This movie is loosely based on Orwell's novel of the same name. The farm animals have been cruelly treated by the tenant farmer who neglects feeding the animals and treating them badly while indulging in alcohol abuse. To end the abuse, the animals meet in a barn and plot to take over the farm and expel the owners. The ring-leader is an old pig who commands respect of all the other animals. They manage to take over the farm and a sort of division of labour is established. Things move along nicely until the old pig dies and is replaced by a tyrannical pig named Napoleon. The animals are treated worse under Napoleon's rule than they had been under human ownership. Without giving away the ending of the movie, I will say that I kept thinking as I watched it that it could very easily scare young children, the animals being so realistic and the cruelty that is inflicted upon them so vivid and powerful. The movie would serve as an excellent teaching tool about totalitarianism and how people, or animals, can be easily manipulated to obey.
Review of Animal Farm
Animal Farm
(1999 TV Movie)
An ingeniously-done movie, but definitely not suited for young children.
3 October 1999