Animal Farm is a beast fable, in the form of a satirical allegorical novella, 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 as bad as it was before.
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 pig, whereas in the 1999 film, he is a Tamworth pig who wears a monocle.
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.
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.
The Sheep-Pig, or Babe, the Gallant Pig in the US, is a children's novel by Dick King-Smith, first published by Gollancz in 1983 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. It was adapted as the 1995 film Babe, which was a great international success. 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.
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.
Animal Farm is a 1954 adult 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 novel of the same name by George Orwell, Maurice Denham provides the voice for all the animals in the film.
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 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. There are issues regarding whether intensive animal farming is sustainable in the social long-run given its costs in resources. Analysts also raise issues about its ethics.
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.
Golden Book Video was a line of children/family animated and live-action videos marketed by Western Publishing, beginning in the holiday season of 1985. They featured characters and stories from Western's print publications, such as Little Golden Books, and were originally released on VHS video cassette for under $10.
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 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.
