Animal Farm (1954) and the Failure of the Revolution

Abstract

Animal Farm (1954) is a British-American animated film, adapted from George Orwell's novel of the same name. The summary of the film is about farm animals, revolting and driving out the cruel farm owner, then creating a new society where all animals are equal, free, and happy before being transformed into a totalitarian state led by the pig named Napoleon, who made the farm’s conditions just as bad as or perhaps even worse than those before the revolution. The purpose of this review article was to analyze the film, based on Marxist and Neo-Marxist theories, to find out why the revolution did not contribute to change for the better. The results of the analysis revealed that from the reasons within the film, the revolution failed to bring changes because of the undemocratic governance, propaganda, and a lack of attention from civil society in political participation. It therefore facilitated the tie of power to the leader and caused the revolution not to bring about the change as it should be.