Animal Farm (1954)

Directors:

Joy Batchelor
John Halas

Writers:

George Orwell (novel)
Lothar Wolff (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

13 February 1956 (Sweden)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

He's got the world in an UPROAR!

Plot:

A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when corrupt pigs hijack it for their personal gain.

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Farmer | Pig | Manor | Revolution

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Gordon Heath	...	Narrator (voice)
Maurice Denham	...	All Animals (voice)

Directed by
Joy Batchelor
John Halas

Writing credits
George Orwell		(novel)
Lothar Wolff		(story development) &
Borden Mace		(story development) &
Philip Stapp		(story development) &
John Halas		(story development) &
Joy Batchelor		(story development)
Laurence Heath		uncredited

Produced by
Joy Batchelor	....	producer
John Halas	....	producer

Original Music by
Matyas Seiber

Sound Department
William S. Bland	....	sound recordist (as W. Bland)
Jack King	....	sound effects
Jack King	....	sound
George Newberry	....	sound recordist (as G. Newbury)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sid Griffiths	....	camera operator (as S.G. Griffiths)
John Gurr	....	camera operator (as J. Gurr)
William Traylor	....	camera operator (as W. Traylor)
Roy Turk	....	camera operator (as R. Turk)

Animation Department
Ralph Ayres	....	animator (as R. Ayres)
Bernard Carey	....	background artist
Arthur Humberstone	....	animator (as A. Humberstone)
Geoffrey Martin	....	layout artist
Frank Moysey	....	animator (as F. Moysey)
Edric Radage	....	animator (as E. Radage)
John Reed	....	animation director (as John F. Reed)
Digby Turpin	....	background artist
Harold Whitaker	....	animator (as H. Whittaker)
Matvyn Wright	....	background artist
Alma Coles	....	ink and paint artist (uncredited)
Nicholas Spargo	....	animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Matyas Seiber	....	conductor

Other crew
Louis De Rochemont	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films

Distributors

• Associated British-Pathé (1954) (UK) (theatrical)
• Louis De Rochemont Associates (1954) (USA) (theatrical)
• Distributors Corporation of America (DCA) (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• atlas Film (1982) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• BBC Enterprises (1985) (UK) (VHS)
• Blue Dolphin Film Distribution (1998) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• PolyGram Video (1999) (UK) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Ghibli Museum, The (2008) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Les Films du Paradoxe (1993) (France) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (A/SIA) (1955) (Australia) (theatrical) (foreign)
• Suomi-Filmi (1956) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Kielipalvelu (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1984) (Finland) (TV) (as MTV2)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Vestron Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• Winkler Film (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1971) (1991) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  funding

Also Known As:

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Unrated | West Germany:6 (nf) | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:X (original rating) | Czech Republic:U

Company:

Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films

Trivia:

The CIA obtained the film rights to "Animal Farm" from Orwell's widow, Sonia, after his death and covertly funded the production as anti-Communist propaganda. Some sources assert that the ending of the story was altered by the CIA (in the book, the pigs and humans join forces) to press home their message, but it is equally possible that the more upbeat ending of the movie was an artistic decision, to give the film more audience appeal.

Goofs:

Continuity: As the film goes on the pigs alter the writing on the side of barn; the first being the addition of 'sleep in a bed with sheets'. Later on this and other additions are not present

Quotes:

[The laws of Animal Farm are being read]
Snowball:No animal shall drink alcohol. No animal shall sleep in a bed. Four legs good, two legs bad.
[The chickens are very annoyed at this rule]
Squealer:Wings count as legs.
[The chickens realize that Squealer is right]
Group of sheep:Four legs good, two legs bad. Four legs good, two legs bad.
Snowball:[continuing the reading of the laws] No animal shall kill another animal. All animals are equal.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Village of the Giants (#6.23)" (1994)

Orwell's political fable as 50s animation

Directed by Joy Batchelor and John Halas, and co-written by Batchelor from the renowned novel by George Orwell, this animated film benefits from a faithful rendering of the story and two talented voices - Gordon Heath narrates, while Maurice Denham does everything else (all the animals!).

The animals who were described in Orwell's text are all given cartoon form here - Boxer the horse, Napoleon the pig, the sheep, the chickens, and so on. The ending well-known from the book (where the pigs and humans join forces and you can no longer tell which is which) was changed for the film, but that's a small point when everything else is so accurate.

The atmosphere of the cartoon 'Animal Farm' is perfect - we see collusion, spying, killing, and a real sense of fear comes through as the animals' rules are eroded one by one by their chosen leaders, the pigs.