George Orwell Animal Farm explained: the release driving the conversation

Andy Serkis has been trying to animate George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” for 15 years. George Orwell Animal Farm has emerged this Friday as one of the stories drawing attention in Canada.

Key facts

• Andy Serkis has been trying to animate George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” for 15 years.
• If you read George Orwell’s classic political satire Animal Farm in seventh grade, you probably remember the basic contours of the plot: fed up with human rule, a group of well-intentioned barnyard animals set up their own egalitarian society, with disastrous results.
• Andy Serkis is defending his decision to make a family friendly "Animal Farm" movie and says author George Orwell would approve.
• Published in 1945, Animal Farm has a timeless (and, certainly, contemporarily relevant) message: It’s about how the impulse to retain power will always come at the expense of our basic morality.
• The new film is the latest adaptation of George Orwell’s novel.

What we know

Going deeper, If you read George Orwell’s classic political satire Animal Farm in seventh grade, you probably remember the basic contours of the plot: fed up with human rule, a group of well-intentioned barnyard animals set up their own egalitarian society, with disastrous results.

On the substance, Andy Serkis is defending his decision to make a family friendly "Animal Farm" movie and says author George Orwell would approve.

Beyond the headlines, Published in 1945, Animal Farm has a timeless (and, certainly, contemporarily relevant) message: It’s about how the impulse to retain power will always come at the expense of our basic morality.

More precisely, the new film is the latest adaptation of George Orwell’s novel.

It is worth noting that after their failure to cancel Barbie or the Wicked movies, conservatives have moved on to a new film adaptation of Animal Farm. (The animated film, which is directed by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis, opens May 1).

By the numbers

At this stage, Serkis and his producing partner, Jonathan Cavendish, started tinkering around with an adaptation after he filmed 2011's “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” The rebellion in that movie reminded him of “Animal Farm,” which he read for the first time on the bus to school when he was 10 or 11.

On a related note, the theme of last year's Banned Books Week was "Censorship Is So 1984." When he wrote “Animal Farm,” he intended it as an allegory for the Russian Revolution and rise of Stalinism.

Going deeper, In 2026, he says, it “couldn’t, actually, be more relevant.”

On the substance, Orwell is often lauded as prophetic because his 1940s dystopian novels ring true with readers today.

What they're saying

“Animal Farm,” classically, is a story without a happy ending.

“It was just the most amazing experience of reading something that hits you viscerally,” Serkis tells USA TODAY. “It feels like it's something else, but you're not quite understanding the ground swell of darkness that's underneath it.”

The wider context

On a related note, Serkis approached the adaptation by asking himself what Orwell would write about if he wrote “Animal Farm” today.

Going deeper, the problem, however, is that they’ve failed to reach a consensus on what the actual message of Animal Farm is.

On the substance, many on both the left and the right found Gaines’ tweet bizarre, in part because while Animal Farm is certainly a critique of Stalinism, it’s also very clearly not a full-throated endorsement of capitalist ideals.

Beyond the headlines, the human owner of the farm is a capitalist, and after he is overthrown, the power-hungry pigs mimic his behaviors, adopting human clothes and profiting off the labor of the other farm animals.

More precisely, though middle schoolers might be able to immediately grasp the takeaways from Animal Farm, it says something that high-profile political commentators can’t.

The bottom line

• The new film is the latest adaptation of George Orwell’s novel.
• After their failure to cancel Barbie or the Wicked movies, conservatives have moved on to a new film adaptation of Animal Farm. (The animated film, which is directed by Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis, opens May 1).
• The theme of last year's Banned Books Week was "Censorship Is So 1984." When he wrote “Animal Farm,” he intended it as an allegory for the Russian Revolution and rise of Stalinism.
• Searches spiking right now: MAGA Is Confused About ‘Animal Farm’, ‘Animal Farm’ Review: George Orwell, Lost in the Mud, Andy Serkis explains why he changed Orwell's iconic 'Animal Farm' ending for new movie, Animal Farm movies have a long history of missing the point.