What a pig sty

The 1954 Animal Farm cartoon

By Jemma Darvall

he 1954 Animal Farm

cartoon was produced
by Halas & Batchelor
an animation firm in
London that had previously made
propaganda films for the British
government.
The
plot
is
seemingly simple with an obvious
enemy and characters that have
personalities and beliefs which
are unmistakeable. It tells the
story of animals on a farm who
are enslaved under a cruel
master from whom they wish to
break free, and by doing so leave
themselves open to face a whole
new range of problems. The pigs
(smarter animals) assume the
leadership role but just when
things are looking up for Animal
Farm a selfish, power-hungry
leader takes over. This has a great
impact on the lives of the animals
who are left finding themselves
worse off then they were in the
beginning. The story ends with
the collapse of the existing pig
rule bringing the animals more or
less back to the beginning. The
original book by George Orwell,
Animal Farm, is by his
description a fairy story, and
displays much the same basic
organisation as the movie. But
does the movie demonstrate the
concepts that George Orwell
expresses in the book?
The movie begins with the dark
silhouette of an ape-like, drunk
man attempting to close up
animals stalls for the night. The
music behind him is dark and
menacing yet the animals display
looks of amused caution on their
faces and disregard his authority
immediately afterwards. This,
combined with the threatening
music leads the viewer to an

unclear impression of what the

animals think of Jones (the man).
However, the book presents a
different image of a man who
the animals dread so much that
they must wait until he [is]
safely out of the way for fear of
what might happen if they were
caught (1). Orwell immediately
sets the tone for a group who
fears their leader, rather than a
bad guy that doesnt care about
the well being of animals as
shown in the movie.
The highly regarded head pig
delivers a speech, in the cartoon,
that begins with an air of
importance and wisdom but
shortly after becomes a ramble
on the injustices of life. The
speech ends abruptly with a song
which
seems
completely
irrelevant and unnecessary in this
context.
The speech given in the novel is
an empowering, inspirational
event for the animals who have
little hope at this time in their
lives. Major (the head pig) talks
of a farm controlled by animals in
which everyone will [live] in a
comfort and dignity ...[and] all
animals are equal, a utopia (4-5).

Remember that in
fighting against Man, we
must not come to
resemble him. (6)
He ends the speech with a song
that has ancestral connections and
is sung in a tremendous unison
(8). Orwell references the ideals
of Karl Marx who believed each
[should work] according to his
abilities, [and] each should [gain]
according to his needs. Hinting
at a relationship between the story
and the Russian Revolution, as

Karl Marx inspired revolts in

Russia just as Major inspired the
farm revolt.
The movies main animal
characters
are
Snowball,
Napoleon and Boxer. However
another main character, the
donkey Benjamin, has a large role
in the movie but is never named
which seems careless. Just as a
duckling that is struggling nearby
is ignored while Old Major is
talking about uniting and joining
together as equals to fight for the
same cause. The book introduces
Benjamin as the oldest animal
on the farm, and the worst
tempered.. when he talked it was
to make some cynical remark
yet non of these character traits
are displayed throughout the
movie (2). The movie also cut out
a character called Clover who is
one of the main characters in the
book, she is a motherly stout
mare who [makes] a sort of
wall around a brood of
ducklings who had lost their
mother so they would not be
trodden on. So as she is edited
out this does not happen leaving
the duck alone. Mollie, who plays
a mildly significant role at the
beginning of the book is also
edited out. Orwell portrays her as
the Upper Class in society who
flee the Russian Revolution for a
better life, and Clover represents
the powerless, motherly part of
the population. With these two
important roles in history cut out
the connection between the ideals
of the movie and book are
broken.
The animals absent mindedly

carry out the rebellion (due to not

being fed in the morning) which
makes the speech initially seem
pointless as it was primarily about
the
act
itself.
Napoleon
immediately takes advantage of a
litter of puppies whose mother
has died in the battle which
foreshadows his treachery. The
Laws of Animal Farm are written
on a wall in white paint. In the
movie, all the animals are present
except Napoleon which seems
unlikely as in the beginning he is
portrayed as a leader. The novel
describes a great battle where the
animals strategically attack and
after their triumph celebrate
whole heartedly. They put into
action all the plans that Major had
arranged, connecting it to the
speech. When the laws are written
on the wall Napoleon and
Snowball are there and [explain]
the principles of Animalism
together (15). It is not until later
in the book that Napoleon takes
the puppies saying that he will
be
responsible
for
their
education, which at the time is
not an unreasonable statement.
He believes that the education of
the young [is] more important
than anything, which is strongly
connected to the values of Joseph
Stalin (22). Who believed
education is a weapon whose
effects depend on who holds it in
his hands and at who it is aimed
tying history and the book
together but the movie yet again
disregards this.
In the movie pigeons are
briefly sent out as messengers to
spread the word of the wondrous
life on Animal Farm and the
feedback from the outsiders is
scathing.
In the novel the animals reaction
when hearing of a life without
human rule is much more
accepting and causes other
animals to act on other farms.
Bulls which had always been
tractable suddenly turned savage,
sheep broke down hedges and
devoured the clover, cows kicked

the pails..[and] the tune and even

the words of Beasts of England
were known everywhere (25).
The pigeons are sent out by
Snowball who represents Leon
Trotsky and this situation brings
their relevance together. Snowball
sent out the pigeons to start a
rebellion in other farms just as
Leon Trotsky established the
communism
international
movement
to
implement
communism around the world.
Both attempts fail and only
isolate
Animalism
and
Communism further.
Snowball introduces his idea
of building a windmill which is
quickly disrupted by Napoleon in
the movie. He disagrees and
sends his now trained dogs to kill
Snowball. The dogs answer to
Napoleon as their master and
Napoleon swiftly takes over
reinstating the windmill idea as
his own while saying that there
shall be no more debates. This is
a big moment but the unfriendly
attitude Napoleon has towards
Snowball has not occurred
previously and therefore is out of
the blue. Declaring that there
shall be no more debates is
irrelevant as there were no
debates previous to this occasion.
However, the book explains this
clearly as there were debates
previous
to
this
between
Napoleon
and
Snowball.
Napoleon stops the debates
because all decisions would now
be made by a special committee
of pigs meaning himself
(Napoleon) (35). Snowball is also
not killed, he escapes, and this is
used against the animals in the
long run as they are punished for
his (Snowballs) pranks played on
the farm. Leon Trotsky was in
fact exiled by the agents of
Joseph Stalin just as Snowball
was exiled by Napoleons dogs
who represent Joseph Stalins
secret police force. Joseph Stalin
also disregarded debates and
valued his own opinions.
The farm, in the movie,

encounters long working hours

during Napoleons rule and the
set gets slowly darker with more
and more depressing music as
time passes which describes the
attitudes of the animals perfectly.
The pigs are shown to be in
luxury with plenty of food and
live in the farm house much to
the animals disgust. Squealer
(Napoleons side kick) tries to
convince the animals that it is
necessary for the farm for the
pigs to live in the house, but the
animals do not believe him. This
shows the mistrust between the
leader and society.
The animals meanwhile in the
novel are much more accepting of
Squealers reasonings. Especially
Boxer who pronounces if
comrade Napoleon says it, it must
be right and as Squealer speaks
for Napoleon the animals believe
him (37). Squealer represents
Vyacheslav Molotov who was
Stalins head of propaganda and
helped
create
the
Soviet
Newspaper which the proletarians
believed. Boxer represents the
proletarians who believe the state
propaganda however in the movie
Boxer does not accept Squealers
propaganda so he therefore
cannot symbolise the proletarians
bringing the book further away
from reality.
A protest is staged by the
hens when their eggs are taken
from them. Napoleon stops their
food and makes them confess to
crimes against him. They and a
group of other animals confess
and are killed. A new rule is made
as a result of this incident and it is
written in blood on the wall,
Napoleon is now trying to control
the animals using fear. The hens
stage the same protest in the text
but die of starvation. The
executions still occur with a large
number of animals forced into
confessing to be in alliance with
Snowball, this does not happen in
the cartoon as Snowball is dead.
Also the commandment is not
rewritten just altered and the

animals who do notice think that

their memories are at fault.
Napoleon gains great power
through fear at this time and the
animals are deeply effected by
this event as they can now see
their utopia has faded away. The
executions that Stalin carried out
during his purges between 1936
and 1938 are similar to
Napoleons executions. Even the
reasoning behind them is in
unison as they both wished for
ultimate power by ruling over
their people using fear. This fear
lead the people of the soviet
Union to do exactly what Stalin
ordered and to praise him for all
the good fortunes that occurred,
whether they were of his doing or
not.
Soon after in the movie,
Animal Farm is attacked and the
windmill that the animals have
worked very hard for is blown up.
In the battle that follows (between
the vengeful Jones and animals)
Napoleon hides and sheepishly
gives orders as his animals are
killed
fighting
for
him.
Fortunately they retain the farm
but with many casualties and a
morose feeling. The book adds
depth to this battle as it is staged
by not only Jones but a farmer
from a nearby farm who wishes
to take Animal Farm for himself.
By blowing up the windmill they
terminate the animals feeling of
accomplishment and by doing
this their hope. Unfortunately for
them it only angers the animals
even more and they retaliate with
a stronger will than before. This
battle and betrayal also has
historical significance as it is
based on the betrayal of Joseph
Stalin by Hitler who broke the
non aggression pact in 1941.
After
two
years
Hitler
disregarded the pact and sent 3
million soldiers into the Soviet
Union. Ending their agreement.
Due to the destruction of the
windmill, in the movie, all the
animals must work extra hard to
rebuild it. This time Boxer and

Benjamin work longer hours, on

less food, as they are getting
older. Eventually a rock falls on
Boxer and he barely lives, never
to work again. Benjamin takes
care of him but when Benjamin is
out working Boxer is taken to the
Hospital. As he is driving away
Benjamin sees the sign for the
Knackers on the truck and tries to
warn Boxer. This is the most
emotional part of the movie and
expresses the reality of life and
the merciless greed of the leaders
in the society. Boxer is the only
one who works longer hours than
everyone else in the novel,
Benjamin does not care whether
the Windmill is completed or not.
When Boxer is supposedly taken
to the Hospital in Willingdon it
is Clover who runs after the cart
and warns him (78). The incident
is later explained by Squealer to
have occurred because the van
had previously been the property
of the knacker, and had been
bought by the veterinary surgeon,
who had not yet painted it (81).
Boxer represents the working
class in Soviet Russia. His
attitude and work ethic are
overlooked as soon as his
physical
state
is
useless.
Demonstrating the corruption of a
system that regards its people as
tools that can be manipulated and
disregarded at the leaders will.
In the movie the pigs invite a
group of other pigs to dinner and
they propose a toast to Animal
Farm showing their lack of regard
for the animals, without realising
that Benjamin is watching. The
pigs soon get drunk as well as the
dogs and Benjamin rallies the
other animals who are outraged
after the Boxer incident as well as
animals from other farms and
they destroy the house and all the
pigs in it, ending the movie.
Meanwhile, the book ends with
an inspection of the farm by
neighbouring farmers who stay
and have dinner. The pigs as well
as the men get drunk and the pigs
make a speech about their clever

deception of the animals. The

pigs rename the farm Manor
Farm which was its original
name and the men propose a
toast. The animals watch from an
outside window and the final
thing they realise is when they
[look] from pig to man, and
from man to pig, and from pig to
man again...it [is] impossible to
say which [is] which (93). The
story has finally come to an end
after a full cycle has been
completed. The story began with
a corrupt human leader so it is
fitting that the leader in the end is
expressed as corrupt by becoming
a human.
The accurate way George
Orwell evolves his story to mirror
that of the Russian Revolution is
admirable. All the effort that has
been displayed through the
careful
consideration
of
characters and sequence of events
has been clearly disregarded in
the cartoon. Main characters are
missing, the events are rushed
with little detail, and story
doesnt have depth. Without
having read the book previous to
watching the cartoon it would not
make complete sense and the
entire logic behind the story is
lost. This is an inaccurate
representation of one of the most
well known and highly regarded
books in history.
Works Cited
"Animal Farm and Karl Marx."
Animal Farm. N.p., n.d.
Web.
27 Dec. 2015.
"Joseph Stalin Quotes."
BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d.
Web. 27 Dec. 2015.