Halas and Batchelor was a British animation company founded by husband and wife John Halas and Joy Batchelor. Halas was a Hungarian émigré to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The company had studios in London and Cainscross, in the

Stroud District Stroud District is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. The district is named after its largest town of Stroud. The council is based at Ebley Mill in the district of Cainscross, west of central Stroud. The district also ...

of Gloucestershire.

History

From 1936, John Halas ran a small animation unit that created commercials for theatrical distribution. Joy Batchelor, who already had experience in animation, began working with Halas in 1938 after she responded to Halas's advertisement for an assistant, and they founded Halas and Batchelor in 1940 to create war information and

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

films. Brian McFarlane ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'', London: Methuen/BFI, 2003, p.48 Approximately 70 films were created for the Ministry of Information, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, and the Admiralty over the course of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; most of these were shorts intended to improve morale or spur on increased contributions to the war effort, such as ''Dustbin Parade'', about recycling, and ''Filling the Gap'', about gardening. Halas and Batchelor also created a series of anti-

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

cartoons intended for viewing in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

; starring an Arab boy named Abu, who was "enticed and misguided by the forces of Austrian Painter and Mussolini." The heavy workload (at one point the studios were creating a minute-long short every three weeks) and minimal budgets meant that simple animations with economically driven stories were the norm. HB's first feature film '' Handling Ships'' (1945) was the first-ever British animated feature. After the war, they continued making short films while ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' (1954) was being made, erroneously considered the first British animated feature. The studio grew from a small unit to a proper animation company, with several different British locations. Its best-known animation series were ''Foo Foo'' (1959–60), '' Popeye the Sailor'' (1960–62, for ABC Television in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

), '' DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space'' (1965–70) and '' The Lone Ranger'' (1966–69). In the 1970s, Rankin/Bass contracted the company to produce several series, including '' The Jackson 5ive'' and '' The Osmonds''. Halas and Batchelor also produced '' Snip and Snap'' (1960) and the animated music video for the song " Love Is All" from Roger Glover's album '' The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' (1976) and

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

(1979) by Roger Mainwood. The company also made the short satire ''Automania 2000'', nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

in 1964. As well as short films, the studio made a few feature films, such as '' Ruddigore'' (1967). The company was sold to Tyne Tees Television in the early 1970s, although Halas and Batchelor themselves broke away from this association after a few years.Paul Well
"Halas, John (1912–1995) and Batchelor, Joy (1914–1991)"
BFI screenonline reproduced from Paul Wells ''Reference Guide to British and Irish Film Directors'' Most of the 2,000 films now form part of The Halas and Batchelor Collection, founded in 1996. This collection was part of a donation by the couple's daughter to the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 2010.Mark Brow
"BFI gets Halas & Batchelor animation archive"
''The Guardian'', 3 December 2010

References

External links

''Animation Research Centre archive of Halas & Batchelor's films and artwork''Official siteBBC Gloucestershire article about Halas & Batchelor animator Harold Whitaker

filmography
{{Cinema of the United Kingdom 1940 establishments in England 1970s mergers and acquisitions British animation studios British companies established in 1940 Film production companies of the United Kingdom Mass media companies based in London Mass media companies established in 1940