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Today's British cartoon series Xiaobian introduces "Animal Farm" (Animal Farm). You may be familiar with his political allegorical novel of the same name, which describes the brewing, rise and final transformation of an "animalist" revolution. This film is an animated film based on the novel, telling the story of abused animals struggling to resist oppression. Filming on Animal Farm began in 1951 and took three years to complete. It is not only the first cinematic animated feature film in the UK, but also the earliest political fable animation in the UK and even in the world.
Synopsis
In a manor called Manner in England, the farmer, Mr. Jones, is addicted to drinking and hunting, and he doesn't care about taking care of the animals on his farm. June came, and it was the time of the wheat harvest, and Mr. Jones had gone hunting for two days without feeding the animals, and when he came back he fell asleep. At this time, before his death, the well-respected boar old Mazer called on the animals in the manor to resist human exploitation and establish a republic in which animals are the masters of their own homes.
In this complaining manor, the animals finally obeyed the advice of the old boar Mazer about rebelling and decided to resist the oppression of human beings. Under the leadership of the boar Snowball and Napoleon, the animals launched a revolutionary uprising, successfully expelled Jones and other humans from the manor, and overthrew the oppressive rule of humans. Manner Manor has since changed its name to Animal Farm. It stands to reason that the animals can be their own masters this time, but Napoleon the boar has set a lot of rules. He keeps saying that he wants to benefit everyone, but he makes everyone work all day long and the food is poor. . And Napoleon himself, having fun with the other boars, wanted to sell the farm and the animals! The estates became increasingly totalitarian and prosperous, completely antithetical to democratic freedom. The original intention of the rebellion has long been distorted. The dictator Napoleon and the pigs who followed him have long since become like people, and finally the Animal Farm name has been dropped.
For a long time, people thought that "animation is entertainment", but this cartoon has successfully subverted this view. The film is through the allegorical depiction of the animal world, alluding to the real life of human beings, and causing the audience to feel totalitarianism. and profound reflection on the social system.
about the author
George Orwell (1903-1950), formerly known as Eric Arthur Blair, was a famous British left-wing writer, journalist and social critic, known as "the cold conscience of a generation" . He is characterized by hatred of tyranny and sympathy for the weak. Most of his works focus on revealing social injustice, opposing totalitarianism, and advocating social democracy, represented by political satires Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
In these two works, Orwell exposed totalitarianism under the name of socialism, and the language of the totalitarian regime in the novel has been continuously confirmed in the subsequent history. The "Big Brother" (Big Brother), "Words" (Newspeak) and "Doublethink" (Doublethink) that he used in his novels have all been included in the English dictionary and are widely used as satirical words. Due to the influence of his works in the political field, words such as "Orwellian" and "Orwellian" derived from his name have even become common words and are widely used to refer to those described in his novels. a totalitarian regime.
Main characters and their symbolism
Old Major - pig, put forward the idea of animalism, alluding to Marx and Lenin
Snowball - pig, doer, one of the leaders of the Animal Farm revolution, later expelled and declared an enemy of the revolution, alluding to Trotsky. (Proletarian revolutionary, expelled from the CPSU in 1927 for opposing Stalin's dictatorship, then exiled and expelled from other countries, and later assassinated by Soviet agents)
Napoleon - pig, careerist, one of the leaders of the Animal Farm revolution, and later became the leader of the farm, alluding to Stalin (the former leader of the Soviet Union, who was in power for nearly three decades, established a cult of personality, and oppressed and exiled minorities. )
Boxer - the horse, the most industrious and loyal worker on the entire farm, a loyal follower of the animalist philosophy, actively responding to the call of the revolutionary leader, and later sold to a horse slaughterer by Napoleon. Symbolizes the Russian working class, the broad and kind masses who believe in "revolutionary theory".
Benjamin - Donkey, a being of wisdom and cowardice. It symbolizes intellectuals who have independent thoughts and are skeptical of totalitarianism but keep themselves safe. (The author claims that Benjamin is alluding to himself)
Moses (Moses) - the raven, tamed by the farmer Jones. At first escaped the farm with Jones, and later returned to the farm. Often talk about the sweet dreams of Honey Mountain. Represents the Orthodox Church.
Mollie - Horse, stupid, vain, materialist. No interest in revolution, only concerned with his own interests, and later escaped from Animal Farm. Represents the more reactionary parts of the Russian middle and petty bourgeoisie
Many nameless dogs (EMINEM) - Napoleon's instrument of violent rule on Animal Farm, symbolizing the various violent institutions of totalitarian states (such as the NKVD).
Mr. Jones - the old owner of the manor farm, alluding to Tsar Nicholas II (the last emperor of the Russian Empire, when he came to the throne, tsarism was already crumbling).
film and politics
Xia Zhiqing, a famous Chinese scholar at Columbia University, believes: "Since Aesop's fables in Western literature, there have been fairy tales and fables based on animals in all dynasties. But for readers in the late 20th century, none of these works is better than "Aesop's Fables". Animal Farm is more pertinent to the human condition today.”
George Orwell's representative work "Animal Farm" shows us a fractured, broken and absurd totalitarian world under the cover of fairy tales. Critics generally agree that the story is based on the post-October Revolution in the Soviet Union, and the author himself mentioned in a letter to Yvonne Davet that his novel was in fact anti-Stalin. From a unique animal perspective, "Animal Farm" poignantly satirizes the status quo of socialist development in the Soviet Union during Stalin's time, and predicted the future fate of the communist movement. The Soviet Union in 1991, the upheaval in Eastern Europe, and subsequent history confirmed the film's predictions.
The story I had to tell with the CIA
Mainstream newspapers in the United States hailed the film, calling it "British Disney." Little is known that the film was actually funded by the CIA. The CIA bought the rights to "Animal Farm" and invested in the filming. One of them played a big role - New Yorker Hunter. Hunt, who was a CIA agent at the time, revealed the truth about the CIA's involvement in the film in his 1974 book, Memoirs of an American Secret Agent. Hunter was responsible for buying the screen rights to "Animal Farm," and it can be said that he made his first contribution to the release of "Animal Farm."
The United States used the film to implement its own cultural strategy, spread American values globally, and shape its own cultural authority. Few British novels have been translated into as many languages and published as Animal Farm, and the CIA may have contributed. But also because of the CIA's involvement, the film's ending is different from the novel's negative ending. The ending was changed to other animals seeking help from the outside world, shattering Napoleon's evil rule.
Orwell, the original author of Animal Farm, was very dissatisfied with this. The closing line is, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others". However, this ending is not necessarily more equal and more advanced. Even if the ending was changed to the collapse of Napoleon's rule, there was no guarantee that there would be no next Napoleon.
To a certain extent, "Animal Farm" goes far beyond the general "cartoon" category. It is different from the mainstream American animation represented by Disney. It is not a witty comedy pastime, but a serious non-traditional theme. Although it was used as an anti-Soviet political tool at the time, its aesthetic significance should not be ignored. "Allegory is only a means, and redemption is its ultimate goal."
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