Animal Farm 1.8: Stop Stalin Already

Then he died before the action started. Sounds a lot like Karl Marx. [Pig dies on farm]

Just like Old Major’s speech sparked the animals to rebel, Marx’s Communist Manifesto [Marx holding communist manifesto on a street]

started a movement.

But neither Major nor Marx stuck around to guide the revolution.

It would soon be as dead as they were. [Gravestone for Animal farm and Russian Revolution]

Old Major may be small in the grand scheme of things, but he sure started something.

Like a magic bean, he planted hope for a better life and it grew into a giant problem. [Old Major protesting in a town square]

Old Major was an idealist who discounted the allure of power and wealth.

But pigs like shiny things, and bling is hard to resist. [Old Major with shiny diamonds]

Major and Marx were all about the why for revolution and forgot about the how…

As in - how the heck are we supposed to run things after we overthrow everything we know in life? [Animals on a farm discussing what to do]

Napoleon, who is so obviously Stalin that he practically has a bushy mustache, sees

this as a gaping hole of opportunity and gradually fills it… with himself.

He’s the pig whose brick house of political intrigue and terror withstood all challenges and doubts. [Doubt and challenge land on brick house]

It probably helped that it was guarded on all sides by his loyal henchdogs.

They were all about their studded collars. [Hench dogs guarding house]

And their job description? Tear out throats at the enemy on command.

Like Stalin, Napoleon had a foolproof management style:

Lie to everybody. Steal whatever you want. [Napoleon giving a speech]

Kill whoever disagrees with you. Control by terror.

It might sound crazy to you, but to his loyal supporters, that worked.

How is that even possible?

Hey, put lipstick on a pig and the crowd thinks it’s… a prettier pig. [A pig wearing lipstick and a wig]

Add a Photoshop and, voilà, he’s a star with a fan club.

…Or Miss Piggy….hard to tell.

Too bad about the third little pig, Snowball.

Just like Trotsky (the champion of the Russian Revolution), [Snowball and Trotsky]

with all his brilliance and genuine concern for the public, he could have been a true star.

And Napoleon wasn’t taking any chances. So Snowball had to go.

This is where the terror and the henchdogs come in…

Snowball was a nice guy and we all know where they finish. That’s right – last. [Snowball being chased by dog]

Snowball had a straw house, it left him exposed and vulnerable to the big bad wolf.

And although the dogs didn’t rip out Snowball’s throat, his counterpart, Trotsky, wasn’t so lucky.

He was assassinated in Mexico with an icepick. Now that’s cold. [Trotsky's face in Mexico on a map and ice pick appears]