‘Animal Farm’ Review: Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin and Glenn Close Voice Andy Serkis’ Dumbed-Down Orwell Adaptation

Here’s a fun fact for trivia buffs. The 1954 animated film version of George Orwell’s classic 1945 novella Animal Farm was funded and supervised by the CIA as part of their anti-Communist propaganda campaign. It sounds improbable, until you remember that this is the same outfit that considered using chemicals to destroy Fidel Castro’s beard.

The new animated version of the tale directed by Andy Serkis apparently benefited from no such governmental intervention. This bland, family-friendly adaptation seems less the product of the CIA than the PTA, sacrificing the story’s powerful anti-Stalinist message for a dumbed-down critique of corporatization featuring human villains (including one played by Glenn Close, who seems to be nostalgic for her days as Cruella de Vil).