Animal Farm (1954)

Directors:

Joy Batchelor
John Halas

Writers:

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

Release Date:

13 February 1956 (Sweden)

Genre:

Animation | 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)
• 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)
• Vestron Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• 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:

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

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: The color of the building next to the Red Lion Tavern changes from pink/red to white in one scene. The seats out the front of the tavern have disappeared in the same scene.

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 "Lost: Exposé (#3.14)" (2007)

It's not that bad!!!

This animated film version of the classic George Orwell novel, Animal Farm, is faithful to the book's story. After reading Animal Farm, I watched this movie which was a colorized version of the story. This film is ahead of it's time in 1954 so you have to understand that the quality may not be that great and their are only two male voices offering to play all the roles which includes the wonderful Maurice Denham OBE. The story of animals who run a farm after chasing the evil, Mr. Jones away. The animals believe they can run the farm better than Mr. Jones. The problem is that Napoleon, the pig leader or big boar, takes charge and moves into Jones' house and begins breaking the rules that they were founded upon in Animal Farm. Slowly, we see the problems arose among the animals and the unhappiness, greed, and power-hungry of some versus the others.