I first saw this in ninth grade English after we read the novel. We all saw that things were changed, but at the time my classmates, teacher, and I assumed it was just Hollywood trying to tack on a "Happy Ending." A few years later I'm in college doing research for a paper on Orwell and I happen to stumble upon articles from the New York Times and other places talking about how it was the CIA who bought the rights from Orwell widow and changed it around to make better propaganda. Just look at the trivia section! The CIA also funded a BBC production of 1984 where they deliberately omitted all of Orwell's criticisms of capitalism and changed the ending in a similar fashion to what they changed in Animal Farm. I know this sounds like tin foil hat stuff, but it's documented. So unless you're interested in studying cold war propaganda, stay away from this movie, and if you haven't already go read Animal Farm and 1984. It's available in every library so you don't even have to pay for it.
Review of Animal Farm
