Animal Farm (1954)

Animal Farm (1954)

Dirs. John Halas + Joy Batchelor

Mr. Jones is abusive towards his animals, causing them to revolt and take over the running of Manor Farm. The animals agree that they must work together in order to prosper, but deep down not all of them believe in the 'Animalism' ideal. The political allegory, satire and hard-hitting subtext are easy to pick out, but they each keep their place, allowing Aristotle's ingredients for persuasion as evoked by some of the animals to really stand out when needed.

The animation and voices are excellent; the latter performed entirely by Maurice Denham. Also, the music by Mátyás Seiber does its job perfectly, upfront and powerful, and at times even becoming the primary narrative voice.

All in all, even if it was secretly part-funded by the CIA in the hopes of helping to promote their secret Cold War agenda — unbeknownst to the film's directors — the animated adaptation of George Orwell's novella still manages to do its source proud, for creatures great and small.