Animal Farm Parent Guide

“Do you want to be food or do you want freedom?” That’s the question Snowball (Laverne Cox) asks her panicked fellow animals as they are forced into the slaughterhouse truck. As the pig paints a picture of a farm without humans, run by and for animals, she persuades her fellow animals to escape from the truck and force the humans off the land. Thus, Animal Farm is born.

The animals are delighted with their newfound freedom and independence. “All animals are equal,” they declare – and agree that they will live in unity, shunning the farmhouse and the corrupting influence of humans. 

Trouble begins with the pigs as Snowball and Napoleon (Seth Rogen) disagree over how to prepare for the future. Snowball is determined to build a waterwheel that will bring electricity to the farm but Napoleon prefers to mock her ideas while encouraging instant gratification. Soon Snowball has fled, the animals have eaten all the stored grain, and the farm is in desperate need of money to buy food for the winter. It looks like the animals will have to trade with humans if they’re going to survive.

Ready to step in is Freida Pilkington (Glenn Close), a ruthless corporate titan who owns almost all the land in the valley. Only Animal Farm stands in the path of her biggest goal. Ms. Pilkington hopes that the vain, power-hungry, and easily corruptible Napoleon will soon be desperate enough to agree to her demands – and she’s going to make him so dependent on consumer goods that he’ll forget about the needs of the farm...

If you’ve read Animal Farm, George Orwell’s classic fable, you’ll recognize that this poorly-animated film takes significant liberties with the plot, adopting character names and a few events to tell a completely different story. Orwell’s fable used barnyard animals to illustrate the failures of the Soviet Union (Russia’s Communist government from 1917 to 1992), writing an unforgettable indictment of authoritarian regimes. Director Andy Serkis turns the table 180 degrees and gives us a script with a capitalist villain and a warning about the dangers of greed, consumerism and over-consumption. Don’t get me wrong: I think those issues are important and worth raising: it’s just not worth vandalizing one of the greatest books of the 20^th century.

The tragic irony of this film is that its relationship to the source novel mirrors what Ms. Pilkington wants to do to Animal Farm in the movie. She wants to strip it of animal life and turn it into another cog in her capitalist empire: with this film, Andy Serkis has sucked the life and meaning out of Orwell’s incisive fable and turned it into another soulless, plastic-looking film, indistinguishable from other mediocre kids’ media. 

The one possible upside of this show is that it is far less dark than the book and can be watched by most children: in fact, negative content consists solely of brief violent scenes and some alcohol consumption (which is negatively portrayed). Kids who watch Disney movies won’t have any trouble with this film. It might even help parents initiate conversations about recognizing manipulative leaders and establishing financial literacy. But I can’t see any reason for adults to sit through this production. For the love of literature, please skip this pointless piece of cinematic mediocrity and read the book instead. 

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.