A Halas and Batchelor Production
Starring: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham
Directed by: Joy Batchelor and John Halas
Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!
Synopsis: The original animated version of George Orwell’s novel. The animals on the drunken and cruel Mr. Jones’ farm rise up against the man and create their own society with the idea of making life equal and fair for all animals, only to have corruption tear apart the utopia they hoped to create.
Kitty Cameos: When Old Major calls a meeting of all the animals to share his views on their plight, he is startled when the barn door opens slightly. It turns out to be the farm’s black cat, who is late to the meeting. The cat takes a seat next to the dog and curls up and promptly goes to sleep.
He only awakens when the other animals mourn the sudden death of Old Major and yowls along with them.
Later when it is decided to spread the word about Animal Farm to other animals in the vicinity, an illustration of a starving cat is shown briefly to demonstrate how animals might need to throw off their chains of oppression.
But when a bird tries to tell another farm cat about the revolt the cat just laughs in the bird’s face. The cat is content with its lot, enjoying a nice saucer of milk.
Final Mewsings: Cats prefer self-reliance and independence over any form of society.
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