Quicklets: Learn more. Read less. George Orwell (1903-1950) was born as Eric Blair in in Motihari, Bengal. Along with Animal Farm, 1984 is among Orwell's most popular works. Before he wrote either of these novels, Orwell supported himself as a book reviewer and journalist. Orwell lived through the Spanish Civil War, which was the inspiration for many of his politically-charged works. 1984 is another book about a totalitarian government. The book was originally published in 1949 as a look into the future to the year 1984. The strength of Animal Farm and 1984 have attributed to Orwell's worldwide success as a political satirist more than 60 years after his death. Animal Farm was translated into a 1954 animated film. In 1999 it was filmed as a live action feature starring Patrick Stewart and Kelsey Grammar as the voices for Napoleon and Snowball. Pink Floyd released an album in 1977 titled Animals. The themes from Animal Farm were used for this Pink Floyd album. The songs classify people as pigs, dogs or sheep. The book has been translated into several languages including Hungarian, Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian. It has sold more than 20 Million copies worldwide. Time Magazine included Animal Farm on a top 100 list of books between 1923 and 2005. Modern Library created a list of the best novels in the 20th century and included Animal Farm at 31st. Animal Farm received a Hugo award in 1996, which was 50 years after it was originally published.