‘We Did Not Make ‘Animal Farm' for Any Algorithm': Director Andy Serkis on Animating Orwell

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'Animal Farm' has always been, since its first publication in 1945 by British novelist George Orwell, both a timeless tale and a story of its time. It is no surprise, then, that Andy Serkis' animated adaptation feels so deeply rooted in our own contemporary world.
Bringing the film to its global premiere at the Annecy Animation Festival yesterday, Serkis appeared moved and delighted to present 'Animal Farm' in front of a packed Bonlieu. The film features a star-studded cast led by Seth Rogen (voicing a rowdy/eerie version of Napoleon), Gaten Matarazzo (Lucky), Woody Harrelson (Boxer) and Laverne Cox (Snowball), along with talents such as Iman Vellani, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close and Serkis himself.
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Back for the second year at an event that he, according to artistic director Marcel Jean, 'immediately fell in love with,' Serkis spoke with Variety about the film, decades in the making.
Firstly, what compelled you to adapt this particular story?
I have such strong memories of reading the book when I was around twelve. Along with the 'Hobbit' book, those were the two books that really resonated with me. Then I saw a theatrical production at the National Theatre in London in the 1980s, and I thought, wow, there's a way of telling this story visually as well.
Smash cut to 2011, when I was working on 'The Rise of the Planet of the Apes,' and we were shooting the sequence where Caesar, the character I was playing, leads the apes to freedom in a sort of rebellion. And suddenly I realized that there hadn't been a cinematic representation of 'Animal Farm' for a long time.
We started to work on it and did a lot of experimenting, which led us to realize that animation was the right medium for this adaptation. That allowed us to keep the innocence of the storytelling that the original book had, while being able to say much more than live action would allow us to do. In live action, such a story would necessarily have been darker from the outset. Whereas with an animated movie, breaking those ties with reality and keeping Orwell's book, which he described as a fairy tale, in that realm gave us much more freedom to still have emotional engagement with the characters, keep it innocent, and then progressively let the darker themes come in underneath that.
Humor also plays a great part in your modern adaptation, especially through Napoleon's character. Why was it important to you?
We didn't want to create a cardboard cutout sort of villain from the start, where it was obvious that he was scheming, plotting and planning. Our world is a lot more complex now. The notion of truth is almost destroyed so that we are blinded by what is happening.
When we started writing Napoleon many years ago, there was already a sense that the world was changing and that the pillars of our society we took for granted were already being undermined and destroyed. Having a charismatic leader who leans on funny at the same time seemed to work for us. I've said it many times, but the book is 80 years old, and it still feels as fresh and relevant today as it ever was.
How have your casting choices shaped this adaptation, if they have in any way?
They definitely have. We spoke to Seth Rogen about 12 years ago, when it was still going to be a performance-capture live-action film, same for Jim Parsons and Glenn Close as well, and they remained loyal to the project even though it took such a long time to complete. When we decided to turn it into an animated movie and things started to ramp up, we wanted great actors who could really embody the roles fully. We brought Steve Buscemi, Iman Vellani, Laverne Cox on board. In truth, we felt so blessed because everyone wanted to do it because of the passion for the book they had.
To whom did you create this film for? What audience did you have in mind when building this project?
I would say this is a film for people of all ages. We've screened it for young kids, and they absolutely loved it, and I think it's because it's not patronizing to them. It actually asks them to put themselves in the central character's position. That was a big decision on my part, to find a central character that is innocent, becomes corrupted and realizes that he is corrupted.
I wanted to take our young audience into that world where they have to do some adult thinking, and vice versa.
Family films tend to either be patronizing to children or feel like they have to satisfy the adults, and it feels like it's just doing a job of ticking boxes. We did not make this film for any algorithm. We made it because we feel that this is the right way to tell a story.
Orwell wanted to write for young inquiring minds who had to make tough decisions, and that guided us for this adaptation.
How has working with the animated medium shaped your vision of cinema?
I've always loved animation, back to my very first memories of watching Disney classics such as 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' or 'The Aristocats.' It's the first time you get to experience emotions other than your own in a shared environment, and it transports you.
Even though it didn't start as one, I'm so glad that this project ended as an animated movie, and I've learned a huge amount as a director. I'd definitely like to do more animation, but at the same time when we were into production, I thought I would never want to do animation again.
Animation is a very long process, but in it you learn to value every single frame, because everything in them is thought precisely and woven carefully. Every decision has to be made because you're basically creating every single pixel on screen, and that's a beautiful thing. It makes you realize how valuable every moment is.
Going back to Lucky's character: Around the end of the film, Lucky rouses all animals by asking them to remember what brought them together in the first place. As human beings, what would you want us to remember today?
To really remember that truth is something to be valued. Honesty, selflessness as well. We have all become self-driven, and I think it's worth reminding ourselves that there is satisfaction to be had in working not for yourself but for the benefit of others.
That all sounds very woolly and, in a way, utopian. But I do think that there are certain core human values that are slipping away, and I think that our story somehow questions that.
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