First look at Andy Serkis' animated Animal Farm goes light on Orwellian satire, heavy on Seth Rogen
It's kind of ridiculous how long Andy Serkis has been trying to get an animated version of George Orwell's satirical allegory Animal Farm made: The first industry reports of the project (which was set up at Netflix for a minute, before they dropped it) date all the way back to 2012, when it was still being touted as Serkis' feature directorial debut. (He's since directed five films, most recently Venom sequel Let There Be Carnage, with his Lord Of The Rings film The Hunt For Gollum still on the way.) Now, though, the first glimpses of the animated Animal Farm have finally begun to roll out, and they're certain to delight scholars of Orwell's work who are also absolutely massive fans of Seth Rogen doing improvisational riffing during a voice take.
Rogen is, of course, playing Orwell's tyrannical boar Napoleon in the animated adaptation, making for what we're fairly sure will be mainstream film's most vocally chill Joseph Stalin allegory ever. The first look released for the film also features a falsetto'd Gaten Matarazzo as 'Lucky,' who appears to be an original character for the film, and who gets manipulated by Napoleon into viewing him as a father figure—while receiving some rhetoric about how animals should stick within their species groups. (We don't get to hear Rogen's take on 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others' here, although the script feints at it for a second.) Kieran Culkin also appears as the film's version of Orwell's Squeaker, who, in this scene, is less a collective stand-in for state propaganda, and more a vehicle for mild social awkwardness comedy.
Serkis has never been shy about the fact that he intended to soften Orwell's often-bleak fable a bit, the better to get kids watching. More than a decade ago, he told reporters 'We are not going to handle the politics in a heavy-handed fashion,' instead making a more 'emotionally centered' version of the story. (At the time, he was also taking about the movie as a heavily motion-capture-based project: That seems downplayed in the clip, although Napoleon's facial movements definitely have some Rogen-esque touches to them.) Animal Farm is set to have its world premiere on June 9, at the Annecy International Animal Film Festival.
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First look at Andy Serkis' animated Animal Farm goes light on Orwellian satire, heavy on Seth Rogen
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Rae's connection to Charli introduced her to a wider audience, made her more chic by association, and staved off doubts about her staying power. As Brat Summer raged on, Rae took a page out of Charli's cool-girl playbook, crashing parties and smoking cigarettes with club kids, and winning respect from celebrated songwriters like Lorde and Lana Del Rey. To top it off, she generated buzz when she joined Charli onstage for surprise performances during the singer's tour stops at Madison Square Garden and Coachella, and cheekily announced her album release date via a pair of pink underwear while performing the "Aquamarine" remix with Arca at the festival. Act III: Dressing the part Having good style is relatively easy; making your fashion serve a narrative purpose is harder. Rae is largely focused on the latter, using her outfits to signal her new priorities. Gone are the Brandy Melville sweatpants and backward baseball caps that made her look laid-back and accessible, like the average girl at Erewhon. Instead, she's worked closely with Interview magazine fashion director Dara Allen to execute a series of looks that aren't simply pretty or well-fitted, but edgy, flamboyant, and evocative. Rae savvily uses her clothing to evoke movie stars and pop icons and project herself into that lineage, landing a series of indelible fashion moments, from her pap walk in a baby tee accessorized with Britney Spears' memoir to the white satin lingerie set she wore for her VMAs red carpet debut, which Vogue described as "'Swan Lake' meets Las Vegas showgirl." Andréasson, who has experience dressing A-list celebrities for events, said Rae's style evolution stands out for its use of surrealism and storytelling. Rae in 2021. Gotham/GC Images Rae in 2024. XNY/Star Max/GC Images "She does a great job avoiding the costumey elements of nostalgia and instead reinterprets it with modern tailoring and fresh beauty choices," Andréasson said. "Nostalgia only works when it's recontextualized, and Addison seems to understand that." In a media landscape where rewearing a historic Marilyn Monroe gown or recreating a memorable look from a '90s sitcom are easy ways to score headlines, Rae has avoided the plug-and-play approach. Her style may be full of references, but crucially, she doesn't mimic other celebrities or copy exact outfits. Instead, she prefers to arouse a broader feeling of familiarity. For example, Rae cited the 2006 friendship comedy "Aquamarine" as an inspiration for her song of the same name and her mermaid-inspired look for the 2024 CFDA Awards — not in terms of the movie's content or plot, but in how watching it made her feel. "I wanted to find what aquamarine meant to me," she said. Act IV: Living up to the hype Rae's flair for refracting nostalgia through her own original lens is evident in her new music as much as in her aesthetic. Her debut album "Addison" is full of dreamy, mid-tempo pop that flirts with its influences, from Madonna's "Ray of Light" and Björk's "Post" to Spears' "Blackout" and Del Rey's "Born to Die." As the tracklist dances between decades, genres, and moods, Rae's personal touch fills the gaps. This kaleidescopic technique isn't always radio-friendly, but Rae no longer seems to be aiming for immediate chart success (none of the album's five singles have yet cracked the Billboard Hot 100's top 40, with "Diet Pepsi" peaking the highest at No. 54). And why should she? If there's anyone who knows the drawbacks of an abrupt rise to fame without a sensible plan to sustain it, it's Rae. Instead, she and her team are executing a strategy that prioritizes artistic legitimacy and real staying power, something Rae hinted at in a recent interview with Elle. "I feel like I've surpassed Addison Rae," she said. "It's just Addison now." Going mononymous is a shorthand for prestige: think Madonna, Cher, Beyoncé. Rae hasn't earned that level of name recognition yet, but if her journey thus far is any indication, her ambition, marketing savvy, and willingness to play the long game are not to be underestimated — at least, not anymore. "Back in the '50s, people were discovered in Hollywood by sitting at a lunch counter on a stool. TikTok was her stool," Andréasson said. "It's going to fade away, and all of the new things that she's doing are what she's going to be known for. That's just going to be a postscript in the Addison story."
