A New Take on a Classic
A new film, set for release with an all-star cast, has been met with widespread criticism from critics and fans alike. The animated movie Animal Farm, directed by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis, has been described as “an abomination” due to its controversial approach to George Orwell’s 1945 satirical allegory about the rise of Stalinism.
The film transforms the original story into a comedy-adventure animation, complete with fart jokes. The voice cast includes Seth Rogen, Oscar winner Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo, and Steve Buscemi, among others. However, the trailer for the movie caused a stir last year, with fans calling it “absolutely horrific,” “unfunny 3D animation slop for kids,” and hoping it was a parody because its tone was “so over the top and at odds with the source material.”
Unfortunately, the latest round of reviews suggests that these concerns are valid. The film is set to be released in US theatres on May 1, following its premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival last June.
Critical Reception
Consequence of Sound’s review warned that Animal Farm falls into the category of movies that “drain all life and joy out of a person’s soul.” The review added that while the movie was aimed at children, it was “really for no one with any sense or taste.” The Hollywood Reporter also criticized the adaptation, written by Nicholas Stoller (known for Forgetting Sarah Marshall), for sacrificing the story’s powerful anti-Stalinist message in favor of a dumbed-down critique of corporatisation featuring human villains.
Orwell’s novella features an almost entirely animal cast, with Napoleon (played by Rogen) widely considered the eventual prime antagonist. He rises to power on the farm and leads every creature to ruination. Critic Frank Scheck noted that he couldn’t imagine a moment in the original story where Napoleon would let loose a big wet one and exclaim, “This is the sound of freedom!”
Controversial Changes
The Wrap slammed this version of Animal Farm, the third onscreen adaptation after the 1954 British animation and 1999 live-action movie, for its “all-new characters and a Hollywood-friendly, mega-happy ending.” New characters include Lucky (Matarazzo), a young piglet who acts as the audience surrogate.
Liz Declan of Screen Rant wrote that the filmmakers’ changes have resulted in the “complete bastardisation of the original story and its meaning.” She added, “Some adaptations, it seems, are far less equal than others.”
An earlier one-star review from The Telegraph’s Tim Robey, following the film’s London Film Festival screening in October, described the movie as “a shudder-worthy nightmare” and its visuals as “unremittingly horrid.” He marvelled at how the film made viewers feel “trapped and punished through every phase of the story.”
Production Background
The imminent adaptation is produced by Angel Studios, a faith-based Utah production company known for its “values-based” projects and strong Christian themes. It was also behind the controversial 2023 movie Sound of Freedom, as well as the upcoming chocolate biopic Hershey. The recent trailer for Hershey had viewers describing it as “awful” and feeling like “an AI prompt.”
Currently sitting on a measly 36% score from 14 reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, this version of Animal Farm has so far only attracted a handful of early more positive reactions from Annecy. The film has been in the works since 2011 with Serkis attached, originally as a co-screenwriter, and with Netflix initially purchasing distribution rights in 2018. Numerous delays saw production finally commence in 2022.
Release Details
Animal Farm will be released in US cinemas on Friday, May 1. It is yet to receive a UK release date.
