Monday, 18 March 2013

Animation Theory 1 - 3

The 1954 animated adaption of George Orwell's Animal Farm was the next film we watched in Theory. The film deals with the events that led up to the Russian Revolution in the early 1900s.

Mr Jones of Manor Farm is a drunken farmer who is overthrown by the animals he keeps on his farm. He represents Tsar Nicholas II and is marked by his red shirt - striking against the typically muted colour palette - which references the red flag of the Soviet Union. Animal Farm does not criticise Communism itself, rather acting as an allegory for the corrupt leadership of the Soviet Union and so it is clear that, as Mr Jones is the 'leader' of the farm, he merely represents the corrupt leadership of the Soviet Union rather than implying an innate flaw with Communism itself. This use of the colour red is also used as Mr Jones' local pub - The Red Lion.

The pigs in the story represent political leaders and those that spearhead a revolution. As the story progresses, the pigs become increasingly more and more corrupt (though Napoleon, who represents Joseph Stalin, was always presented as malicious and selfish) and begin to walk on two feet. They become parallels to the humans they originally sought to be rid of, abusing the laws they put in place for their own gain. However, it is important to take note that not all of the pigs are shown to be corrupt, as Snowball is portrayed as an adversary to Napoleon's corrupting influence and spends a good deal of the film attempting to solve the problems on the farm in a fair manner.

I think that although the film shows that a corrupt leadership and passivity towards said corrupt can cause horrific circumstances, it also shows that class is an innate part of society. The animals attempt to create an ideal society where all animals are seen as equals but some animals struggle to keep up with others (as seen with Benjamin's sleepy response to education) and as such classes are created. It could be said that the existence of these classes are down to the innate corruption of the leadership and that without said corruption equality may be  maintained in spite of that.

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