Appreciating Animal Farm in the new millennium

Modern Age, Wntr, 2003 by John Rodden

WITH THE APPROACH of the centennial of George Orwell's birth in June 2003, much attention is already turning to reassessments of his life and to the ongoing relevance in the new millennium of his masterwork, Nineteen Eighly-Four (1949). (1) Easily neglected amid the hoopla is the magnificent little beast fable of totalitarianism which launched Orwell's fame and which he often called his "favorite" book, Animal Farm (1945). This essay looks at how changing historical conditions have altered the reception of Animal Farm in the last decade--since the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in December 1991. My focus is on how differently Orwell's allegory is being encountered by new generations in the twenty-first century--who are not even old enough to remember the existence of the Soviet Union. Extended consideration is devoted to a representative example of these changes and their implications: the remarkable film adaptation of Animal Farm and how its technological marvels are transforming young viewers' experience of Orwel l's allegory.

The Wonders of Animatronics

In October 1999, Turner Network Television broadcast its $24 million adaptation of Orwell's Animal Farm, which was co-produced by Robert Halmi, Sr., and Hallmark Entertainment. The film is partly animated, with great British Shakespearean voice actors such as Patrick Stewart (Napoleon) and Peter Ustinov (Old Major) providing the animal voices. (2)

A refugee from Soviet-occupied Hungary during the early postwar era--and a man who also spent World War II in Budapest under Nazi rule--Halmisaid that he intended to do Animal Farm for decades, but that the technology was not available for a sophisticated animated version. Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a cutting-edge voice-tech firm, helped provide the combination live-action and animated effects that the movie incorporates. (3)

The new adaptation of Animal Farm-- the first since the 1955 British version by the husband-wife team of John Halas and Joy Batcheler--occurred as the news media were commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, originally published in June 1949. As a result, Orwell's Aesopian fable was lost in the long shadow of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

It may take longer to watch Halmi's two-hour adaptation of Animal Farm than to read Orwell's little allegory of revolution and totalitarianism. Given the entertainment preferences in the age of the mass media, however, it is likely that many people in the future--especially school-age youth--will encounter Animal Farm first or exclusively through this spectacular new video version. The new adaptation merges computer graphics, humans and animals, and what is now termed in the animated film industry "animatronics"--animal robot "doubles" who possess human voices. Halmi used a dozen electronically controlled animal-like robots, developed by the wondrous animated technology of Henson's Creature Shop (the industry leader in "animatronics"). While such high-tech puppetry and computer effects had already been used to stunning effect in Babe: Pig in the City (1998), the adventures of a civic-minded pig, Hens on takes them further in Animal Farm. And it is these technological innovations that make the new Animal Farm a breakthrough film: the special effects are amazing. This is no simple "Mr. Ed" production: instead one would swear that the animals are talking.

Henson's feat accounts for why this new Animal Farm has recently appeared: the technology has made it possible. Although the 1955 animated version of Animal Farm was followed by adaptations of the fable into a play (in 1964) and musical (in 1984), it remained best known in its literary version. Even the Halas-Batcheler film did not supplant the preference for the reading experience. Certainly this is a testimony to the beauty and power of Orwell's writing.

But another reason for the adjunct role played by the 1955 film adaptation, says Halmi, is that the Halas-Batcheler film could not have an impact dramatic enough to compete with readers' imaginations of the fable. Before animatronics, nothing substantially new on a technical (and imaginative) level could be done with Animal Farm. Once animatronics became highly sophisticated, it seemed timely to the producers to re-film Orwell's parable. Moviemakers finally had the technology to bring a cinematic Animal Farm fully to life. Added to animatronics for this production has been computer imaging--a technology used not just in Babe but also in Dr. Doolittle (1997)--which has allowed the animal images to appear utterly lifelike. The production shifts from film shots of the actual barnyard animals to the computer-image replicas, but it is practically impossible to tell the difference. The adaptation involves more than 100 real animals--pigs, donkeys, horses, ducks--as well as 15 animatronic creations. (4) Every anima l character in the film has three different versions: live, animatronic, and computer-generated. (5)

As Halmi's long-term desire to produce Animal Farm suggests, however, he also had compelling personal--and political-reasons for aiming to bring Orwell's allegory to the big screen. Although Halmi had previously adapted The Odyssey, Gulliver's Travels, and Alice in Wonderland for television--he is quite experienced in working on literary adaptations--he said in a 1999 interview that the work he has always most wanted to produce has been Animal Farm.