Themes: Political Corruption, Rise To Power, Talking Animals
Main Cast: Pete Postlethwaite, Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Ormond
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
Plot
George Orwell's political fable about corruption and betrayal in post-revolutionary Russia gets a new look in this version that employs a cast of real animals alongside digitally manipulated critters and lifelike beasts crafted by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. At the Manor Farm, the alcoholic master Mr. Jones (Pete Postlethwaite) is cruel to his animals and has horribly mismanaged the property. One night, the wise but elderly pig Old Major (voice of Peter Ustinov) gathers the animals and speaks of a remarkable dream, in which the animals throw off their tyrannical human masters and learn to reap the fruits of their own labors. After Old Major's death, two other pigs, Snowball (voice of Kelsey Grammer) and Napoleon (voice of Patrick Stewart) lead a revolution that drives Jones from his land and leaves the animals in charge of their own destiny. After their revolt, Snowball and Napoleon rule side by side, but Napoleon soon becomes drunk with power and squeezes Snowball out of authority, eventually turning the other animals against him. With Boxer (voice of Paul Scofield), a simple-minded but loyal and physically powerful horse, as a role model, Napoleon leads the animals on a campaign of self-denial and hard work that will bring them security and freedom; however, it soon becomes obvious that Napoleon is growing fat while the other animals are starving, and he is quickly becoming the sort of creature he once waged war against. Animal Farm received its American premiere on the TNT cable TV network in October 1999; it opened as a theatrical release in several other countries shortly afterward. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
In this 1999 adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm, special effects coax farm animals to speak out against tyranny and reenact the 1917 Russian Revolution. Studio wizardry turns real and almost-real pigs, ducks, chickens, and sheep into lip-synching actors portraying political heroes, villains, and the easily led hoi polloi. However, the dramatis personae lack the sassy vibrancy of cartoon characters. Moreover, close-ups of Old Major, the Lenin figure personified by the voice of Peter Ustinov, and Napoleon, the Stalin figure personified by the voice of Patrick Stewart, reveal these two pigs as little more than slobbering machines. When the jaws of either pig move, the viewer wonders how much gadgetry Jim Henson's Creature Shop used to create the illusion. In the end, what the film gives the audience is artificial realism that deadens the characters and reduces them to high-tech puppets. Consequently, the characters cannot generate the kind of hyperbole and whimsy that animate cartoon characters and make fantasy fun. During the 90-minute running time of the film, director John Stephenson and producer Robert Halmi Sr. generally adhere to the plot of Orwell's 1947 novel satirizing the excesses of communism. But they do take liberties on occasion, most notably when they show the collapse of the Animal Farm wall to symbolize the fall of the Berlin Wall. The solemn, humorless atmosphere pervading the production tends to make viewers yearn for a Daffy Duck or a Pluto to enliven it. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Pete Postlethwaite - Benjamin; Paul Scofield - Boxer; Patrick Stewart - Napoleon; Peter Ustinov - Old Major; Alan Stanford - Mr. Pilkington; Caroline Grey - Mrs. Jones; Gail Fitzpatrick - Mrs. Pilkington; Joe Taylor - Mr. Frederick; Jimmy Keogh - Dennis; Noel O'Donovan - Eric
Credit
Morgan O'Sullivan - Co-producer, Lionel Steketee - First Assistant Director, John Stephenson - Director, Colin Green - Editor, Robert Halmi, Sr. - Executive Producer, Richard Harvey - Composer (Music Score), Richard Harvey - Musical Direction/Supervision, Brian Ackland-Snow - Production Designer, Mike Brewster - Cinematographer, Greg Smith - Producer, Paul Lowen - Producer, Cinesite - Special Effects, Jim Henson's Creature Shop - Special Effects, James Corcoran - Sound/Sound Designer, Vernon Gresty - Supervisor/Manager, Sue Rowe - Special Effects Supervisor, Jonathan Privett - Special Effects Supervisor, Martyn Burke - Screenwriter, Alan Janes - Screenwriter, Angus Bickerton - Visual Effects Supervisor, George Orwell - Short Story Author
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2009)
The plot basically follows that of the novel, but there are many slight differences:
One of the biggest differences from the novel is the heightened role of Jessie, the dog, who serves as the film's primary narrator.
The film is shown as a flashback taking place within Jessie's memory.
The film portrays the end of Napoleon's rule, mentioning the collapse of a wall (analogous to the fall of communism and the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989), the return of dissident animals who had hidden themselves, and the ultimate replacement of the farm's owners by a young family purchasing the land. Jessie states the animals will be frequently watching their new masters to prevent animal cruelty that happened under Napoleon and Jones.
Snowball is a different color in the film than the book.
The animals never address each other as "comrade" as they do in the book, although they do talk of "comradeship".
Clover the horse is absent in the movie, being replaced by Jessie.
Mollie, one of the main characters in the book, is only seen at brief moments in the film and speaks only when Jessie tells her about the meeting and when she is uncertain about being deprived of the ribbons she now wears in her hair.
In the novel, Old Major dies of old age three days after giving his speech, but in the film he is accidentally shot by Jones minutes after finishing his speech.
Instead of being buried in the orchard, Old Major's body is carved up by one of Mr. Jones' workmen and made into meat. When the animals explore the farmhouse, Old Major's head is discovered wrapped in plastic in a cupboard.
All the animal executions are changed to trials and hangings.
The songs have been replaced; "Beasts of England" is changed to "Beasts of the World".
In the novel, during the battle of the Cowshed, a sheep was shot when charging. In the film, a goose was shot.
The animals in the movie were computer animated so that their mouths would match up with the voices (Although the pigs are only computer animated when Snowball is painting the new sign for the farm and the Seven Commandments, with the pigs otherwise being animatronic models with movable mouths and heads).
Old Major's skull being mounted on display is only briefly mentioned twice in the novel, but is seen throughout the film after the pig's death.
The ending where Jessie escapes with many of the animals and returns to a post-Napoleon Animal Farm was not in the novel, but serves as a reference to post-Soviet Russia. In the novel, she, like many of the other animals, dies of old age and overwork.
The novel's infamous twist ending is portrayed, but earlier in the film and without the pigs dressed as humans and on two legs (which does appear, only in the "Napoleon: Mighty Leader" propaganda film portraying Napoleon dressed in a suit and standing upright). Additionally, the pigs begin wearing hats and monocles much earlier in the film.
In the novel, the windmill is damaged in construction and Napoleon blames this on Snowball. Later, there is a second battle where the windmill is destroyed with dynamite. In the film, the windmill is never damaged in construction. Mr. and Mrs. Jones sneak into the camp in their truck and blow up the windmill, accidentally destroying their vehicle in the process. When Napoleon discovers the destroyed windmill and the wrecked truck, he declares Snowball stole the vehicle and destroyed the windmill.
Mr. Frederick's role is reduced and he even expresses sympathy for the animals.
In the film, the humans sneak a microphone into the barn in an attempt to understand how the animals are running the farm. Using this, they later learn that the animals can speak English and Mr. Pilkington decides to start trading with them. In the novel, it was Mr. Whymper who began trading with Napoleon, and this as only to serve as a go-between for other trading purposes after being approached by Napoleon himself.
The card game at the end of the novel never takes place.
A new character is introduced in the film. He is an unnamed, fat rat who served as comic relief, but was killed by Napoleon. He is not present in the novel, though the novel states that there are rats on the farm.
Benjamin is presumably younger than he is in the book, as well as happier. He is seen as friends to the rat, but not as much to Boxer as in the book.
Boxer and many of the other animals could not read in the novel, in the movie they can.
Instead of Squealer telling the animals directly about Napoleon's plans, he addresses them through an old video player.
