Narrative Illustration - Previous Versions of Animal Farm

Since Orwell wrote the book in 1943-44, it has been recreated a number of times. The two most notable incarnations of the tale have been the 1955 animated film and the satirical illustrative works by Ralph Steadman.

Animated film

When Orwell died in 1950 the rights for Animal Farm were acquired from Orwells widow by, then CIA operative, Everette Howard Hunt. Hunt kept his involvement with the CIA a secret for twenty years while the Central Intelligence Agency provided financial backing for the film.

It was made in the UK by a British film company Halas & Bachelor who had won much acclaim for their work on TV commercials as well as war time propaganda reels. The thought behind making it in the UK was to hide the involvement of the real backers of the movie and fours years later, the work was released though with one big change.

At the end of the book, the animals can no longer tell the difference between the pigs and the humans. In the animated feature however, the CIA approved ending shows the non-pigs on the farm, rallying help from neighboring farms and the animals there, before turning on the pigs  and humans in yet another uprising.

The animals being lead in a second rebellion by Benjamin the Donkey, in the CIA approved ending.

This was clearly a message to the people of Russia and a warning to Stalin, that should the people call for help, the USA at the very least would come to their aid. They literally turned Animal Farm into a fairy tale.

I wonder then, despite the change to the ending, would Orwell really be angry with this? The motives behind the change was to empower the common people (of the world, depicted by the animals of other farms joining the cause) into another rebellion, this time against Stalin. However, the two human guests of the pigs are in the house at the time and these two people represent leaders of the UK and USA. So what the CIA essentially done, was to depict the people of the world, united in arms against the leaders of Russia, UK and USA. I think Orwell would have appreciated the irony.

Still, despite the artistic license taken the animation itself was a huge success and even now it is a beautiful thing to watch. The characters (especially Napoleon) are memorable, the style is unique and the animation of the characters is quite clean and believable, its hard to believe it is sixty years old.

Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for his work with Journalist Hunter S Thompson. During the pairs forty year friendship they covered events such as the Kentucky Derby, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and coverage of the Watergate Scandal as well as numerous articles in the Rolling Stones magazine of which Steadman is still the gardening correspondent.

Over the years the artist has kept busy with illustrating various books such as Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland and of course, Animal Farm.

Ralph has a very recognizable style. Loose, moody and with satirical undertones though in the case of the work he done for Animal Farm, the satire is one of the first things you notice.

"Animal Farm has seen off all the opposition. It is as valid today as it was fifty years ago."

 

The above quote is from Ralph Steadman himself and it is clear from this he has a deep respect for Orwell's tale.

 

My work

 

As a child I was deeply affected by the animated film, I was very upset by the plight of the animals in the farm. The tale has stayed with me to this day and only when reading the book have I developed a deeper interest, and, now old enough to read between the lines, I am moved again though this time to the very real human suffering that inspired the work, and, sadly, similar suffering that goes on still to this day.

 

Ralph Steadman could not be more right when he said that Animal Farm is just as valid today as it was fifty years ago, governments the world over still manipulate and exploit the people they are elected (or not in some cases) to protect. Orwell could see the not so obvious dangers of tools like propaganda. The dumbing down of ideals before they are twisted to benefit a select few.

 

With this knowledge and respect of the message that Orwell was trying to get across, my work has unintentionally, been influenced by the animated feature I was exposed too as a child. I feel the characters I have begun to develop have taken on a similar charm to that of the characters in the film. I am not disappointed by this, in fact I think it proves that in some way we are influenced by the things we see.

 

Napoleon in various poses, done with fine liner and stained with coffee.

 The story of Animal Farm highlights the consequences of ignorance and of not questioning all that you see and hear. It focuses on the power of the propaganda machine and how a select few can rise to power when they wield this weapon effectively.

The character of Napoleon is the one I wanted most to get right. The book is essentially about him, rising to the ranks and becoming supreme leader of the farm and while other animals come and go, Napoleon is one of the few who is there from the very beginning through to the end. Only three other animals can boast the same, those being Squealer, Benjamin and Clover.

Napoleon is the biggest of the pigs on the farm and is described as fierce looking, so the first thing I had him do, was scowl. His other characteristics are selfish, suspicious and greedy. So to communicate these traits, I have made him rather rounded, to account for his greed, while making his eyes small and narrow and framed by bags and circles, this communicates his suspicious nature.

I am very happy with this design, though I do still need to consider his colour. To make him stand out even more, I may make him completely black and the groups of spots that dot his hide and left ear, these will be white.

Snowball, looking determined and focused. Done with fine liner and stained with coffee.

Snowball is essentially the story's protagonist though the ending for him is not a happy one. He is described as a more 'vivacious pig' than Napoleon and more inventive. With this in mind I have made him more streamline than Napoleon and kept the markings to a minimum. I imagine any pig called Snowball would be pale, so his colour shall be almost white. His inventiveness is symbolized (in the above picture) in the form of the blueprints he has drawn up and the windmill he himself pioneers, though he never sees it realized as he is driven from the farm before work begins. He is standing astride a ploughed field looking off into the distance, looking forward.

This picture happened almost accidentally. I had intended to draw him on a wooden table top, but when I completed it, it looked more like rows of ploughed soil... because of this it gave the final image a more dynamic feel and communicates the potential greatness that is in Snowball.