Generations have read George Orwell’s Animal Farm. But it is less well known that the book was also made into an animated feature film in 1954. The technicolor cartoon was unique in several ways.
It was the first time Britain had produced an animated film covering an adult theme. Artists and animators from across Europe and the United States worked for three years on the project. As with the book, the storyline of the movie follows the farm animals of Manor Farm who revolt against tyrannical Farmer Brown.
While the animals hope to set up a society in which they can all be equal, free, and happy, the situation devolves. Eventually, the pigs, led by Napoleon, take charge of the farm. Before long, they begin to adopt human characteristics and Napoleon becomes a cruel and powerful dictator.
The themes of the movie were intended to draw parallels with the menace of communism during the Cold War.
Learn more about the animated film Animal Farm in the Louis de Rochemont papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.