Joy Batchelor Animal Farm Context

To fully understand how well ‘interesting text reflects their context’ it is necessary to have knowledge of the ‘deeper insights’ of the text’s ideas as well as understanding what the composer has written. The historical, social and cultural influences should be considered as well as the personal experiences of the composer. This is shown through the animation ‘Animal Farm’ directed by Joy Batchelor. The film relates directly to the attitude and thinking towards the devastating events during the Russian Revolution, but more importantly the rise of Stalinism, which skilfully reflects the contextual reality of that era. Joseph Stalin, represented by Napoleon the pig in the film, dictated the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, under his dictatorship, millions of people died during his brutal reign as he was ruled Russian by terror.

These events during the revolution mirror exactly with the animation, where the director illustrate the viewers with the ideas of freedom and equality, the abuse of power, and the corruption and hypocrisy of the pigs. As such, the animation brings forward effectively its historical and social context by essentially taking viewers into the deep insights of what happens when tyranny goes widespread and freedom is seized, which brings the importance of context into the film.
After the revolution and the triumph of the animals, there was a sense of fraternity and freedom that arose from the animal revolution, where Snowball began to establish the principles of animals, which is closely related to the ideals of communism. He began to lead the other animals in organising a new society which they call ‘Animal Farm.’ He creates a list of commandments for the animals to ensure their safety and equality, some of which were “All animals are equal”