Animal Farm (1999 film)
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For other uses, see Animal Farm (disambiguation).
| Animal Farm | |
| Directed by | Joseph Stephenson |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Greg Smith Robert Halmi |
| Written by | George Orwell (novel) Alan Janes Martyn Burke (teleplay) |
| Starring | Kelsey Grammer Ian Holm Julia Louis-Dreyfus Patrick Stewart Julia Ormond Paul Scofield Pete Postlethwaite Peter Ustinov |
| Music by | Richard Harvey |
| Cinematography | Mike Brewster |
| Editing by | Colin Green |
| Distributed by | Hallmark Films |
| Release date(s) | October 3, 1999 |
| Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $23,000,000 |
Animal Farm is a made for TV film version of the 1945 George Orwell novel of the same name.
[edit] Differences from the novel
The plot basically follows that of the novel, but there are many slight differences:
- One of the biggest differences from the novel is the heightened role of Jessie, the dog, who serves as the film's primary narrator.
- The film is shown as a flashback taking place within Jessie's memory.
- The film portrays the end of Napoleon's rule, mentioning the collapse of a wall (analogous to the fall of communism and the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989), the return of dissident animals who had hidden themselves, and the ultimate replacement of the farm's owners by a new family.
- Snowball is a different color in the film than the book.
- The animals never address each other as "comrade" as they do in the book, although they do talk of "comradeship".
- Clover the horse is absent in the movie, being replaced by Jessie.
- Mollie, one of the main characters in the book, is only seen at brief moments in the film and speaks only when Jessie tells her about the meeting and when she is uncertain about being deprived of the ribbons she now wears in her hair.
- In the novel, Old Major dies of old age three days after giving his speech, but in the film he is accidentally shot by Jones minutes after finishing his speech.
- Instead of being buried in the orchard, Old Major's body is butchered by one of Mr. Jones' workmen. When the animals explore the farmhouse, Old Major's head is discovered wrapped in plastic in a cupboard.
- All the animal executions are changed to trials and hangings.
- The songs have been replaced; "Beasts of England" is changed to "Beasts of the World".
- In the novel, during the battle of the Cowshed, a sheep was shot when charging. In the film, a goose was shot.
- The animals in the movie were computer animated so that their mouths would match up with the voices (Although the pigs are only computer animated when Snowball is painting the new sign for the farm and the Seven Commandments, with the pigs otherwise being animatronic models with moveable mouths and heads).
- Old Major's skull being mounted on display is only briefly mentioned twice in the novel, but is seen throughout the film after the pig's death.
- The ending where Jessie escapes with many of the animals and returns to a post-Napoleon Animal Farm was not in the novel, but serves as a reference to post-Soviet Russia. In the novel, she, like many of the other animals, dies of old age and overwork.
- The novel's infamous twist ending is portrayed, but earlier in the film and without the pigs dressed as humans and on two legs (which does appear, only in the "Napoleon: Mighty Leader" propaganda film portraying Napoleon dressed in a suit and standing upright). Additionally, the pigs begin wearing hats and monocles much earlier in the film.
- In the novel, the windmill is damaged in construction and Napoleon blames this on Snowball. Later, there is a second battle where the windmill is destroyed with dynamite. In the film, the windmill is never damaged in construction. Mr. and Mrs. Jones sneak into the camp in their truck and blow up the windmill, accidentally destroying their vehicle in the process. When Napoleon discovers the destroyed windmill and the wrecked truck, he declares Snowball stole the vehicle and destroyed the windmill.
- Mr. Frederick's role is reduced and he even expresses sympathy for the animals.
- In the film, the humans sneak a microphone into the barn in an attempt to understand how the animals are running the farm. Using this, they later learn that the animals can speak English and Mr. Pilkington decides to start trading with them. In the novel, it was Mr. Whymper who began trading with Napoleon, and this as only to serve as a go-between for other trading purposes after being approached by Napoleon himself.
- The card game at the end of the novel never takes place.
- A new character is introduced in the film. He is an unnamed, fat rat who served as comic relief, but was killed by Napoleon. He is not present in the novel, though the novel states that there are rats on the farm.
- Benjamin is presumably younger than he is in the book, as well as happier. He is seen as friends to the rat, but not as much to Boxer as in the book.
- Boxer and many of the other animals could not read in the novel, in the movie they can.
[edit] Cast
| Cast | Character | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kelsey Grammer | Snowball | (voice) |
| Patrick Stewart | Napoleon | (voice) |
| Ian Holm | Squealer | (voice) |
| Julia Louis-Dreyfus | Mollie | (voice) |
| Julia Ormond | Jessie | (voice) |
| Pete Postlethwaite | Farmer Jones/Benjamin | |
| Paul Scofield | Boxer | (voice) |
| Peter Ustinov | Old Major | (voice) |
| Alan Stanford | Farmer Pilkington | N/A |
[edit] External links
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