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‘Animal Farm’ Review: Andy Serkis’ Sloppy Animated Adaptation Trades Political Insights for Potty Humor
George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' is ripe for reimagining, but apart from stars like Seth Rogen and Woody Harrelson, the CG cartoon misses the point.
Serkis’ 21st-century update dilutes Orwell’s political allegory in favor of what passes for something more “audience friendly”: His approach adopts the celebrity voices, cutesy character designs and antic, mile-a-minute energy of big-studio American toons. It’s hard to fault the cast, which includes Woody Harrelson as the hardworking old horse Boxer (who adds narrating to his many duties) and Seth Rogen as the opportunistic pig who seizes control as soon as he can (the comedian’s signature laugh has never sounded so sinister). Stoller’s script eliminates the Old Major character — a mix of Lenin’s and Marx’s ideologies, the warrior boar initiates the uprising against Farmer Jones (Serkis) — and introduces a cutesy-wootsy piglet named Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo) to serve as the audience surrogate.
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