Animal Farm (1999 film)

Last updated

Animal Farm
Tt0204824.jpeg
Theatrical poster
Based on Animal Farm by George Orwell
Teleplay by Alan Janes
Martyn Burke
Directed by John Stephenson
Starring Kelsey Grammer
Ian Holm
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Patrick Stewart
Julia Ormond
Paul Scofield
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter Ustinov
Theme music composer Richard Harvey
Country of originUnited States
United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersGreg Smith
Robert Halmi
CinematographyMike Brewster
EditorColin Green
Running time91 minutes
Production company Hallmark Entertainment
Budget$23 million
Original release
Network TNT
Release3 October 1999 (1999-10-03)

Animal Farm is a 1999 political comedy-drama television film directed by John Stephenson and written by Alan Janes. Based on the 1945 novel of the same name by George Orwell and serving as an allegory of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, the film features an ensemble cast including Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Stewart, Julia Ormond, Paul Scofield, Charles Dale, Pete Postlethwaite, Alan Stanford and Peter Ustinov. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the film's animatronic animals. In the film, a group of anthropomorphic animals revolt successfully against their human owner, only to slide into a more brutal tyranny among themselves when an evil pig takes control of the farm.

Contents

Plot

In the 1940s, Mr. Jones, the owner of Manor Farm, invites the Pilkingtons to a gathering to talk about his debts. That night, the animals gather in a meeting where Old Major, the Middle White boar, explains that humanity is their enemy and that they can overthrow the human race and take control of Manor Farm for themselves, calling for a life of equality and prosperity. Major teaches them a song called "Beasts of the World", but while the animals are singing, Jones, hearing the noise coming from the barn, goes to investigate, only to accidentally shoot and kill Major.

Jones goes into town for a drink without feeding the animals. Upon returning, Boxer, Manor Farm's shire horse, helps the animals break into the food shed. They accidentally awaken Jones, but the animals quickly rebel against. Jones flees with his wife and men into town.

A young boar named Snowball takes control of Manor Farm, renaming it "Animal Farm" and putting down the Seven Commandments of "Animalism". Meanwhile, a border collie named Jessie gives birth to puppies. Napoleon, a Berkshire boar, calls for a secret meeting in which he has Pincher, a farm dog, swear loyalty to him, and gets hold of Jessie's puppies to train up as he likes. The pigs secretly begin hoarding apples and milk for themselves.

Learning that Jones is now homeless, Pilkington leads an invasion into Animal Farm with some villagers and locals led by Frederick. Snowball has planned for this and the animals launch a counter-attack. The men flee. Pilkington considers working with the animals.

Snowball's plans to build a windmill to better the animals' lives are opposed by Napoleon, who summons Jessie's now-grown puppies to chase Snowball out of the farm. Napoleon decrees the pigs will decide the future, and the animals begin to build the windmill. Pilkington learns that the animals can speak English and that they can trade. Jessie tells the others that she saw the pigs living in the farmhouse and sleeping in the beds; it turns out Napoleon altered the sleeping in beds commandment. Later that night at the Red Lion Inn, Pilkington laughs at how he's been taking advantage of Napoleon's inexperience, selling him cheap farm equipment.

Jones conspires with his wife to sabotage Animal Farm. Napoleon blames it on Snowball, pigs consume more food, blame Snowball for the food shortage and that the hens will have to surrender their eggs to the market. When the hens oppose, Napoleon makes feeding a hen punishable by death. Napoleon's assistant Squealer begins making propaganda films. It is revealed that the alcohol and killing commandments were altered into "no animal shall drink alcohol to excess" and "no animal shall kill another animal without cause".

During the rebuilding of the windmill, Boxer is injured. When the time comes for Boxer to be transported, Jessie and Benjamin, a wise donkey, suddenly realize that the van taking him away is from the glue factory. Napoleon is paid by Pilkington for selling Boxer to the glue factory. That night, Jessie watches as Pilkington and his wife dine with the pigs in the farmhouse. Napoleon reverts the farm's name to Manor Farm. While watching the meeting through the warped window, Jessie sees that Napoleon and Pilkington's faces have become so alike, she cannot tell the difference between them. Muriel the goat and Benjamin notice that the final commandment, "All animals are equal", has been extended to include "but some animals are more equal than others". Now seeing Napoleon and Squealer's evil nature, Jessie, Benjamin, Muriel, and some of the other animals escape, while Napoleon, now wearing human clothes and walking on two legs, enslaves the farm, falsely declaring all animals free.

Years later, the escapees return and investigate the remains of Manor Farm, having long collapsed following the end of Napoleon's reign of terror. They find Napoleon and Squealer are dead, having perished from their own dictation, though a few animals have survived the fall, including Jessie's puppies, who all recognize her as their mother. Later, Jessie finds that a new family has purchased the farm (though it is unknown what happened to Mr. Jones and his wife), and vows to help them avoid the mistakes of Jones and Napoleon.

Cast

The cast is as follows: [1]

Voices

The voice cast is: [1]

Production

Filming began on 25 August 1998 and ended on 6 November.[ citation needed ]

Animals were built to represent the titular characters of Animal Farm at Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London: four pigs (Old Major, Snowball, Napoleon, and Squealer), a shire horse (Boxer), two mares (Mollie and an unnamed black horse that is implied to be Clover), a Border collie (Jessie), a rottweiler (Pincher), a donkey (Benjamin), a raven (Moses), a goat (Muriel), a flock of sheep, cows, a rat, chickens, ducks and pigeons. [2]

Reception

The film won Best Special Effects and was nominated for best film in the 2000s Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Award. [3]

The film's director John Stephenson was nominated for Starboy Award in the 2000s Oulu International Children's and Youth Film Festival. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Animal Farm</i> 1945 novella by George Orwell

Animal Farm is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a state far worse than before.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick King-Smith</span> English writer of childrens books (1922–2011)

Ronald Gordon King-Smith OBE was an English writer of children's books, primarily using the pen name Dick King-Smith. He is best known for The Sheep-Pig (1983). It was adapted as the movie Babe (1995) and translations have been published in fifteen languages. He was awarded an Honorary Master of Education degree by the University of the West of England in 1999 and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.

Snowball is a character in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. He is largely based on Leon Trotsky, who led the opposition against Joseph Stalin (Napoleon). Snowball is depicted as an intellectual white pig whose leadership, dedication, and feats for Animal Farm is unparallel to any others on the farm, however he is rivaled by Napoleon who has hatred for Snowball. In the 1954 film adaptation of Animal Farm, he was voiced by Maurice Denham, and was voiced by Kelsey Grammer in the 1999 television adaptation.

George Orwell's 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm contains various anthems adopted by the eponymous farm, most notably the original anthem "Beasts of England" and its later replacement "Comrade Napoleon".

Boxer is a character from George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. He is shown as the farm's dedicated and loyal laborer. Boxer serves as an allegory for the Russian working-class who helped to oust Tsar Nicholas and establish the Soviet Union, but were eventually betrayed by the government under Joseph Stalin.

Squealer is a fictional character, a pig, in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. He serves as second-in-command to Napoleon and is the farm's minister of propaganda. He is described in the book as an effective and very convincing orator and a fat porker. In the 1954 film, he is a pink Large White pig, whereas in the 1999 film, he is a Tamworth pig who wears a monocle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Major</span> Character in Orwells novel "Animal Farm"

Major is the first major character described by George Orwell in his 1945 novel Animal Farm. An elderly Middle White boar, his "purebred" of pigs is a kind, grandfatherly philosopher of change.

<i>1984</i> (1956 film) 1956 British film by Michael Anderson

1984 is a 1956 British black-and-white science fiction film, based on the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, depicting a totalitarian future of a dystopian society. The film followed a previous Westinghouse Studio One adaptation and a BBC-TV made-for-TV adaptation. 1984 was directed by Michael Anderson and starring Edmond O'Brien as protagonist Winston Smith, and featured Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling, and Michael Redgrave.

Mr. Jones of Manor Farm is a fictional character in George Orwell's 1945 allegorical novel Animal Farm. Jones is an allegory for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Jones is overthrown by the animals of his farm, who represent Bolshevik and liberal revolutionaries.

<i>The Sheep-Pig</i> 1983 childrens novel by Dick King-Smith

The Sheep-Pig, or Babe, the Gallant Pig in the United States, is a 1983 children's novel by British author Dick King-Smith, first published by Gollancz with illustrations by Mary Rayner. Set in rural England, where King-Smith spent twenty years as a farmer, it features a lone pig on a sheep farm. King-Smith won the 1984 Guardian Children's Fiction Award, a once-in-a-lifetime book award judged by a panel of British children's writers.

Animal Liberation Leagues were a network of animal rights organizations active in the UK in the 1980s. Whereas the Animal Liberation Front specialized in clandestine activity, mainly masked, at night, and involving small numbers of people, the Animal Liberation Leagues consisted of coordinated raids, or 'invasions', by a large number of people, mainly carried out during the day. One journalist described the Animal Liberation Leagues as "a sophisticated...development in the move to direct action". Raids were often carried out at the same time as legal demonstrations.

<i>Puppy Bowl</i> Super bowl counterprogramming hosted by Animal Planet

The Puppy Bowl is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies. Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play inside a model stadium, with commentary on their actions. The first Puppy Bowl was shown on February 6, 2005, opposite to Super Bowl XXXIX. The puppies featured in the Puppy Bowl are from shelters. The program is designed to raise awareness about adopting pets from shelters and rescuing abandoned animals.

<i>Animal Farm</i> (1954 film) 1954 animated film

Animal Farm is a 1954 animated drama film directed by documentarians John Halas and Joy Batchelor. It was produced by Halas and Batchelor and funded in part by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who also made changes to the original script. Based on the 1945 novella Animal Farm by George Orwell, the film features narration by Gordon Heath, with the voices of all animals provided by Maurice Denham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pigs in culture</span> Depictions of pigs in culture

Pigs, widespread in societies around the world since neolithic times, have been used for many purposes in art, literature, and other expressions of human culture. In classical times, the Romans considered pork the finest of meats, enjoying sausages, and depicting them in their art. Across Europe, pigs have been celebrated in carnivals since the Middle Ages, becoming specially important in Medieval Germany in cities such as Nuremberg, and in Early Modern Italy in cities such as Bologna.

Benjamin (<i>Animal Farm</i>) Fictional donkey in George Orwells 1945 novel Animal Farm

Benjamin is a donkey in George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. He is also the oldest of all the animals. He is less straightforward than most characters in the novel, and a number of interpretations have been put forward to which social class he represents as regards to the Russian Revolution and the Soviet Union. Benjamin also represents the old people of historical Russia because he remembers the old laws that have been changed.

Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption.

<i>Snowballs Chance</i> Book by John Reed

Snowball's Chance is a parody and unofficial sequel to George Orwell's Animal Farm written by John Reed, in which Snowball the pig returns to the Manor Farm after many years' absence, to install capitalism — which proves to have its own pitfalls.

Big Barn Farm is a British live-action and animated children's comedy television series following the lives of four young animals on a farm which uses a combination of live-action and animation. It was produced by The Foundation and commissioned by Michael Carrington for the BBC children's channel CBeebies. It was narrated by Ben Fairman in the first series and Dave Lamb in the second series.

Napoleon (<i>Animal Farm</i>) Fictional character and the main antagonist in George Orwells Animal Farm

Napoleon is a fictional character and the main antagonist of George Orwell's 1945 novel Animal Farm. While he is at first a common farm pig, he exiles Snowball, another pig, who is his rival for power, and then takes advantage of the animals' uprising against their masters to eventually become the tyrannical "President" of Animal Farm, which he turns into a dictatorship, eventually becoming every bit as openly cruel as its original human owner and being perceived as physically indistinguishable from a human at the very end of the story.

References

  1. 1 2 "Animal Farm (Original)". British Film Institute . Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. Production Facts Archived 13 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine . TNT. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  3. "Fantasporto (2000)". IMDb .
  4. "Oulu International Children's Film Festival (2000)". IMDb .