Animal Farm

A happy ending is not the only liberty taken with George Orwell's classic book, here: you'll also find a sex scene (!)--admittedly discreet and, thankfully, not involving any of the animals. Otherwise, this made-for-cable production boasts uncanny animatronics and animation from Jim Henson's Creature Shop, as well as a distinguished voice cast, including Peter Ustinov as Old Major, the pig who inspires the put-upon animals to rebel against their neglectful master (played by Pete Postlethwaite as more sympathetic than I remember from the book); Patrick Stewart as Stalinist pig Napoleon, Kelsey Grammer as Snowball, Ian Holm as the aptly-named Squealer, Paul Scofield as ill-fated true believer Boxer, Julia Ormond as disillusioned dog Jessie and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as clueless horse Mollie. Some of the subtleties of Orwell's allegory are here spelled out with a heavy hand, presumably for younger viewers...but not too young, I hope (this ain't Babe). Despite the book's status and the video's low price, this is still an optional purchase. (K. Lee Benson)