John Halas

BBC Four’s new documentary takes us on a journey through more than a century of animation. It examines the creative and technical inventiveness of som...

A documentary about John Halas, the Hungarian-Jewish emigre who became the father of British Animation. John is a key figure in British cinema and his...

A documentary essay about the unsung animation visionary, John Halas. An Animated Utopia explores his desire "to save the world using animation" and h...

Set to Gilbert and Sullivan tunes, a musical cartoon attempts to describe the character of the British nation, with occasional interruptions by Prince...

Documents the life and influence of the Bahaus artist, László Moholy-Nagy.

Cartoon tennis match, with players based on Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.

A fully digitized computer-animated film which shows the question whether man will use his inventive abilities for destruction or as the key to progre...

An updated version of Halas and Batchelor's short film, 'The Magic Canvas', with a new electronic score.

A lonely man living in a large city buys a life-size sex doll. His relationship with his dream doll causes a certain reaction in the community. A biza...

An animated visual interpretation of the song "Autobahn," by German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. A fast-paced experimental film which proved to be a...

Asterix and Obelix depart on an adventure to complete twelve impossible tasks to prove to Caesar that they are as strong as the Gods. You'll roar with...

Animated satire of business practices

D'Artagnan and his musketeer comrades must thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu to usurp King Louis XIII's power.

Out with the old and in with the new – one of Britain’s leading animation companies pitches its new image with great humour.

An animated cartoon of drawings by young children, who imagine the motor car of today and of the future.

Cartoon set to songs from The Moody Blues' titular album.

One of a humorous series of films devised to explain in graphic terms the concepts of basic mathematical functions.

An animated cartoon on smoking and health. The villain, Old Nick O'Teen, disguises himself as an 18-year-old motorcyclist, the better to lure children...

For centuries, the Murgatroyd family, the Baronets of Ruddigore, have been under a witch's curse — commit a crime every day, or die in agony. Sir Ruth...

A young girl rescues a wild bird. She takes it back to the forest, then finds crystals in the mountain...

This satirical animated short by the renowned Halas & Batchelor Studio asks the big Question. Can the meaning of life be found in religion or science?...

A humorous introduction to problem analysis and programming.

A naïve father makes an embarrassing attempt to explain the facts of life to his son, but he becomes increasingly embarrassed to the point where his e...

The Maestro brings a world of emotions to life interpreted by the orchestra and the animation.

This a story of a violinist, pianist and cellist as they perform from place-to-place, under very unusual conditions. Every time they play, they remind...

Puck is introduced to the twentieth century and is as amused by the contemporary obsession with television as he was by the lovers' antics.

An animated, dark satire of America's automobile-obsessed, consumerist culture. An anonymous, brilliant scientist toils tirelessly in his ivory tower ...

An animated short based on the cartoons of Gerard Hoffnung.

Examines in detail Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s painting, 'Netherlandish Proverbs', which illustrates over 100 proverbs and allegorises a whole world of...

Hamilton the elephant loves playing music with his trunk. When he is fired from the circus he does odd jobs till he gets his big break.

The story of three children who find themselves with a friendly monster that grows at an alarming rate.

Hamilton the elephant is being trained for the circus when he discovers his amazing musical ability; the ringmaster decides to exploit his new-found t...

Married to your television? This cartoon gives you an opportunity to re-evaluate your relationship with the gogglebox.

A musically talented ape is captured in the jungle and taken back to civilisation. However, civilisation proves too uncouth for the cultured ape so he...

T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

An animated film about the history and use of hot water.

A candlemaker entrusts his young son with the task of making candles for their church on Christmas Eve.

A humorously semi-factual account of the history of cinema.

Animals on a farm lead a revolution against the farmers to put their destiny in their own hands. However this revolution eats their own children and t...

A BAFTA award nominated animation tracing the development of the motor car from the original horseless carriage common in the late 19th century to the...

A BAFTA award nominated film made for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company charting the history of aviation from Daedalus to jets.

A feature length instructional video for the Admiralty on coastal navigation and pilotage.

A short animation based on the Edward Lear poem

A poem of unrequited love: the studio's first puppet production. Based on a poem by Cosbie Garstin, the film tells the story of a carved wooden saint ...

If you haven’t already been diverted by the history of John Gilpin, or would like to venture that way again, you couldn’t find a better accompaniment ...

Cartoon of chicken's adventures while being chased by woodland animal.

Everyone knows that petroleum comes out of the earth, but the question is how did it get there, and what is it made of? The answer to these questions ...

The cartoon is one of the Marshall Plan's most popular films. A clash between a shoemaker and a hat maker illustrates the contrasts between protection...

This cartoon propaganda short by Halas & Batchelor sweetens the pill of post-war coal prices by promising jam tomorrow.

First Line of Defence is a short cartoon recruitment film for the RAF created in 1949 by animation duo Halas and Batchelor. The story follows a traine...

Charley, a mechanic, inherits a half-share in a farm run by his cousin and he soon has his dream of an idyllic country life rudely shattered by hard r...

A soon-to-be born baby learns about the kinds of schools he will attending in the years following his birth.

Cartoon on the fly nuisance, showing the dangers of food contamination and how the dangers can be minimised by food-protection and cleanliness that wa...

A powerfully graphic piece of animation that best expresses John Halas' own feelings about mans universal quest for freedom.

No man is an island, but Charley represents his nation in this economical cartoon tale of Britain’s economics.

Popular animated character Charley explains the National Insurance Act, which was legislation that made health insurance available to all British citi...

Meet Charley, your jovial cartoon guide to Britain’s changing towns and cities.

In this film Charley demystifies the new state-funded National Health Service, detailing the benefits a free-at-point-of-delivery health service will ...

Feature-length instructional cartoon made for the Home Office and the Fire Brigade.

Joy Batchelor directed, produced, wrote and designed this short film for Brook Bond Tea: two girls compete for the affections of a Teddy Bear.

Modern advice and old-fashioned values combine in this postwar animated health guide from the makers of Animal Farm.

Cartoon proof that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In this 1940s cinema advert, the tardiness of Signalman Squirrel's breakfast bring...

A short animated War Office commissioned health education film, showing the fate of each of the 6 jungle soldiers.

Instructional cartoon for the Admiralty.

Animated short from Halas and Batchelor encouraging the British public to post early for Christmas.

A dancing radio stops partying to transmit an announcement on fuel conservation in this WWII cartoon short.

Ever seen a snake with a moustache? The Middle East was as much an ideological as a physical battleground in the Second World War. In the midst of the...

This World War II propaganda short encourages British people to "dig for victory," by planting vegetable gardens.

The film is designed to encourage recycling - which was a key part of the war effort.

A particularly vicious Father Time with a hit-list in his Book of Doom seeks to wipe out characters brought to life from fabric patterns. This neat co...

A political satire, the first film made by Halas and Batchelor.

A colorful cartoon commercial for soap flakes seems the last place that the realities of wartime life should creep in. A clothes cupboard opens to rev...

The first British animated Technicolor film.

An illustrated version of Twa Corbies made as the BFI’s contribution to the Festival of Britain. Enlivened by the distinctive voice of John Laurie, an...

A trip into a surreal winter garden, a voyage on a stormy sea, a grisly homecoming – there is something for everyone in this “experiment in words, mus...

Hello darkness my old friend. The four-part “experiment in word, music and paintings” that was made by the BFI for the 1951 Festival of Britain did ha...