George Orwell's Animal Farm.
It's one of the most searing yet accessible indictments of totalitarianism - Communism, Naziism, modern academic DEI, take your pick - ever written.
It brings Solzenitzyn or, well, Orwell down to a level that any high school kid can understand, and should read it. I'm not going to say "reading it puts kids off Communism forever", but if it doesn't, it should.
Maybe that's why, if you believe Hollywood's own PR buzz, the story had to be bowdlerized into meaninglessness;
Andy Serkis is bringing George Orwell’s Animal Farm to life with an all-star voice cast that includes Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, Gaten Matarazzo, and more. The upcoming animated adaptation is a reimagining of Orwell’s classic story about animals who rise up against their human oppressors, only to face new challenges under the rule of a pig named Napoleon. The project, as reported by Variety’s Brent Lang, is directed by Serkis, who also lends his voice to the film.
The adaptation is written by Nick Stoller, known for The Muppets and Storks, and produced by Aniventure and The Imaginarium, with animation by Cinesite. Rogen voices Napoleon, the cunning pig who takes power, symbolizing the corruption that can arise from unchecked authority. The message remains hauntingly relevant: even revolutions can go astray if animals—or people—forget the values that sparked them.
Orwell’s tale has always been a powerful metaphor for power, oppression, and injustice. In a time when real-world animals are still exploited in factory farms and testing labs, this modern retelling might make viewers reflect on how humans continue to abuse their dominion over animals.
That's right - it's about animal rights.
The counter-buzz is, fortunately, counter-buzzing
A trailer for a new adaptation of George Orwell’s classic novel, Animal Farm, has already been dubbed ‘absolutely horrific’.
The animated movie from Andy Serkis features an all-star cast, including Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Woody Harrelson, and Kieran Culkin, to portray this twisted political cautionary tale (or, as they put it, a cautionary tail).
First released in 1945, the novel follows a group of animals who overthrow the human farmers and establish their own society led by pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, which ultimately fails after lust for power corrupts the movement.
Speaking of the trailer, you be the judge:
I have yet to read a review that isn't something like this:
I understand the dynamics of declining interest in going to movie theaters due to streaming, home entertainment centers, etc.
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) December 13, 2025
But has anyone considered the possibility that the real issue why theaters are shutting down nationally is that no one in Hollywood outside of Tom Cruise… https://t.co/TjnNblfbm7
While I urge you to read the entire tweet, here's the money clip:
Somehow they have taken the most important anti-communist work of literature in world history and turned it into a wretched, unfunny AI hack that appears--at least based on this trailer--as being a screed against capitalist consumption.
Who thought this was a good idea? I mean--srsly--this had to be pitched to a bunch of Hollywood finance types in some dark room where they all nodded their heads. How is that even possible?Unbelievable.
Theories as to "Why" abound:
This was written, performed, and animated in the height of the woke era. They thought they had changed history’s narrative forever. They thought they had total control … like Orwell wrote about.
— Jim Lakely (@jlakely) December 14, 2025
Seems plausible. But maybe it's worse than that. Let's go back to the "Hollywood finance types" bit.
The film is a production of Angel Studios - a faith-based studio that's not been afraid to take on ugly, gnarly subjects in the past. They're the studio that did "Sound of Freedom" - simultaneously the worst date movie (since Enemy at the Gates, anyway) and best film about child sex trafficking ever.
Why?
No idea.
The essential Critical Drinker - who'd be the modern Roger Ebert if Ebert were a drunk, profane Scotsman - has a take that's probably NSFW and definitely correct:
If you have any teenagers in your life, the 1954 animated version of Animal Farm appears to be laser-true to Orwell's original vision:
Normally, I don't bother spending money on movies I don't think I'm going to enjoy, much less ones that will leave me throwing trash at the screen. But I may have to make an exception just to try to make sense of it all.
