"Animal Farm" – The Movie, Showing In Movie Theaters This Friday

A feature-length animated interpretation of George Orwell's novella, "Animal Farm", is being released this weekend in movie theaters nationwide. Yet, the cartoon-like movie is receiving some criticism for being more of a modern day somewhat crassy spoof of Orwell's political satire rather than a serious take on the storyline. With George Orwell's novella typically interpreted as one that reveals how quickly absolute power rewrites what is considered by society to be the truth.

The animated film is directed by Andy Serkis, an English actor who was raised Catholic, but has been an atheist since his teenage years. Since Serkis was a member of the Socialist Workers Party in the early 1990s his involvement with "Animal Farm" is particularly interesting. Since the plot of George Orwell's novella is often described as being an allegory of the socialist revolution in Russia during which time Lenin and then Stalin took over. With the pigs of the farm who rebel against humans and then begin imitating their former nemesis, the humans, being the means by which the English writer, Orwell, exposes the fallacies of the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution, and other similar regimes.

With Angel Studios being the distributor for the film, "Animal Farm", some have also questioned their involvement with a film directed by Serkis and his atheist viewpoints. For while Angel Studios was founded by the brothers, Neal Harmon, Jeffrey Harmon, and Daniel Harmon, who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they have heretofore focused on faith-based and values-based entertainment. With their previous projects, in spite of their Mormonism, being typically in line with Christian evangelical beliefs.

Some of their previous projects have included "The Chosen" television series and the motion picture, the "Sound of Freedom". In response to those who have questioned their alignment with Serkis in "Animal Farm", they have stated that the Angel Guild approved their distribution of the film. The Angel Guild is a roughly one-million member, crowd – funding, and voting community that allows investors and fans of Angel Studios to select and greenlight which content will be distributed by Angel Studios.

It is important to note that Angel Studios recently completed a business combination with Southport Acquisition Corporation. Which led to Angel Studios trading on the stock exchange effective September 11th, 2025. Some of their upcoming movie releases include, "Young Washington", which will be released close to the Fourth of July.

Other criticisms of the animated soon-to-be-released, "Animal Farm", include the fact that a transgender activist and actor, Laverne Cox, is the voice for the sow, Snowball. A character which was originally written as a male pig in George Orwell's novella. A novella that was published in 1945. Laverne Cox hails from Mobile, Alabama and is a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, Alabama. Cox was born an African-American male and attempted suicide at the age of eleven after noticing that he had "feelings" for his male classmates. Cox has since tried to become a woman and was the first transgender to be featured on the cover of "Time" magazine.

Some of the elements from George Orwell's original novella that are still present in the soon-to-be-released cartoon version include the poignant story line about the dedicated cart-horse, Boxer. Boxer being the horse who truly cares for the others on the farm and keeps working hard when all of the others start to despair under the new regime. He ends up being sold to the glue factory by the pigs after collapsing from working so hard. The famous line from George Orwell's, "Animal Farm", is also present in the upcoming animated version. As the final rule for the farm is rewritten by the pigs to state that, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

The running time for the forthcoming "Animal Farm" movie is an hour and thirty-six minutes. It is rated PG and is scheduled for release in movie theaters this Friday, May 01st, 2026. A preview of the upcoming film can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8wLmj9SiKMgel

Luisa Reyes is a Tuscaloosa Attorney, piano instructor, vocalist, poet, reporter, and columnist who writes on current affairs, politics, and the arts.