This movie is so weird.

To put it out there, I have NOT read the Orwell novella, but I did know going in of the basic story of some farm animals who try to live “free” of the tyrannical humans, while some animals soon become tyrants themselves. But I’ll tell you: I think a lot of parents are going to be surprised if they go in cold.

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This is obviously somewhat being marketed as a kid’s movie with lots of cute farm animals, complete with fart jokes. And that’s (kind of) what this movie is for about 30 minutes or so. But it turns dark as some of the animals rise up.

This movie has a lot of plot developments that happen – somewhat dense for an animated movie. I understand why, but again, I think many will be surprised.

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It does seem to follow the story pretty faithfully, although it does try to paint over some of the most brutal plot points. However, some of that darkness does remain, and bad things happen to some good animals. How will kids that have been brought to this movie feel about that?

Apart from all of that, the animation is terribly generic…the kind you’d see on some Netflix type shows. They apparently saved their budget for the voice actors. I was amazed at how many names were in this in some strange places. Kathleen Turner with her deep scratchy voice as an old donkey?

I won’t delve into the politics of it all, but it seems that some things being symbolized in the novella have been flipped around for this movie, probably based on the politics of the moment.

It just didn’t work for me. I realize that it was just following the story from Orwell, but perhaps some things need to remain on the page instead of developed into a (somewhat) kid-friendly colorful mess.

Grade: C-

About The Peetimes: Read a synopsis of first 3 minutes of this movie.

There are extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Animal Farm.

Plot
A satirical fable following an animal revolution as pigs seize power and the farm descends into a ruthless dictatorship—fulfilling Orwell’s warning about the dangers of communism.