51�Թ�

He has directed “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” and “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” and is leading an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

A native Arabic speaker, Mr. Michael had to master Hebrew, and when he did, he published his first novel in 1974, with the title “All Men Are Equal — But Some Are More,” a variation on a quotation from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.”

He mentioned several books that had influenced him, including “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, “Animal Farm” by George Orwell and “Curious George,” the children’s classic by Margret and H.A.

Also in progress is his first children’s opera, “Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote,” which features a cast of animal characters along the U.S.-Mexico border and is reminiscent of “Animal Farm”-like satire of hypocrisy.

The books of George Orwell for example, including 1947’s “Animal Farm” and 1949’s “1984,” are now public domain in his native Great Britain.