Andy Serkis is directing a new version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. It’s a movie he has wanted to make for more than a decade.
The original novel for Animal Farm was published in 1945. It’s a satirical political allegory about anthropomorphised animals who rebel against their human farmer owners. They create a new society but face new challenges.
There is an original animated movie from 1954, with Gordon Heath narrating and Maurice Denham doing all of the animal voices. When this movie first came out, many parents took their children to the cinema, expecting a Walt Disney cartoon. The children weren’t expecting the bleakness of an Orwellian novel.
There was also a live-action version of Animal Farm in 1999, starring Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Patrick Stewart and Peter Ustinov. This version was made for TV, so it doesn’t count.
This new Animal Farm is getting more than one voice actor for the animals. The cast, at the moment, includes Seth Rogen, Gaten Matarazzo, Steve Buscemi, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox, Kieran Culkin, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Andy Serkis, Kathleen Turner and Iman Vellani.
Nicholas Stoller and Rupert Wyatt are writing the story. Stoller is known for penning movies like Yes Man, Gulliver’s Travels (2010), The Muppets, Muppets Most Wanted, Zoolander 2, Captain Underpants, oh and Bros. There’s a mixed bad there, I like both of The Muppet movies, but Bros., that’s not a good sign.
There is no release date for this new version of Animal Farm as yet. It’s expected towards the end of this year.