Andy Serkis reflects on the personal significance of animated ‘Animal Farm’
Filmmaker Andy Serkis is bringing a deeply personal project to the screen with his animated adaptation of Animal Farm, George Orwell’s dystopian tale. This latest film represents a significant artistic and emotional endeavour for Serkis, who is known for his acclaimed role as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, reports BritPanorama.
Serkis’s connection to Orwell’s work is rooted in his familial history. His father, Clement Serkis, an Iraqi-Armenian gynaecologist, founded a hospital in Baghdad during the authoritarian rise of the Ba’ath Party. After speaking out against the regime, he was imprisoned for several weeks, leaving his family in the UK unaware of his fate.
“He was a doctor,” recounts Serkis. “He founded a hospital called the Ibn Sina Hospital in Baghdad. During the rise of the Ba’ath Party regime, he used to treat a lot of British Council and BOAC patients. A lot of people started to leave. He made a speech which was not pro-Saddam Hussein. He was arrested for that. Many people he knew were ‘disappeared’ – in fact, some of the doctors he worked with came to a sticky end.”
Serkis recalls spending summers in Baghdad, but he was too young to grasp the dire political climate. “I was very young at the time. So I wasn’t particularly aware of that. Other than the fact that my dad had disappeared for a while and it was an incredible worry to my mum.” He vividly remembers the contrasts between life in Iraq and London during his childhood.
The struggle between good and evil is a recurring motif in Serkis’s work, particularly evident in his portrayal of Gollum through advanced motion capture technology. In Animal Farm, the overarching theme diverges from the optimism seen in Tolkien’s works. Instead, it portrays the downfall of a utopian vision as Napoleon, a pig, becomes a dictator.
Serkis’s experience with both Tolkien and Orwell has profoundly shaped his artistry. “Around the age of 12, I remember reading The Hobbit on the bus to school at the same time that I was reading Animal Farm,” he notes, linking the two authors’ influences.
His adaptation of Animal Farm introduces new elements such as a young pig character named Lucky and scenes not found in the original text. In a marked departure from Orwell’s portrayal, Serkis opted to present Napoleon as a more charismatic and humorous figure, voiced by comedian Seth Rogen. This adaptation contrasts with the austere dictator depicted in Orwell’s work, suggesting that modern villains often employ charm rather than overt oppression.
“In the book, he’s very gruff, speaks very few words – much more of a fascist dictator,” acknowledges Serkis. “Many of our leaders don’t operate in such a direct way – they’re cleverer than that. They use all the tools to get what they need – from humour to making people believe in them.”
The film has drawn parallels with contemporary issues in both the US and the UK. As the portrayal of Napoleon has been likened to figures such as Boris Johnson, Serkis emphasizes the broader theme of political manipulation and community destruction. “It feels like part of the destruction of community and the rising levels of powerful leaders who are beginning to pull the wool over the eyes in many different countries,” Serkis reflects, alluding to the socio-political climate surrounding events like Brexit.
Serkis acknowledges the concern over how figures like Tolkien and Orwell are appropriated in political discourse. “Of course, literature can be bastardised or interpreted in so many different ways,” he acknowledges, asserting that Tolkien himself cautioned against assigning political meanings to his works.
Though Serkis’s Gollum is an indelible part of his artistic identity, he is eager to promote Animal Farm while preparing for his next project, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. He intends to return to the role of Gollum while collaborating with familiar faces from the original films.
The prospect of more Lord of the Rings content has prompted mixed reactions among fans, with concerns about franchise fatigue. Serkis responds, “Hollywood do love a franchise – there’s no denying it. But I think the spirit and the heart of these movies are told with the same love and dedication.”
He assures those worried about the creative direction that the new films honour Tolkien’s legacy. “It’s all down to the creators. And it couldn’t be in better hands than the people who are making The Hunt for Gollum,” he concludes, addressing the anxieties of fans keen on preserving the integrity of Tolkien’s world.
Animal Farm is in cinemas now.
