Animal Farm is a movie created by the CIA in 1954 as a way to denounce communism. The film has a few deviations from the original book, such as offering a more optimistic ending in which the animals revolt against Napoleon. Other key changes include the removal of the “Four legs good, two legs bad” chant, the reduction of the commandments to five, and Snowball’s death rather than just his exile.
The farm that the story revolves around is Manor Farm, owned by the drunkard Mr. Jones, whose favorite place to stay at the beginning of the movie is the local bar, the Red Lion. One night Mr. Jones came home later than usual from drinking to check on his animals. He was drunk, stumbling, kicking things, mumbling, and laughing. He locked the doors to the food storage so pests could not get in at night. He muttered, “Good-for-nothing beasts… eat their heads off…” as he slammed the door to Boxer and Benjamin’s pen. He ended up throwing his half-empty bottle at his terrified dog as she moved to let him into the house.
All the animals agreed to meet in the barn as Mr. Jones fell asleep. They gathered in the main barn for a secret meeting called by Old Major, the prize boar, who, because of his age, was regarded as the wisest animal on the farm. The pigs went to the meeting first, as they were the smartest animals and were fond of being first. They were followed by Boxer, the largest and strongest horse on the farm, and Benjamin the donkey, his best friend who was devoted to him. The rest of the animals, big and small, were restless to get there, for a meeting such as this had never been called before. Old Major’s health had been getting worse as a result of his age, and he had been known as a wise boar. He had things he wished to say to his fellow animals before he died. The pigs had taken the best seats at the front of the barn, directly in front of Old Major. Snowball, a pure white pig, was determined to get one of the best seats. After him was Napoleon, a British Saddleback, equally determined and even less polite than Snowball.
Old Major began to speak but froze when the door opened; he believed it was Mr. Jones, but it was just the black cat, who settled beside the dog as everyone finally took their seats. Old Major began explaining to the animals how they had been exploited. He told the animals to overthrow Mr. Jones and promised they would be better off. He called on them to “Revolt!” and they yelled and got loud until he calmed them. He warned them that after they overthrew Mr. Jones they should not adopt his immoral practices, proclaiming, “Now and forever, all animals are equal!” They then started singing the song of their revolution, “Beasts of England,” which Old Major joined in singing; due to his illness and age, singing caused his death. After this, all of the animals mourned him. The noise annoyed Mr. Jones, who fired a shotgun to scare them into silence. The loud noise caused all the animals to rush back to their pens. Mr. Jones then closed his window and went back to sleep. A raven looked at Old Major’s body and flew away. Mr. Jones slept in, hungover from his late-night drinking, and forgot to feed his animals.
This caused the animals to remember Old Major’s words and how right he had been. He had left the doors to the food stores unlocked, so the animals could get food. Snowball began to slam his body against the doors to try to open the food storage for the other animals. He commanded Boxer, two cows, and a goat to run into the doors to open them. This sudden loud noise awakened Mr. Jones, who discovered the animals had broken into the food. He showed up with his whip to scare the animals away, striking near them and frightening them from the food. This approach quickly turned against him as the animals began to rally.
The animals slowly closed in on him. Mr. Jones, terrified that his animals had turned against him, ran away from his farm to the Red Lion. The animals, now that Mr. Jones was gone, began eating the food they needed from the storage. Mr. Jones gathered other farmers and men from the Red Lion to join his cause against the animals of Manor Farm. Snowball, who had been keeping watch at the gate, saw the men approaching and signaled to the other animals. He directed them to positions to be ready for attack. The geese were the first to attack the men, who were quickly overpowered and forced back to the walls of Manor Farm. Snowball then rushed in to attack and was struck by the butt of a shotgun. The rest of the animals joined the fighting, except Napoleon and Squealer; the latter hid behind some hay. The men began to be overpowered, and Mr. Jones fired in all directions as Snowball ran at him. Mr. Jones shot Snowball, who tumbled to the ground; in retaliation, Boxer butted him into the air with his head. Snowball got back up; Mr. Jones tried to grab his shotgun again, but Boxer stepped on the shotgun while Mr. Jones’s hands were on it, crushing his fingers.
The animals pushed the men out of Manor Farm, with Snowball, although injured, giving chase to them. The animals went into the shed to remove everything that reminded them of Mr. Jones. They began stacking everything in a pile, with Napoleon and a sheep throwing sharp objects into a well. Snowball found a bloodied shirt and raised it as a flag of their revolution. The animals then burned the pile of things that reminded them of Mr. Jones while singing “Beasts of England.” Once the fire died down, they all looked at Mr. Jones’s house.
