Animal Farm (1999 film)

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Animal Farm

Directed by	Joesph Stephenson
Produced by	Robert Halmi
Written by	George Orwell (novel) Alan Janes Martyn Burke (teleplay)
Starring	Kelsey Grammer Ian Holm Julia Louis-Dreyfus Patrick Stewart Julia Ormond Paul Scotfield Pete Postlethwaite Peter Ustinov
Music by	Richard Harvey
Cinematography	Mike Brewster
Editing by	Colin Green
Distributed by	Hallmark Films
Release date(s)	October 3, 1999
Running time	80 minutes
Country	UK
Language	English
Budget	$23,000,000
IMDb profile

Animal Farm is a made for TV film version of the George Orwell novel of the same name.

1 Plot
2 Differences from the novel
3 Cast
4 External Links

[edit] Plot

Main article: Animal Farm

The plot basically follows that of the novel, except for a few differences (see below)

[edit] Differences from the novel

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

One of the biggest differences from the novel is the absence of the horse Clover and the heightened role of Jessie the dog.
In the novel, Old Major died of old age three days after giving his speech, but in the film he is accidentally shot by Jones minutes after finishing his speech.
Instead of being burried in the orchard, Old Major's body is butchered by one of Mr. Jones' workmen. When the animals explore the farmhouse, Old Major's head is discovered in a freezer.
The songs Beasts of England and Comrade Napoleon have been replaced.
The film adds a storyline about television and film being used as a distraction from what the pigs are really doing. This could be a reference to pro-Lenin propaganda and is similar to the novel's use of Moses the Raven as a parallel to religion being a distraction. As a result, Moses the Raven is a minor character.
Old Major's skull being mounted on display is only briefly mentioned twice in the novel, but is seen throughout the film after the pig's death.
The ending where Jessie escapes with many of the animals and returns to a post-Napoleon Animal Farm was not in the novel, but serves as a reference to post-Soviet Russia.
The novel's infamous twist ending is portrayed, but earlier in the film and without the pigs dressed as humans and on two legs.
In the novel, there is a second battle where the windmill is destroyed. In the film, Mr. and Mrs. Jones sneak into the camp and blow it up themselves. It is also not damaged in construction and Napoleon blames this on Snowball.
Mr. Frederick's role is reduced and he even expresses sympathy for the animals.
The humans sneak a microphone into the barn in an attempt to understand how the animals are running the farm. Using this, they later learn that the animals can speak English and Pilkington decides to start trading with them.