{"id":2600275,"date":"2026-05-08T09:02:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/animal-farm-is-too-boring-to-deserve-all-this-controversy\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T09:08:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T13:08:04","slug":"animal-farm-is-too-boring-to-deserve-all-this-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/animal-farm-is-too-boring-to-deserve-all-this-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Animal Farm&#8217; is too boring to deserve all this controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fanimal-farm-is-too-boring-to-deserve-all-this-controversy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2600275&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Andy Serkis\u2019s (Angel Studios) adaptation of *Animal Farm* and the controversy over what political message it carries. Serkis suggests the film\u2019s themes can map onto many forms of authoritarianism, aiming to spark family discussions rather than land on one \u201ccorrect\u201d interpretation. however, early reactions to the trailer raised concerns that the movie may be too glib or that it reverses Orwell\u2019s anti-communist intent by seeming to criticize capitalism instead.<\/p>\n<p>Critics and supporters disagree on the film\u2019s stance. Some point to elements like character reinterpretations and production choices as evidence the movie is anti-capitalism or otherwise politically skewed,while others argue it isn\u2019t truly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-move-to-strip-funding-from-schools-that-use-1619-project\/\" title=\"Republicans Move To Strip Funding From Schools That Use 1619 Project\">anti-capitalist<\/a>-citing scenes such as animals selling goods at a farmers\u2019 market. The piece also claims the film\u2019s moral messaging feels flat and sometimes muddled compared with Orwell\u2019s original, even as it includes some positive additions, such as a new pig protagonist (Lucky) and an ending that emphasizes chosen effort and community rather than forced labor.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the story, the article notes additional friction for parents, including casting choices and references it says may resonate with contemporary U.S. politics. It also highlights that Angel Studios is known for conservative and faith-based movies, prompting debate among conservatives over whether to celebrate the film or criticize it due to both the political controversy and the studio\u2019s involvement. the piece argues that despite a possibly strong core story, the adaptation\u2019s execution and messaging leave viewers-especially children and their parents-with a less clear, more contentious takeaway than Orwell\u2019s original.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>Andy Serkis, the director of Angel Studios\u2019s new <em>Animal Farm<\/em> adaptation, practically admits that it\u2019s about whatever kind of authoritarianism you want it to be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe debate is the thing,\u201d he told the crowd at an early screening of the film in Washington, D.C. \u201cIdeally, it would be parents listening or the grandparents listening to their kids having watched it. That\u2019s the goal. We want them to be the ones who have the voice because they are the ones who will inherit our very, very troubled and untrue world that we\u2019re living in.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4558650\/these-aint-your-daddys-donkeys-joe-concha\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>\u2018These ain\u2019t your daddy\u2019s donkeys\u2019: Joe Concha talks Democrats<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4558272\/obama-presidential-center-tickets-sell-out\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Obama Presidential Center looks to \u2018put presidency in context\u2019 as tickets sell out<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4558198\/kennedy-obama-colbert-motel-room-interview\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Kennedy suggests Obama and Colbert \u2018get a motel room\u2019 after cozy interview<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Serkis has spent much of the press tour doing one kind of damage control or another. When the first trailer for the film came out in December, it immediately went viral, and not for good reasons. <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Whether it was because of Napoleon the pig performatively shaking his rump, or the bouncy background tones of \u201cFeel It Still\u201d by Portugal. The Man, audiences worried that the film may be too glib an adaptation of George Orwell\u2019s 1945 masterpiece, a book that criticized a regime responsible for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/national-security-defense\/100-years-of-communism-and-100-million-dead\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.hudson.org\/national-security-defense\/100-years-of-communism-and-100-million-dead\">millions\u00a0of deaths<\/a>. Then there was Mr. Pilkington, the farmer who was meant to represent the Allies in the book, who was turned into a high-tech evil capitalist girl boss voiced by Glenn Close. Was the film actually criticizing capitalism, not communism?<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Still from \u2018Animal Farm\u2019 featuring the horse Boxer (Woody Harrelson) and Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo).  (Courtesy of Angel Studios)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The makers of the movie don\u2019t like to weigh in too definitively. At the Washington screening, Serkis ambiguously nodded to \u201cthe commonality actually between people on the Left and the Right who both felt that in some way we betrayed Orwell\u201d and referenced the criticism that \u201cwe were telling a story about capitalism and not communism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was fascinating,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause it really just got people up, and that\u2019s exactly what we wanted to do with the film.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Words such as \u201cinteresting\u201d and \u201cfascinating\u201d are often employed by people who have more to say than they\u2019re letting on, and the messages about what\u2019s really going on in the film have been mixed. While a <em>USA Today<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/books\/2026\/04\/28\/andy-serkis-animal-farm-movie-controversy\/89776093007\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/entertainment\/books\/2026\/04\/28\/andy-serkis-animal-farm-movie-controversy\/89776093007\/\">story\u00a0suggests<\/a> that Serkis \u201cgravitated toward themes of capitalism, wealth and overconsumption,\u201d co-producer Jonathan Cavendish\u00a0pushed back\u00a0on the idea that the film was anti-capitalist, pointing to a scene where the animals sell produce at a farmers\u2019 market. <\/p>\n<p>The film itself is similarly equivocal, certainly more focused on consumption than Orwell\u2019s original, but not as anti-capitalist as some have made it seem. In <em>Animal Farm<\/em>, the political figures you recognize may depend on your own leanings. Is Napoleon like President Donald Trump? Or socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani?<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, <em>Animal Farm<\/em> is too forgettable to warrant this much investigation. <\/p>\n<p>There are positive elements to the film. Like the protagonist, Lucky, a young pig who\u2019s not in the book, and gives the story a happy ending.<\/p>\n<p>After the animals band together to take down the despotic Napoleon, Lucky concludes that no one has all the answers and that the animals should work hard because they choose to, not because they have to. These are two excellent free-market concepts. The great economist F.A. Hayek famously warned that no one person has the knowledge for effective central planning. As he wrote in <em>The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism, \u201c<\/em>The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.\u201d And the idea of choosing to work hard to benefit oneself and one\u2019s community is unequivocally patriotic.<\/p>\n<p>The movie\u2019s flaws, however, are more prevalent. I\u2019ll start with an artistic quibble, namely, that the animation style of the human characters is weirdly eerie and oddly reminiscent of the nearly 20-year-old <em>Bee Movie<\/em>. More seriously, the film\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >moral messages fall largely flat<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In one scene, when Lucky and the horse Boxer are debating whether it\u2019s wrong to drink extra milk without sharing it with the entire farm, Boxer refuses but quickly dismisses the conversation: \u201cYou worry too much, Lucky. Remember what I always say: Just look up at the stars. They take all our worries away.\u201d Of course, the story of Boxer is really about how being stupid can get you exploited and killed, but I don\u2019t think any kids are going to realize that Boxer\u2019s pabulum is just that.<\/p>\n<p>There are plenty of other things that will go over children\u2019s heads but may bother their conservative parents. The character of Snowball is voiced by the transgender-identifying actor Laverne Cox, who, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oscars-war-in-ukraine-will-be-respectfully-acknowledged-during-broadcast\/\" title=\"Oscars: War in Ukraine will Be Respectfully Acknowledged During Broadcast\">red carpet interview<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/video\/laverne-cox-warns-of-dehumanization-of-transgender-people-9a98fb5730304261bb75dd7920d46818\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/video\/laverne-cox-warns-of-dehumanization-of-transgender-people-9a98fb5730304261bb75dd7920d46818\">compared\u00a0the dehumanization<\/a> of the animals in the movie to the experiences of male athletes who want to play in girls sports. Near the end of the film, Napoleon is soaking up the adoration of the crowd when he tells them that people who believe in limits on power are \u201closers,\u201d creating a not-so-subtle nod to a certain prominent leader who\u2019s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/trump-rips-total-loser-trevor-noah-over-grammys-epstein-joke-threatens-lawsuit\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/trump-rips-total-loser-trevor-noah-over-grammys-epstein-joke-threatens-lawsuit\">fond\u00a0of the word<\/a>. (Angel Studios is also inexplicably <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/shop.angel.com\/products\/animal-farm-maffa-trucker-cap\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/shop.angel.com\/products\/animal-farm-maffa-trucker-cap\">selling\u00a0a MAGA-style red hat<\/a> that says, \u201cMake Animal Farm Fiction Again.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard for even good artists to make <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/politics\/\">politics-adjacent<\/a> <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/art\/\">art<\/a> in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Trump era<\/a>, and that\u2019s because every politician has to become a Donald doppelg\u00e4nger. When <em>Peaky Blinders <\/em>introduced the real British politician Oswald Mosley in its fifth season, his rhetoric was distinctly Trump-like. Amazon\u2019s <em>The Boys<\/em> was a clever twist on the hero genre until its lead villain became an obvious stand-in for Trump (and showrunner Eric Kripke would <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/tv-movies\/tv-movie-features\/boys-penis-homelander-trump-billy-joel-season-3-1369258\/\">say so<\/a> every chance he got).<\/p>\n<p>At the <em>Animal Farm<\/em> screening in the district, Cavendish said that nobody knows who Leon Trotsky is anymore, but if Orwell were writing today, \u201cit wouldn\u2019t be communist totalitarianism. Probably, he would be writing a lot about America.\u201d We\u2019ve been informed by British media that fascism is on the rise in the United Kingdom, so I\u2019m not quite sure that\u2019s accurate. But everyone always wants to make the United States the main character, and it\u2019s hard to complain about that.<\/p>\n<p>Even more confusing than the film\u2019s muddled messaging is the fact that it was distributed by Angel Studios, the company best-known for conservative and faith-based films such as <em>Sound of Freedom<\/em>, <em>Cabrini<\/em>, and <em>The King of Kings<\/em>. A spokesman for the studio <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/animal-farm-studio-responds-to-criticism-new-film-11221154\">pushed back<\/a> on the criticism months ago, saying, \u201c1. Angel is the distributor of this film, not its producer, nor with creative control. 2. Angel Guild members viewed the film and voted heavily to support it. 3. While the title is the same as the classic book, updates were made to make it relevant to a broad-based, values-centric, family-friendly audience. 4. This is an anti-communism film, and the Angel Guild will ensure that it stands by the principles of our members.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question of whether or not to celebrate the film because of Angel Studios or to criticize it because of the capitalism controversy is currently <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Riley_Gaines_\/status\/2049267428073361594\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Riley_Gaines_\/status\/2049267428073361594\">dividing\u00a0conservatives<\/a>. One could say that to the extent that any anti-communist messages remain in the film, they have the potential to reach a massive audience, considering the star power of voice actors Seth Rogen, Woody Harrelson, and Serkis himself. Or, as most seem to agree, perhaps the studio made a big mistake in picking this film to distribute.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/entertainment\/4445227\/animal-farm-filmmakers-push-back-on-anti-capitalist-movie-criticism\/\">ANIMAL FARM FILMMAKERS PUSH BACK ON \u2018ANTI-CAPITALIST\u2019 MOVIE CRITICISM <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Amid the shopping sprees and the fart jokes, there is a good story hiding within <em>Animal Farm<\/em>, and that story is Orwell\u2019s classic. It\u2019s true that Orwell wouldn\u2019t have liked Trump. Despite creating one of the greatest pieces of anti-communist literature, he aligned himself with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.orwellfoundation.com\/the-orwell-foundation\/orwell\/essays-and-other-works\/why-i-write\/\">\u201cdemocratic socialism.\u201d<\/a> What he hated was totalitarianism, something that people on the Left never suspect may be erupting on their side.<\/p>\n<p>What lesson children will take from the movie is really up to their parents, should they choose to take them at all.<\/p>\n<p><em>Madeline Fry Schultz is a writer and editor based in the Washington, D.C., area.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy Serkis says Animal Farm\u2019s message is open to whatever authoritarianism you want<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":798,"featured_media":2600276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LA.Culture.051326.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[79317,64694,79318,79319,79320],"class_list":["post-2600275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-animal-farm-2","tag-book-criticism","tag-george-orwell-2","tag-literary-controversy","tag-political-allegory"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/LA.Culture.051326.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/798"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2600275"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2600283,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2600275\/revisions\/2600283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2600276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2600275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2600275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2600275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}