Angel CEO Says Subscriber Focus Group Helped ‘De-Risk’ Upcoming Animated Version of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’

George Orwell’s 1945 “Animal Farm” is a landmark achievement in dystopian satire. Time magazine called it one of the 100 best English-language novels in 2005.

But it could be better.

At least, that’s what the subscribers to the faith-based streamer Angel think.

In an interview today at the 38th Annual Roth Conference, Angel co-founder and CEO Neal Harmon spoke about how his platform’s users got to weigh in on making a classic cautionary story into an animated movie the whole family can enjoy.

If you haven’t read “Animal Farm,” know that it is a very dark tale. And now, watch the trailer.

This official trailer has 11,000 upvotes on YouTube and 151,000 downvotes.

Hm. Maybe those YouTubers haven’t met the high standard of paying $12/month to weigh in on such projects.

Anyway, Harmon explained the process of making sausage out of “Animal Farm.”

“They sent a version of ‘Animal Farm’ through the Guild.” Harmon said. “They voted on it, they gave them feedback, and then the ‘Animal Farm’ producers made a new cut, they sent it in again, they gave them feedback, and each time that they adjust, they get a better and better score. Once they feel like they have a high enough score to go to market, we won’t take anything to market unless it has a score of over 70. That’s the process by which the Angel Guild and Angel’s brand is enhanced and protected by audience feedback. It’s essentially finding product market fit, de-risking the title before we actually put up the kind of marketing dollars that are gonna need to go behind a title to make it big and to release it.

If there’s one thing we know about literary titans, it’s that they love having their work “de-risked.”

One of the major changes in the film is a new character: a piglet named Lucky, designed to be an audience surrogate. Also, there are songs. Of course.

Although Netflix bought the distribution rights to the film in 2018, they gave those up as production creaked along, allowing Angel to swoop in and “fix” it. Perhaps Netflix read the writing on the barn.

The film is directed by “Lord of the Rings” star Andy Serkis with voice performances by Seth Rogen, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Steve Buscemi, Woody Harrelson, Jim Parsons, Kathleen Turner, and Gaten Matarazzo.

It will be released in theaters on May 1, 2026.

One critic who saw “Animal Farm” wrote, “It was an hour and a half packed with so little joy, poignancy or intellectual nourishment that I fled the damn thing taking huge gulps of air, like Andy Dufresne busting out of Shawshank.”

Be sure to follow Streaming Smarter on Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, and YouTube to discover streaming news, discounts, and tips!