This Is STILL The Worst Adaptation I Have Ever Seen

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:01]No need to bury the lead. The new Animal Farm movie has come out and so many of y'all in the comments were saying, "How can you say it's the worst adaptation you've ever seen if you've never seen the movie?" Well, I did see it. Let me tell you something. I was right. First things first, what did I say in my original video that actually came true in the movie?

[00:00:19]Let's start off with the little stuff.

[00:00:21]Yes, the film does not, in fact, mention alcohol. Any reference of it is referred to as naughty juice. That means you don't get to see Farmer Jones be an alcoholic. You don't get to see the humans colluding in bars over figuring out what to do with Animal Farm, and you don't see Pilkington, yes, I'm getting their name right this time, trying to persuade Napoleon with promises of whiskey. Okay, I'm lying.

[00:00:45]You do see her. Yes, Pilkington is a woman in this version, but that's honestly not even a problem, tempting Napoleon with alcohol, but rather than giving it to him as a straight whiskey and offering to get him more in exchange for trade, it's framed like they're at a frat party with her mixing cocktails for Napoleon and the other pigs to drink.

[00:01:05]And Napoleon's alcoholism, despite being a pretty big deal in the original, considering it's what led to them selling Boxer to the glue factory, is barely touched upon. You get a really quick throwaway scene of Squealer claiming Napoleon was poisoned only for him to walk out and say he's okay with an ice pack on his head, implying that he's meant to be hung over, except he doesn't act that way whatsoever. You could very easily cut out that entire exchange and the movie wouldn't have changed at all because the scene it's in doesn't hinge upon Napoleon prioritizing alcohol.

[00:01:38]It hinges on the animals' frustrations over lack of food. Like I predicted, there's definitely no killing. At least I don't think. Boxer is still sent to die just like in the original, don't get me wrong, although the scene it happens in is [ __ ] because the pigs send him to die almost immediately after he breaks his leg, almost like they were planning on it happening. Whereas in previous works, there was at least like a day or two in between Boxer getting hurt and being shipped away so the other animals could spend time with him and feel comfort in the fact that he'd finally get to retire. It also gave the pigs time to figure out exactly what they wanted to do with Boxer, along with giving a reason for selling him off.

[00:02:17]Here, they shipped him off to the glue factory right then and there after breaking his leg, not in the process of building the windmill, but to save a human from dying in the process of building a dam. A quick aside for context, in the movie, they build a water mill instead of a windmill, which Pilkington sees and convinces Napoleon to sell the land to her for in order to replace it with a hydroelectric dam more power. Believe it or not, I don't have a huge issue with Boxer wanting to save a human's life. It may seem out of character given how the rest of the animals feel about humans, but in general, Boxer never seemed like the type to want to cause death. So, this change in particular, I'm chill with.

[00:02:54]But back on to the subject of death, we maybe sort of see Snowball die. The scene where Snowball is chased out of the farm after Napoleon makes her look bad, yes, Snowball is also gender swapped in this version, again, not an actual problem, is made to look like it could go either way, that Snowball could have just been driven out or that she was killed by the dogs. I guess the implication is she died considering later on Napoleon sixes dogs on Lucky with the same line he uses on Snowball with the focus being put on the rule no killing without cause. Except hold on now, if we don't see any death caused by the pigs in the movie, considering there aren't any murder trials and Napoleon doesn't accuse any animals here of being in league with Jones or Snowball, what would be the point of changing the rule at all? At no point between these two events has Napoleon ordered the death of anybody, so the changing of the rule seems pointless.

[00:03:50]Matter of fact, that goes for a lot of the changing of the rules. The changing of no naughty juice in excess doesn't really work because Napoleon's drinking is only relegated to a single scene in the movie. So, there's no point in justifying his alcoholism aside from that one part. Changing the rule of no beds to no beds with sheets doesn't mean anything because the animals never see the pigs sleeping in beds to begin with and never call out the pigs as a result.

[00:04:15]And as for the four legs good, two legs bad, we'll get to that one later. Okay, now on to the big death, Old Major. It was his words combined with his death that inspired the revolution. So, how do they do it here?

[00:04:29]Well, here, all the animals are being shipped away to a slaughterhouse at once. And yes, they do explain why because Jones is behind on his payments to the bank, so he doesn't own the farm anymore. So, Pilkington is taking the land and the animals. The animals only realize they're going to a slaughterhouse because of Snowball and Lucky are the only animals that know how to read.

[00:04:50]There is lip service paid to the mistreatment Jones gives to animals, but since he's barely in the movie for 5 minutes, seriously, you only see him once at the beginning drunk off his ass and then never again, the focus is more on this being the final straw for the animals to rebel. And Snowball this time is the one to inspire the animals to revolution. So, what does Old Major get to do? Nothing because he's not in the [ __ ] movie. For some reason, they just cut Old Major's presence entirely and gave his role to Snowball. But you know who is in this movie still?

[00:05:22]Squealer. Why? I have no idea considering he doesn't do anything. He's still a yes-man desperate for Napoleon's approval, don't get me wrong, but in previous versions, Squealer held his own type of power on the farm. He was Napoleon's voice, the one who would speak to the barn animals after Napoleon decided to hold himself up in Jones's house as a sign of his authority. The animals never heard and never saw him in person unless they were holding a meeting or a trial. Every new rule, every new development, whether it be delivering the news that the hens give up their eggs or trying to convince the animals that Boxer never got sent to the glue factory, was done through him.

[00:06:03]Squealer was the second in command. He had authority. Here, he has nothing.

[00:06:08]He's the comic relief. He walks around using a baby walker because he can't walk like the other pigs can. He crashes cars and does pratfalls. His presence feels less like an intimidating, condescending voice talking down to other animals and more like an evil henchman. When Boxer is sent to the glue factory, he doesn't even try to convince the other animals that they didn't see what they clearly saw because he never talks to them, period. Next, let's talk about a big point that I had a problem with, the Animal Farm Market. So, like in the original, the pigs engage in trade. Unlike the original, the hens and cows are actively engaging and agreeing with it. Why? Why would they do that just to fuel Napoleon's vices? The thing is, they don't. See, in this version, Mr. Whimper, rather than being an extra person who takes advantage of the animals' lack of needs and bribing Napoleon with food and drink in order to make business, is working with the bank.

[00:07:06]And he tells the pigs that they need to make a thousand bucks in rent a month in order to keep the farm. So, the animals set up their own market to sell to humans. The problem I have here is that they feel like they're giving a reason for something that shouldn't be happening.

[00:07:19]Not once do the animals question why they should willingly sell the thing that they were taken from them by Jones in the past, and not once do the pigs explain that they have to do it or the farm will be gone. So, it makes it look like the hens and cows are fine with giving away the products of their bodies for market, something completely unheard of in the original story. In addition to that, it's framed here that Napoleon's overindulgence, at least when it comes to human things, they at least make it clear really early on that he's a glutton no matter what. It's a product of having too much money, so they go to spend it, which is what leads to them having cars, massage chairs, all the extra stuff, which they can't power, which is what leads to the building of the water mill. Speaking of, the idea that the pigs wanting to act more human was an idea planted in their head by Pilkington, I was right about that, too.

[00:08:10]Kind of. You see, rather than what I thought was going to happen, that being that she waves around fancy items like cars, clothes, and alcohol in their faces in an effort to sell them the farm, things go slightly differently.

[00:08:24]She still does that, don't get me wrong, but only after the pigs have decided on their own to act more human.

[00:08:30]Which, by the way, also kind of defeats the purpose of the original story. The pigs becoming more human is meant to be a final sign of their corruption. It starts with them adapting human vices, alcoholism, general greed, and the mistreatment of the animals, before they finally start doing things like wearing clothes and walking on two legs as a sign of their status of working with humans and separating themselves from the rest of the animals. There were no personal feelings fueling this decision.

[00:08:58]It was one made purely on ego [music] and pragmatism on the pigs' part. In this movie, because Napoleon notices some humans laughing at him when the pigs are out shopping for stuff, this is what makes him decide to act more human.

[00:09:12]Which is just stupid. Because it takes what is meant to be the biggest twist of the story and turns it into a slow progression throughout the plot. From this point on, they pretty much do things in reverse.

[00:09:25]See, the typical way it's done is the pigs overindulge in food, hoard it for themselves, then they start to drink alcohol, then come the murder trials and propaganda to satiate the masses, which, remember, doesn't happen here, then the pigs start walking on two legs, and then that's when the final rule is changed.

[00:09:42]However, in this one, despite the fact that four legs good, two legs bad is one of the strongest mantras in the story, matter of fact, it's one of the chants that the sheep repeat over and over again, it's dropped almost immediately. The movie frames it as first rule that got changed and the only rule that we see getting changed on screen and challenged for for being changed, by the way.

[00:10:05]Rather than the pigs acting human be the culmination of how corrupt they become, it becomes the process of their corruption. Which means more screen time for the pigs and their shenanigans and acting human and less time spent with the animals and seeing how the way the pigs live affects them. Speaking on the corruption more, let's skip ahead a bit and talk about the money line. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. I said in my original video that the line carries no weight if Napoleon doesn't look like he's the one that's taking control. And I was half right. Napoleon absolutely takes control of the farm, don't get me wrong. But when it comes to stuff like taking away the murder trials for anyone who dares disagree with him, no statues made in his honor, no Old Major's skull or hoof and horn being presented as a symbol, Napoleon feels less like a dictator in this film and more like a frat boy with too much authority. So this line, a sign of a dictator finally taking that step too far in achieving power, makes no sense coming from him.

[00:11:08]The way he says it, he says it like it's a marketable catch phrase rather than a perversion of Old Major's words. Or I suppose Snowball's words in this version. To add on to that, Napoleon never says this to the animals. Because at this point in the movie, the animals are engaging in a heist-style scheme to humiliate Napoleon. Yes, really. They're too distracted by enacting their plan to hear and register Napoleon say this. So we never get to see their reaction to him perverting Snowball's words. So if he's not saying it to the animals, who is he saying it to? Pilkington's employees. The people who are already working for him technically since he's been working alongside Pilkington to further indulge in his vices and sell the farm and animals within. The crux of the story, one of the most important lines in the original book, reduced to a WWE-style chant. Because WWE would be stupid enough to turn something like this into a chant. But now let's get into what I think might be the worst part of the story. I thought it might be Pilkington, but it turns out it was the new character they created. Lucky. His whole character reeks of we have to show the kids that not all pigs are bad. He's best friends with Boxer, trying to teach him to read and write since he's one of the only pigs who knows how to do so before the revolution. He gets a whole romance arc with one of the show pigs so that he can have a moment where [music] his ideals are challenged when she walks away. Despite also indulging in the same vices the pigs, he doesn't clearly enjoy it. Like he'll still walk on two legs, but clearly he doesn't enjoy drinking alcohol and clearly he doesn't dress as fancy as the other pigs, relegating himself to a sweatshirt and sweatpants as opposed to the Gucci-style tuxedos that Napoleon and Squealer would wear.

[00:12:53]And finally, he's the one that leads the other animals to a second revolution to humiliate Napoleon and save the farm.

[00:13:00]Now before anyone says anything, yes, I'm aware in the original story that there were pigs that didn't agree with Napoleon's ideals. But they were dealt with pretty quickly because for the purposes of the story, the pigs are meant to be a symbol for any sort of system that mistreats the people, whether it be communism, capitalism, or whatever type of system. By having a pig break free of that system and actively take part in the liberation of the animals against his fellow pigs, it kind of spits in the face of the original message. It gives the idea that as long as somebody within the system steps up, they can all band together and save everyone, which if you live in the real world, that just doesn't happen. Yeah, it's a kids movie, but this type of story can't be kidified in this type of way cuz then it stops feeling like the original story. And this is by no means to say that you can't have an original character in the story for the audience to view the story through their eyes. Because the previous version already had one.

[00:14:01]Jessie. She served the same purpose that Lucky did. Best friends with Boxer, talked to the other animals, had a front row view to the pigs' corruption, except a few major differences.

[00:14:14]Jessie served a greater purpose as a story behind just being the narrator within the story. Her puppies were the dogs that Napoleon used to form his death squad. Also the fact that she was mistreated alongside the other animals allowed us to get a first-hand experience what it was like having to live on a farm under Napoleon's conditions, rather than seeing things through Lucky's perspective, which was primarily seeing the pigs and how much they loved to party. Finally, there's one of the final moments in the story.

[00:14:45]The moment where someone is unable to tell the difference between pig and man.

[00:14:50]It makes sense with Jessie because she watches Pilkington and Napoleon laugh together, eat and drink in very similar ways, and talk in very similar ways.

[00:14:59]They try to have that same moment with Lucky, but it doesn't work for so many reasons. For one, Lucky has been with the pigs this whole time. If he can't tell the difference, he's just stupid.

[00:15:13]Especially since even though it was mostly unwilling, he was an active participant in the corruption that led to the animals' suffering. For another, I don't know if the movie forgot this, but Lucky is a pig. The whole I can't tell the difference between pig and man thing doesn't work when the character getting confused is also a pig. It also doesn't work because Lucky has been by Napoleon's side this whole time, seeing him working with humans and wearing clothes, the animals can't tell the difference. In the final battle with Napoleon, yes, there's a final climactic battle that ends with Napoleon actually drowning and dying. Napoleon says that Lucky isn't a pig, he's an animal. So Lucky being given the whole I can't tell the difference moment, combined with this definitely confirms my suspicions of them trying to frame Lucky as one of the good ones by framing it that he's not a pig anymore, he's an animal. As if pigs aren't still animals even when they're trying to pretend to be human.

[00:16:17]And because he's one of the good ones, Lucky ends the movie giving all of the barn animals hope for the future.

[00:16:23]Despite this being the type of story that really kind of need that morose, at most bittersweet ending because the subject of the story and what happens in the story is not meant to give you much hope at all. What a [ __ ] disgrace.

[00:16:40]I know some of y'all were looking at me like I was crazy for talking reckless about a movie that hadn't seen yet just from the trailer, but I went ahead and saw it and would you look at that, exactly what I thought it was going to be and worse. So who's laughing now?

[00:16:54]I've no wish to take life, not even human life. But you can call me Craig.