MAGNET’s Mitch Myers says all movie adaptations are equal, but some movie adaptations are more equal than others. He also calls dibs.
The votes are in, and the new animated film adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm has not fared well with critics or moviegoers. Despite showcasing voices of fan favorites like Seth Rogen, Glenn Close and Woody Harrelson under the direction of stop-motion innovator/actor Andy Serkis, this family-friendly production has defanged the overtly political messaging of Orwell’s original story and lost its way. Not surprising, considering the 1945 novella Animal Farm: A Fairy Story was an inspired allegorical takedown of the 1917 Russian Revolution and the totalitarian Stalinist regime that followed.
Of course, we’re well into the 21st century now, and it was inevitable that any big-budget anthropomorphic animation intended for mainstream consumption would whitewash not just Orwell’s political commentary but the inherent moralizing on human nature that follows. Still, it does beg the question, why bother to license this 81-year-old dystopian satire for family entertainment just because it showcases a bunch of critters on Manor Farm that can talk?
Orwell once said, “Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole.” Andy Serkis, not so much—with his cross-generational family-oriented cartoon fable—but who can blame him? He certainly was in the position to get his film green-lit by Angel Studios and fill the cast with many fine actors. Surely, this movie has plenty of jokes for the parents as well as the kids, and it’s just another animated flick designed for some fun and light moral instruction. This is where we’re at as a society, so what’s the harm of this Animal Farm?
Well, in the 1960s, man, books like William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies and Orwell’s 1984, as well as Animal Farm, were part of reading initiatives designed to help shape the social values of America’s youth. That was all fine and good, but times have changed, and while there’s bound to be some teachable moments amidst the beastly hierarchy depicted by Serkis and Co., I suggest that their repurposing of an old conceit for a new film just didn’t go far enough. Sure, all movie adaptations are equal, but some movie adaptations are more equal than others. Don’t you agree?
What we really need to do is dispense with all this faux-moralizing and just focus on the anarchy and the hijinks. I say, let’s turn it up to 11, get real meta and take the fun quotient to a whole new level by combining Orwell’s Animal Farm with National Lampoon’s Animal House. So, if you will, please allow me to introduce Animal Farm House. All your favorite characters will be there, anthropomorphized for your pleasure. You’ll find Dean Wormer and John Belushi’s Bluto and all the other sociopaths, narcissists, elites and nerds placed within the fascistic animal caste system (and toga party) imposed on Faber College/Manor Farm. (Faber Farm? Manor College?)
With the animalized country-club Greek fraternity and its boozy Delta House rivals, from the pigs to the dogs and down to the workhorses, class warfare will be at the forefront of Animal Farm House. This mashup is so obvious that the script practically writes itself, and if you don’t believe me, just ask AI! That’s because I’m way too lazy to write it and just want everyone to know that it’s my idea, so I call dibs! I have a lot more ideas—I’m telling you! How about this one: the British folk scene of the early 1970s juxtaposed with King Arthur’s Court and his Knights Of The Round Table? You know, with characters like Sir Richard Thompson The Lionhearted and Sandy Denny filling in as Lady Of The Lake. It’s gold! I’ve been carrying that idea around for years, but since I had AI slop it out, movie poster and all, I’ve lost interest in the concept. Nevertheless, I still got dibs.
Which leads us to the proprietary nature of ideas and creativity in modern times. Am I entitled to claim ownership or at least credit for Animal Farm House? “Original concept by … ” Could it be that all that’s required to make a new work—permissions, copyrights and usages notwithstanding—is tell AI which two things to put together before anybody else does? I guess by getting one’s satire published on a magazine’s website might help one’s cause. You know, like on this date, for example. And here’s hoping my movie adaptation is more equal than others!
Dibs!
