ANIMAL FARM 1954 presented by Louis de Rochemont and produced by

Halas and Batchelor based on George Orwells memorable fable

In George Orwells classic novel Animal Farm, this is proved to an almost scary
extent where the characters are mainly animals, not people. In this movie, the
animals speak to each other as humans would talk to other humans, making the
movie very interesting to watch. The point Im trying to make here as it is proven
time and time again in history, as well as in this movie, is that absolute power
corrupts.
It all starts on The Manor Farm, where Old Major (the elder pig), makes an
announcement. He includes in his speech that one day the animals will revolt
against the humans taking charge of them, and treating them unjustly. He ends his
speech with a song, called the Beasts of England that he taught the animals from
his childhood. On the farm were two pigs who Mr. Jones (the owner of Manor
Farm) was breeding up for sale. One was Snowball, the other, Napoleon. Snowball
was more of a talker and Napoleon more likely to take action. The rest of the pigs
were porkers and there was a little fat one that was well known to most of the
animals on the farm and was very persuasive, he was called Squealer. There were
other animals like chickens, and horses, sheep, and so on; the only one worth
mentioning is Boxer out of the lot. Boxer was the strongest animal and the hardest
worker on the farm, and then, as you could imagine, was a great help to it. As time
passed, so did Old Major, and Mr. Jones was treating the animals unfairly. One
night, he got drunk and didnt come back for a whole day and even when he did,
the animals were not fed. As a result the animals had enough and took a stand,
they chased Mr. Jones and his men off the farm as they called it their own.
Celebrations followed and life was good for the animals, they even changed the
name of the farm, and got rid of anything that reminded them of humans or Mr.
Jones. A few months passed and the pigs revealed that they could now read and
write. As a result of this, Snowball set up the "7 Commandments" that every animal
must follow with no exceptions, but the main idea was that all animals are equal.
Later that evening however, it was noticed that some of the animalsfood was
missing after they got back from harvesting.
During the harvest the pigs did absolutely no work at all, but supervised the other
animals doing the work. This was just the beginning of corruption. Snowball and
Napoleon were never in agreement with each other and constantly had debates
about the future of the farm. Later on, it was discovered by the animals that the
milk has been mixed into the pigs mash every day and all of a sudden, the apples
were also ordered to go to the pigs for supposed "safe keeping". Around the world,
however, rumors have been spreading of a successful farm by which was run by
animals. This caused many outbursts of strange animal behavior, and gave Mr.
Jones incentive to go back to get his farm. His six men and himself were gored,
kicked, trampled, and bitten almost to death. One was thought to be dead and
boxer exclaimed that he did not mean to kill the lad, but he was only stunned and

ran off afterwards. The battle was named "The Battle of Cowshed" because that
was where the ambush of Jones took place. By now it was decided that since pigs
were the smartest of the animals, they would decide farm policy and have a
majority vote to see what passes and what does not.
In debates, Snowball usually ended up victorious over Napoleon because of his
brilliant speeches. Snowball wanted to make a Windmill to produce more for the
animals of the farm, but it would take a lot of work to do it. This was one of the
most controversial debates that ever took place between the two pigs as Napoleon
greatly opposed it. At the time to vote, almost all of the animals wanted to go for
the windmill and Napoleon ended up chasing Snowball off the farm with angry
dogs at his side. From then on, Snowball was never seen again, and Napoleon,
surprisingly announced that the windmill would be built after all and it has been
Napoleons idea the entire time. Work was brutal, and any animal who didnt show
up was sure to have their rations halved. Soon after it was noticed by the animals
that Animal Farm engaged in trade to receive materials for the windmill and other
projects, that the seven commandments were tweaked to the pigs favor and the
pigs even woke up an hour later than other animals.
The next night, there was a violent storm and the windmill ended up in ruins and it
was blamed on Snowball by Napoleon, claiming they would make the walls twice
as thick, twice as strong as before. Living conditions on the farm became much
harsher, there wasnt enough food to eat, and the chickens were forced to give up
their eggs again, which was promised never to have to happen. As a result, the
chickens smashed all of their eggs in a form of rebellion against Napoleon.
Whenever something went wrong on the farm, it was often linked to Snowball and
it is claimed that he is in one the neighboring farms as well as being in league with
Jones from the very beginning of this whole fiasco.
Time passed and now Napoleon went on a killing spree with his dogs against
anyone who mightve been in touch with Snowball or had anything to do with
destroying the windmill and the singing of the Beasts of England was abolished.
The executions lasted all day until there was a fresh smell of blood, not known until
before the revolution. Many of the animals felt that they would have been better
with Jones owning the farm because this is not what they had in mind for a
lifestyle.
Once again, the commandments were tweaked so it was okay for Napoleon to
have those animals killed. Napoleon made up a poem praising himself to replace
the song he abolished as a couple of hens were executed for confessing to be on
Snowballs side as opposed to his. Snowball was once again claimed to be up to
his old tricks when animals on other farms were being mistreated and their corn
would not grow correctly but the windmill was finally finished and named Napoleon
Mill. Time passed and one of the neighboring farms had ripped Napoleon off by
giving him fake bank notes for timber, so an attack was planned for. The day of the
attack the neighboring farmers came in and blasted the windmill to pieces with
gunpowder and dynamite. The animals won the battle, with many deaths,

wounded, and disappointed as the windmill was gone, again. It was then rumored
that Napoleon was dying and that his dying order was that any animal to drink
alcohol was to be put to death. The next day Napoleon was fine and he said "No
animal shall drink alcohol to excess". Later on, it was announced that all barley
was reserved for the pigs and that all pigs had special privileges on Sundays and
for education. About three days later, Boxer had fallen and could not get up, he
was claimed to have been sent to a hospital but the truck that took him said "Horse
Slaughterer and Glue Boiler", but the animals were convinced by Napoleon that it
was a borrowed truck and he was with Boxer during his last moments. Boxer was
never seen again but somehow the pigs got money to purchase more items such
as whiskey for themselves. The farm finally seemed to be getting richer without the
animals getting any richer, except for the pigs and dogs who got extra rations of
food and shelter. A couple of days later, a pig was seen walking on his hind legs
and Napoleon was seen with a whip in his trotter as the commandments that used
to be on the barn wall were gone and replaced by a single one which read: "All
animals are equal, but some are more equal than others".
In conclusion, when a community is not governed in a democratic fashion but
rather in a totalitarianism fashion, feelings of resentment and suspicion will
eventually destroy the community. Thats the reason why I chose this movie,
because all animals were treated based on their social status, which was not fair to
the reality. In todays world you should treat everyone with the same respect;
nevertheless, it doesnt happen. Even, all of the characters had different
characteristics, showed us how some of the characters in Animal Farm were
sneaky, stupid, and powerful all of which helped make this a great story.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Taken 25/05/2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArBPSC3jcwg