{"id":961,"date":"2026-04-22T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=961"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:45:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:45:00","slug":"animal-farm-review-orwells-silly-adaptation-with-andy-serkis-voicing-seth-rogen-kieran-culkin-and-glenn-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=961","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Animal Farm&#8217; review: Orwell&#8217;s silly adaptation with Andy Serkis voicing Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin and Glenn Close"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tFun fact for trivia lovers. 1954 animated film version of George Orwell&#8217;s classic 1945 novel <em>animal farm<\/em> Funded and directed by the CIA as part of an anti-communist propaganda campaign. This sounds unlikely until you remember that this is the same costume that considered using chemicals to destroy Fidel Castro&#8217;s beard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tThe new animated version of the story, directed by Andy Serkis, apparently did not benefit from such government intervention. This bland family-friendly adaptation seems more the product of the PTA than the CIA, sacrificing the story&#8217;s strong anti-Stalinist message for a sobering critique of corporatization featuring human villains (including one played by Glenn Close, who seems nostalgic for her days as Cruella de Vil).<\/p>\n<div class=\"review-summary-card\">\n<div class=\" lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-a-125 u-background-color-honey-light \">\n<div class=\"lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column u-width-275@tablet u-border-b-1@mobile-max u-border-r-1@tablet u-border-dotted lrv-u-margin-r-150 lrv-u-padding-r-150 lrv-u-margin-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-b-125@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-b-075@mobile-max\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-u-font-family-primary u-font-size-34 u-font-size-38@desktop-xl lrv-u-line-height-small lrv-u-margin-b-125 \">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\tanimal farm\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-font-family-accent lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-color-brand-primary lrv-u-font-size-16 lrv-u-display-block\">conclusion<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-span  u-font-size-22@tablet u-font-style-italic lrv-u-font-family-secondary\"><\/p>\n<p>\tboy.<br \/>\n\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>release date<\/strong>: May 1st (Friday)<br \/><strong>cast<\/strong>Starring: Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani.<br \/><strong>director<\/strong>:Andy Serkis<br \/><strong>screenwriter<\/strong>: Nicholas Stoller<br \/><span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRated PG, 1 hour 36 minutes\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tNow, we all know that nothing makes kids happier than fart jokes. But, and this is a deep philosophical question, does that mean every animated movie has to have that? It&#8217;s been a long time since I&#8217;ve read Orwell&#8217;s novella, but I don&#8217;t think there was ever a moment when Napoleon the Saddleback Boar (Seth Rogen), the villain of the novel, releases a big wet boar and screams, &#8220;This is the sound of freedom!&#8221; after taking over power on the farm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tThe basic structure of Orwell&#8217;s allegorical story was continued by screenwriter Nicholas Stoller (<em>neighbor<\/em>, <em>brothers<\/em>), but was primarily used as an excuse for a series of cutely rendered CG-animated animals to play pranks while shouting clearly anti-communist phrases like &#8220;Let&#8217;s start the animal party!&#8221; There are plenty of scenes featuring up-tempo pop and hip-hop songs (the more their soundtrack albums sell, the better). And the new central character is Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo, <em>stranger things<\/em>), the stuffed animal is an adorable piglet that would look great sitting next to the Minions on your child&#8217;s shelf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tFor some inexplicable reason, it is aimed at younger children. It&#8217;s not that animation isn&#8217;t accepted by adults these days. Or, it&#8217;s not like I&#8217;ve never been to an evening screening. <em>super mario<\/em> <em>galaxy movie<\/em>? \u2014 This version sacrifices the story&#8217;s strong political and social themes in favor of a by-the-numbers conspiracy. The main takeaway is that Rogen&#8217;s normally very cheerful voice can become very creepy under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tThere are also some silly jokes, such as the good-hearted but unlucky horse Boxer explaining Einstein&#8217;s theorem. <em>E<\/em> = <em>Mac<\/em><sup>2<\/sup> Napoleon claps his hooves and wears a T-shirt with the phrase &#8220;Go Pig or Go Home&#8221; printed on it. Oh, and there&#8217;s also a scene that parodies a game show. Because I know kids will get bored with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tFor a film that features visually uninspiring animation that strives to be cute above all else, it at least has a great voice acting cast. Besides the aforementioned characters, there&#8217;s also Kieran Culkin, wasted as Napoleon&#8217;s ruthless sidekick. Steve Buscemi oozes slyness as the greedy banker. Laverne Cox exudes warmth as Napoleon&#8217;s rival Snowball. Kathleen Turner, her raspy voice in the role of Donkey is instantly recognizable. Iman Vellani (<em>Ms. Marvel<\/em>), doubles as two piglets. And Jim Parsons is usually funny as a sheep. Serkis also voiced both animal and human characters, and we are only fondly remembered for his amazing motion capture work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n<p>\tIt&#8217;s worth watching at least the end credits. Because when was the last time you had a chance to hear Propellerheads&#8217; great song, aptly chosen, &#8220;History Replying&#8221; featuring the immortal voice of Shirley Bassey?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Animal #Farm #review #Orwells #silly #adaptation #Andy #Serkis #voicing #Seth #Rogen #Kieran #Culkin #Glenn #Close<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fun fact for trivia lovers. 1954 animated film version of George Orwell&#8217;s classic 1945 novel animal farm Funded and directed by the CIA as part of an anti-communist propaganda campaign. This sounds unlikely until you remember that this is the same costume that considered using chemicals to destroy Fidel Castro&#8217;s beard. The new animated version &#8230; <a title=\"&#8216;Animal Farm&#8217; review: Orwell&#8217;s silly adaptation with Andy Serkis voicing Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin and Glenn Close\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/?p=961\" aria-label=\"Read more about &#8216;Animal Farm&#8217; review: Orwell&#8217;s silly adaptation with Andy Serkis voicing Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin and Glenn Close\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2602,929,2592,2480,2609,2607,2481,2593,2608,2594,2595,2596,2606,2597,2598,2600,561,2605,2479,2604,1237,2601,2599,2603],"class_list":["post-961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-adaptation","tag-andy","tag-andy-serkis","tag-animal","tag-close","tag-culkin","tag-farm","tag-gaten-matarazzo","tag-glenn","tag-glenn-close","tag-iman-vellani","tag-jim-parsons","tag-kieran","tag-kieran-culkin","tag-laverne-cox","tag-orwells","tag-review","tag-rogen","tag-serkis","tag-seth","tag-seth-rogen","tag-silly","tag-steve-buscemi","tag-voicing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yasbou.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}