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Company:
Hallmark
Publisher : Hallmark Director : John Stephenson (II) Actor : Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julia Ormond, Pete Postlethwaite, Manufacturer : Hallmark
Description
After the technical achievement of Babe, it was inevitable that "talking animal" effects would be applied to the serious themes of George Orwell's Animal Farm. A bitterly satirical indictment of Stalinist Russia and the failure of Communism, Orwell's 1945 novel is a time-honored classic, so it's only fitting that this TNT production remains largely faithful to Orwell's potent narrative. A showcase for the impressive creations of Jim Henson's Creature Shop (where director John Stephenson was a veteran supervisor), the film employs animatronic critters and computer animation to tell the story of uprising, unity, and tragic rebellion among the animals of a British farm. The politics of "Animalism" are initially effective, ousting enemy humans according to rules ordained by Old Major, the barnyard pig whose death sets the stage for the corruptive influence of the pig Napoleon, who cites superior intelligence as his right to superiority. This tyrannical reign destroys the farm's stability, and the film--decidedly not for young children--preserves Orwell's dark, cynical view of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Particularly effective is a propaganda film shown to the barnyard collective, and certain scenes--while not as impressive as the Babe films--powerfully convey the force of Orwell's story through animal "performance." Animal Farm occasionally falters in its emotional impact (the fate of the horse Boxer should be heart-rending, and it isn't), but it's certainly blessed with an elite voice cast, including Peter Ustinov, Patrick Stewart, Pete Postlethwaite, Julia Ormond, Kelsey Grammer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Paul Scofield, and Ian Holm. Not the masterpiece it might've been, this is nevertheless a worthy representation of Orwell's novel. (Ages 8 and older) --Jeff Shannon
Customer reviews for 'Animal Farm (1999)'
«Good adaptation»
This is a well-done adaptation of the book. It isn't perfect, but kids like it much better than the 1950s cartoon version. For teachers looking for a good version to accompany the book, I recommend it. I have used both and sometimes use both as a good jumping off place for discussion.
[Saturday, August 02, 2008]
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«Orwell Updated»
I watched this when it first came out, and I felt they actually did a decent job with it, not sure why I see negative reviews here.
As with any book turned into a movie, there will always be some material left out of the script for various reasons. I felt, however, that all the essentials of the allegory were held onto. The revolution, the coup by a power-hungry despot, the declining conditions and loss of freedoms, the use of propaganda, the animals looking at their leaders and the humans and not seeing any difference anymore, all pretty faithfully portrayed.
There are some updates, of course. Most namely, the happy ending, which seems to have gained so much objection here. When the book first came out, Stalin was still in charge and showed no signs of going away anytime soon. When the film aired, the old Soviet Union had fallen due to it's own internal flaws and problems. This is reflected well in the ending, I feel.
The animals who escaped and only returned after the fall? I have no problem with this, either. I expect there are several Russians who left during the Soviet days and have since returned.
Where some find these two alterations an objectionable attempt to make the ending cheery for the kiddies, I have to disagree. The pain and sorrow felt by the escapees on their return, on seeing what became of the farm after they left, is hardly likely to cheer the kids. It is merely updating the story to take into account what happened in Russia as the Soviet system declined and fell apart.
[Sunday, January 20, 2008]
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«Nice version but no subtitles»
NO SUBTITLES!!! If I knew this before buying I would not have done it. english is not my first language and we expect that any DVD at least have neglish subtitles and this one did not.
On the oter hand, the movie was all that I spected regardless that some people have problems with the ending or the fact that is capitalist propaganda.
I live in Venezuela and the movie is a mirror of what I think happens here. I share the same vision of the movie about the one man comunism that only send countrys to their worst.
[Thursday, November 22, 2007]
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