All animal farm films are equal, but some are more equal than others

Comparing any previous adaptation of Animal farm to the newest one we got is like comparing a solid gold ingot to pyrite found in your backyard

Book: "Old Major died peacefully in his sleep."

Movie: (gets shot by a stray bullet, backflips out of a window, does a somersault and breaks his neck on a hay bale)

I'm still waiting for an animal farm adaptation that ends with Napoleon dying and the whole thing turning into "The Death of Stalin" but with pigs

Yes, that scene of Napoleon standing on two feet is actually chilling, especially as the song dedicated to him reaches a threatening crescendo. To me, that’s where the movie should have ended because it coincides with Orwell’s original ending.

I actually like leaving Snowball's fate open to interpretation because it makes the parts where Napoleon uses him as a scapegoat make more sense, since nobody knows what happened to him but we the audience know that he died because of circunstence.

The Jim Henson Creature workshop actually helped on the film with the close up puppets of the pigs

One thing I have to admit the puppets of the animals are amazing for a made-for-TV movie.

I wouldn't say the ending to this one is happy, i'd say its more dubious. It is more accurate to real life events, it took Stalin dying for Stalinism to slowly come to a stop but when one leader dies, another needs to take their place and how I viewed the ending was more "will they make the same mistakes of leaders of the past or will they make changes for the better"
Just because the new family looked happier and nicer than Jones, doesn't mean that they are better people

Here's a fun fact my Grandfather once met Pete Postlethwaite the guy who played Jones in this adaptation when working as a barber in London Pothwait was their for a shave

Reguarding the ending, I think it's meant to be more of a dramatic irony situation. Much like how the animals threw off the rule of the neglectful humans and were chipper in thier new freedom, now Jesse is happy that the tyranny of the pigs has been overthrown, unaware or perhaps even ignoring that everything has come full circle and they're back under human watch. But it's okay, because they're not pigs, so that automatically means it's better, right? Sure, she says they won't make the same mistakes again, but that's what they said after Jones was expelled too and look what happened.
In other words, "Here we go again."

I think the reason why the scene of Boxer being taken to the glue factory doesn't hit as hard here as it did in the 1954 film is because it's going for a completely different angle. In the 1954 film, it focuses on the tragedy of the animals as they make a futile attempt to save Boxer. In this movie, it focuses on the horror behind its context: this moment occurs because our main characters, for once, blindly trust the pigs with something and causes them to LITERALLY lead one of their commrades to his own death.

The original was to show that any non-pig animal's worth is only tied to how/if they can work, no matter how loyal. The 1999 adaptation acts as a wake up call for our leads to recognize how their dreams made real have turned into a living nightmare.

I think we owe the 1999 version an apology

I like how Napoleon in this adaptation is closer to his book counterpart by having him a Berkshire pig while the original movie and the 2026 film has him a British Saddleback,
I also like how Squealer is a Tamworth in this adaptation

I actually find it interesting that Jones is portrayed more pitiful in this version. Since hes meant to represent Tsar Nicholas II, who was described as being more at home in the countryside, relaxing with his wife and kids,than in the palace doing any actual ruling. From what I remember/understand (and please correct me if I’m wrong) he was a bad ruler mainly through neglect like Jones in this movie, rather than the abuse like in the animated version.

The tacked-on "happy ending" feels like a last-minute addition after the test audiences likely wanted one... and the half-assedness of the ending also reeks of "we ran out of budget on CGI for a climactic final battle where they overthrow the villain", so they desperately tried to imply it happened offscreen via a timeskip... but instead, it also comes off more as a "this can and WILL happen again" loop ending... so technically, we STILL got a depressing (if yet also realistic) ending if you think about it.

The thought came up Napoleon and the animals of Manor Farm would be thrown for a loop if they met the cast of Back at the Barnyard

9:32 The worst thing about this change is that the creators could’ve found less stupid replacements to alcohol, like “no unknown liquids”

The 1950s version is still my favorite, but this version is still pretty good in its own merit. The 2026 version shouldn't even exist honestly.

One thing this film did phenomenally with, honestly, is the music. It feels like the composer studied and tried to bring in the "sound" of old Soviet music. For example, the song when they're building the windmill sounds SUPER similar to the Soviet military song, Let's Go!

It was a legitimately great choice ngl. "Beasts of the World" is one of the only parts of any adaptation I consider outright superior to the original thing it replaced, it's spine-chilling.