[WARNING: Fart Jokes Incoming]
Andy Serkis just did the unthinkable—remixed George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece with a script full of flatulence. The Annecy Animation crowd is flinching, and Film Twitter's about to explode.
Let's call it what it is: Animal Farm, now with 90% less Stalinism, 200% more butt-trumpets.
Critical Reaction: Serious Headscratching
There's not much applause. Reviews are caught between disbelief and giggly confusion. One jaw-dropper: Variety points out the “message feels muddled amid all the pratfalls and fart jokes”1. The lesson here? Even a performance-capture pioneer can slip on a metaphorical banana peel—especially when trading Orwell's horror for family-friendly giggles. IGN goes soft but not silent, noting Serkis “trades dystopian tone for something a little more uplifting.”2 (Translation: Bring your kids, leave your AP English syllabus at home.)
The wildest detail? Not the flatulence, not the tonal shift—it's the fact that a book that got banned in twenty countries is now introducing young viewers to revolution… and bathroom humor.
Déjà Vu: Hollywood's Long Love Affair with Tone-Deaf Reboots
But for every moviegoer wringing their hands, a savvy studio bean counter sees Shrek numbers in the distance. Remember when Cats (2019)—yes, that cursed fever dream—tried to pivot T.S. Eliot for TikTok? Same energy, different barnyard. Here's the uncomfortable truth: The animation industry's most devastating secret weapon isn't CGI—it's the fart joke, deployed whenever a studio can't decide between biting satire and a Happy Meal promotion.
As one anonymous Annecy attendee groaned, “I didn't come to Animal Farm for the gas. But I guess that's the new revolution.”
Orwell Rolls; Serkis Grins—What Does It All Mean?
This isn't just another adaptation gone off the rails. It's a case study in modern studio calculus: sanitizing subversion to maximize box office appeal. There's a pattern—see Disney's recent live-action classics stripped of their teeth, or DreamWorks' endless memeification. But here, the stakes are weirder. What happens when you sandblast all the danger off a parable meant to scare grownups straight?
Now, Let's Get Messy: Genius or Garbage?
Would you rather introduce your kid to communism with a side of slapstick—or would Orwell have rather eaten slop than witnessed this? You decide.
