more exhausted, but he does not give up. Benjamin feels sorry for his friend, and one stormy night a terrible accident happens: as he tries to raise a stone block, Boxer accidentally loses his grip on the rope and the heavy stone block falls on him, crushing him! Benjamin and the other Animals gather around poor Boxer, trying to revive him…

But Boxer is not dead yet. The Animals take him back to the stables, where he can rest. You’d think that after all that torture, Boxer’s gonna be okay, right? WRONG!!! Because the next morning a car arrives at Animal Farm. The Animals think that it’s an ambulance to take Boxer to the Vet, but Benjamin sees that the Car is from the Glue Factory! Benjamin runs to tell the Animals, but when they run back, it’s too late: Boxer has already been loaded onto the car and it drives away with him! Benjamin runs after the car, trying to save his friend, but the car is faster and takes Boxer away… Take a wild guess who decided to get rid of Boxer…

Now that he lost his best friend, Benjamin begins to have enough of Napoleon’s bullsh**. He even suspects that Squealer is not being sincere when he comes out to mourn Boxer…

Years go by and the Windmill finally gets built, and even though Animal Farm is more prosperous, the Animals still suffer for it, while Napoleon and the Pigs live in luxury: they now wear clothes and walk on two legs. Benjamin sees all of this and becomes more suspicious. Then he and the other Animals find out that there really is something wrong: they see that there is only one Commandment now: “All Animals are Equal, but Some Animals are More Equal than Others!” The Pigeons fly again to tell the Animals on the other Farms about this new Rule, who all gather to Animal Farm.

That night, Benjamin takes a peek inside the house and sees that Napoleon and the other Pigs are holding a banquet. Napoleon gives a speech about spreading the ways of Animal Farm to other Farms and making the Animals there live like the ones on Animal Farm: work more and eat less, while the Pigs will live luxuriously. Then Benjamin pictures that Napoleon and the Pigs are turning into Mr. Jones! Seeing how the Pigs have played them all for fools, Benjamin and the other Animals decide not to take Napoleon’s bullsh** anymore, so they go to put an end to his reign of terror.

And by the movie’s end justice kind of prevails: the Animals break through the wall of the house, confronting the Pigs. Napoleon tries to call the Dogs, but they’re too drunk to come to his aid. The Animals get closer and closer to the defenseless Napoleon and kill him off-screen. Napoleon’s picture gets smashed by a brick and then the ending credits start rolling.

And that’s the animated Animal Farm movie! What do I think of it? Well, it may be dark and depressing, but it is very well made.

Good things:
- The animation is great. It looks like a mix between Fleischer Studios and early Disney…
- This is also the first animated movie to be made in the UK

Bad things:
- In the book, almost all of the Animals could talk, but here, only the Pigs can talk, while the Narrator does all the talking for the other Animals. Not even Boxer utters the iconic quote: “I will work harder!”
- Many characters in the book were either omitted from the movie or just reduced to background characters. Think about it: Clover and Mollie are completely cut out, although there is another horse in the crowd next to Boxer, who may or may not be Clover; Muriel the Goat is just standing in the crowd; and even though he’s in the movie and represents Death, Moses doesn’t mention anything about the Sugar-Candy Mountains. Also, I wasn’t even sure whether Bluebell, Jessie and Pincher were in the movie, because again: all the Dogs looked the same!
- Come to think of it, there’s a pretty big lack of women in this movie: sure, the Chickens and the Cows may count as females and the Pigs might have sows among them, but again, Clover’s character is given to Benjamin, while she and Muriel don’t do anything. I think the filmmakers were sexist or something…

Favorite character:
- Boxer (I felt sorry for the poor guy in the book and I felt sorry for him here!)
- Benjamin
- Snowball
- Old Major
- Squealer (Even though he’s Napoleon’s toady)

Least favorite character:
- Napoleon
- The Dogs
- Mr. Jones

So overall, despite it being slightly different from the book, I think the animated Animal Farm movie is very good. I’m giving it 8 out of 10. See you next time on SithVamp Reviews.