\n\tHere\u2019s a fun fact for trivia buffs. The 1954 animated film version of George Orwell\u2019s classic 1945 novella Animal Farm was funded and supervised by the CIA as part of their anti-Communist propaganda campaign. It sounds improbable, until you remember that this is the same outfit that considered using chemicals to destroy Fidel Castro\u2019s beard.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe new animated version of the tale directed by Andy Serkis<\/a> apparently benefited from no such governmental intervention. This bland, family-friendly adaptation seems less the product of the CIA than the PTA, sacrificing the story\u2019s powerful anti-Stalinist message for a dumbed-down critique of corporatization featuring human villains (including one played by Glenn Close<\/a>, who seems to be nostalgic for her days as Cruella de Vil).<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAnimal Farm\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tThe Bottom Line<\/p>\n \tJuvenile.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tRelease date: Friday, May 1 \n\tNow, we all know that there\u2019s nothing children appreciate more than a fart joke. But \u2014 and this is a deep philosophical question \u2014 does that mean every animated film has to have one? It\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve read Orwell\u2019s novella, but I don\u2019t think there was a moment in which Napoleon (Seth Rogen<\/a>), the Saddleback boar who becomes the villain of the piece after rising to power on the farm, lets loose a big wet one and exclaims: \u201cThis is the sound of freedom!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe basic structure of Orwell\u2019s allegorical tale has been retained by screenwriter Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors, Bros<\/a>), but mainly as an excuse for a series of cutely rendered CG animated animals to engage in hijinks while shouting such apparently anti-Communist phrases as \u201cLet\u2019s get this animal party started!\u201d There\u2019s a profusion of scenes featuring up-tempo pop and hip-hop songs (the better to sell that soundtrack album). And a new central character has been added in the form of Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo<\/a>, Stranger Things<\/a>), an adorable piglet whose plush toy will look great sitting next to the Minion on your child\u2019s shelf.<\/p>\n \n\tGeared to younger children for inexplicable reasons \u2014 it\u2019s not like animation isn\u2019t being embraced by adults these days, or have you not been to an evening showing of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/a>? \u2014 this version sacrifices the story\u2019s powerful political and social themes in favor of by-the-numbers plotting. The main takeaway is that Rogen\u2019s voice, normally so jovial-sounding, can be really creepy under the right circumstances.<\/p>\n \n\tThere are silly jokes, such as the good-hearted but ill-fated horse Boxer spelling out Einstein\u2019s theorem E = mc2 with his hooves, or Napoleon wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the phrase \u201cGo Pig or Go Home.\u201d Oh, and there\u2019s a scene parodying game shows, because we know the kids can\u2019t get enough of them.<\/p>\n \n\tFeaturing visually uninspired animation that aims for cutesiness above all else, the film does at least have a terrific voice cast. Besides the aforementioned, there\u2019s also Kieran Culkin<\/a>, wasted as Napoleon\u2019s snide sidekick; Steve Buscemi<\/a>, oozing smarminess as a greedy banker; Laverne Cox<\/a>, exuding warmth as Napoleon\u2019s rival, Snowball; Kathleen Turner, her raspy voice immediately recognizable in her donkey role; Iman Vellani<\/a> (Ms. Marvel<\/a>), doubling as two piglets; and Jim Parsons<\/a>, typically amusing in his turn as a sheep. Serkis also voices several roles, both animal and human, which only makes you fondly remember his brilliant motion capture work.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s at least worth staying for the end credits, because when was the last time you had the opportunity to groove to the aptly chosen \u201cHistory Repeating,\u201d the great song by the Propellerheads featuring the immortal voice of Shirley Bassey?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s a fun fact for trivia buffs. The 1954 animated film version of George Orwell\u2019s classic 1945 novella…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[51124,93,101399,5120,61,180836,60,126631,63404,71992,270,6924,3276],"class_list":{"0":"post-411946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-andy-serkis","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-gaten-matarazzo","11":"tag-glenn-close","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-iman-vellani","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-jim-parsons","16":"tag-kieran-culkin","17":"tag-laverne-cox","18":"tag-movies","19":"tag-seth-rogen","20":"tag-steve-buscemi"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Cast: Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner, Iman Vellani
Director: Andy Serkis
Screenwriter: Nicholas Stoller
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRated PG,
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 hour 36 minutes\n\t\t<\/p>\n