YMMV / Animal Farm (1954)

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Why did Mr. Jones not flee the windmill after setting the fuse? Was he too drunk to get away in time or did he want to die, seeing as though he'd lost his farm and had been written off by his fellow farmers?
  • When Napoleon demands that any traitors confess their crimes, a sheep and a duck come forward to join the hens in their fate, and unlike in the book they remain silent and don't actually claim to have done anything wrong. Were they actually working against Napoleon, or did they simply not support him and came forward to show solidarity with the hens' cause? Or were they truly innocent but were sacrificing themselves to protect any other animals from being blamed?
• Animation Age Ghetto: The animated film contains the same political allegories and violence present in the novel. It was marketed as an adult film when it was first released, and the BBFC classified it as Universal, meaning that they considered it to be appropriate for children.
• Common Knowledge: Contrary to popular belief, the film was not rated X upon release, as the BBFC website shows it was always rated U. It may have been confused with an underground bootleg film by the same name that was rated X.
• Complete Monster: Napoleon is a cunning, hedonistic, gluttonous, and power-hungry British Saddleback boar who—following Mister Jones' expulsion from Manor Farm—begins plotting to seize power for himself. Raising a group of orphaned puppies into vicious attack dogs and using them to assassinate his well-intentioned rival Snowball, Napoleon names himself the supreme leader of Animal Farm. Gaslighting and intimidating the other animals into accepting the increasingly authoritarian changes he has his sycophant Squealer make to Animal Farm's laws, Napoleon quickly proves to be far worse than Mister Jones ever was—hoarding the food produced for himself and the other pigs; working the other animals to exhaustion and starvation; stealing the hens' eggs; selling Boxer the draught horse to a glue factory in exchange for human foods and alcohol; and using his attack dogs to terrorize or execute anyone who challenges his autocratic regime. By the time the other animals rise up and overthrow him, they can no longer tell the difference between Napoleon and Mister Jones.
• Moment of Awesome: Unlike in the book, the animals do overthrow Napoleon.
• Narm Charm: Many of the film's most emotional scenes rely on Boxer and Benjamin, who have no spoken lines and are characterized only through animal sounds and facial expressions, but it still works, with Benjamin's reaction when Boxer is sent to his death being an absolute Tear Jerker.
• Obvious Judas: The design of Napoleon makes it far too evident that he is or will become the bad guy, especially if you compare him with the other pigs. Part of it is that he's dark in color, which his breed (Berkshire boar) is in real life, and he's stated to be the only one on the farm. Just in case that is too subtle, he also wears a perpetual nasty grimace. His pre-coup actions are also more overtly shady than they were ever depicted as in the book.
• Ugly Cute: Old Major. While he can look intimidating when he has an angry expression◊, he still has a chubby physique, long jowls, and fluffy ears that make him look like a nice old hog when his expression is more relaxed.

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