#Halas and Batchelor

[imkeepinit]

Movie poster by an unknown artist, distributed by the National Screen Service (#55-183), for the 1955 US release of the Halas and Batchelor/ Associated British-Pathé motion picture Animal Farm. The film had premiered in Brazil and New York City three days before New Year's Day before going into wide release in 1955, including in its home country.

[thispatternismine]

OMG so the Watership Down film is getting a fancy restoration including a 4K version & with a bunch of special features?? Fuck yeah!

Newly recorded audio commentary by film and animation experts Catherine Lester and Sam Summers

Vintage audio commentary by director Martin Rosen and writer and filmmaker Chris Gore (2003)

Defining a Style (2005): short featurette about the film’s aesthetic

A Conversation with the Filmmakers (2005, 17 mins): Archive featurette in which director Martin Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings discuss the production history of the film

Storyboard comparison (2005, 15 mins): a look at four sequences from the film

Super 8 version of the film (20 mins)

Humberstone Super 8 footage (3 mins): Footage shot by Arthur Humberstone, one of the senior animators on Watership Down

Designing Watership Down (2024, 5 mins): a gallery containing some of the materials related to Watership Down courtesy of The Arthur Humberstone Animation Archive

Once We Were Four (1942, 9 mins): a bunny quartet face an onslaught of badgers, bombs and birds of prey in this black comedy masquerading as a nature film, directed by Mary Field

Rabbits or Profits? (1969, 15 mins): public information film providing a potted history of rabbits in the UK

Bolly in A Space Adventure (1968, 5 mins): a short Halas & Batchelor animation about the adventures of Bolly and his friends on imaginary planets, featuring animation by Tony Guy, animation director on Watership Down

Make Believe (1948, 17 mins): Anson Dyer tells 'The Tale of Ronnie Rabbit' in this documentary showing the various stages of making a cartoon bunny

And there's a poster, postcards & a booklet! Ooh & apparently an enamel pin badge if you order direct from the BFI? I was gonna get it from HMV because I stumbled on this rerelease while browsing their website & I like being able to go into physical shops to pick stuff up, but I just checked the BFI's site to see if they had additional info & ooooh badge!

I need it!

EDIT: I notice they've also bumped up the rating. Yeah that was never gonna get a U certificate nowadays lol

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

There's been speculation that Warner Bros. Discovery are going to go through with a split, per a CNBC report from a little while back...

And now Max will return to being HBO Max, this coming summer... So much for that whole rebrand, then. And it seems all of those movies/shows got cancelled and black holed for nothing. Gotta love corporate America.

Elsewhere... The second SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE is titled SUPER MARIO WORLD, according to a recent statement from Universal on their Peacock exclusivity plans. They just casually namedropped the title there, and... Well, I think it makes sense. Yoshi was teased in the post-credits scene, as he made his debut in the game SUPER MARIO WORLD. I wonder if the story itself will follow the plot of that and take place in the Dinosaur Land archipelago, bring in things like Ghost Houses and such.

Like, I'm hoping it's a lot more focused as a movie this time, because I felt THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE was more of a "greatest hits" showcase of iconic Mario moments (Mario Kart! Rainbow Road! A Smash Bros.-type fight!) than an actual journey for these characters, it was so fast-paced that I felt it really didn't immerse me into its take on the Mushroom Kingdom, and its third act New York battle of Marvel proportions only half-works for me. Like, how many people died as a result of Bowser's castle just slamming right into a good chunk of Brooklyn? It's a weird climax, IMO.

So, if it is a SUPER MARIO WORLD adaptation (one of my all-time favorite games) and it all takes place in Dinosaur Land, consider my interest really piqued. I was probably gonna see it anyways because I still had a fun time w/ the first movie despite my issues with it, and there's always room for improvement.

Elsewhere... Andy Serkis' ANIMAL FARM adaptation - which debuts at the Annecy animation festival next month - also headed to the Cannes Film Market alongside COYOTE VS. ACME to find distribution, with the help of Goodfellas Animation.

The film has apparently been done for a while now, all without - seemingly - any involvement from the CIA, lol. So it's nice to see it nearing some form of release, and now we'll have *two* ANIMAL FARM animated movies: This, and the 1954 film directed by John Halas and Joy Batchelor. And hell, a new animated Orwell adaptation is more than necessary in these times lemme tell ya. Even further, can you imagine what a visionary animation director could do with NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR in this day and age? It'd be something, I feel.

[czardas23]

"Viejitas pero con un gran mensaje"

Rebelión en la granja (1954)

"Una antitesis de los clasicos de Disney"

Esta novela adaptada al cine animado es originaria George Orwell  en ella se nos narra la historia de unos animales que se hacen con la granja en la que estaban siendo explotados por un tiránico granjero. El problema es que el poder corrompe, y al final ellos mismos se convierten en los tiranos. Los encargados de adaptar el libro a película fueron el matrimonio compuesto por Joy Batchelor y John Halas, que ya habían trabajado para el gobierno británico en diversas animaciones propagandísticas durante la guerra y la posguerra.

Orwell en esta versión tipo Disney a modo de código animal narra la historia de la Unión Soviética y de cómo Stalin corrompió el socialismo, pero esta fábula sirve perfectamente como alegoría de cualquier totalitarismo.

Con un estilo de otra época, Halas & Batchelor presentan una especie de cuento de hadas sin príncipes ni princesas, pero con malos muy malos, como el cerdo Napoleón que se hace con la granja y acaba sometiendo al resto de animales. Lo que en principio era una utopía democrática .«Todos los animales son iguales») se acabó convirtiendo en una dictadura del terror y corrupción («Todos los animales son iguales, pero algunos son más iguales que otros»).

Dicho filme representa la corrupcion que puede presentarse en el gobierno de cualquier pais en como la corrupcion es algo que afecta el estado del pueblo y que quienes que estaba con el pueblo al pirncipio . Con el peso del poder y lo que este represnetan su juicio se puede ver nublado. Esta historia nos hace un llamado a tomar conciencia sobre a quienes elejimos como nuestros mandatarios a saber escoger y reconocer cuando nuestros derechos como ciudadanos son vulnerados.

Recuerda:La democracia debe ser el gobierno del pueblo por el pueblo y para el pueblo!

[olekskaftan]

Animation Skills "Audio Project" Part 3

This week I finished drawing the storyboard and threw out the first character design sketch for this project. I had to change the idea with the ghost a bit since I won't have time to realize it, so maybe it will be a hint. I'm trying my best to make it a psychological horror, so I plan to make thumbnails where you can see what the color palette will be for this project, of course I will continue to figure out how to do everything in the highest class even if the deadline is very short.

Next week I'm going to do some animations to see how far the project will go and try out sounds to them to see if they work or if I need to make more of them. And I should always make a full character design to know how they should look.

Research Element 08

Timing

Timing refers to the number of frames or amount of time that elapses between two key poses or actions in an animated sequence. It determines the speed and fluidity of the motion. 

Correct timing may seem invisible, but it's absolutely essential to making an animation look right. If it's off, the movements and actions may appear mechanical, rushed, sluggish, floaty, or simply unrealistic. The emotional expressiveness and individuality of the characters will also be lost.

Timing has a huge role to play in how your animation will look like.  Important aspects such as weight, physics, mood, emotion, and reaction. This ensures that movements have the right impact. For example, an action that happens too quickly can lose the sense of weight and gravity. An action that happens too slowly feels tedious. Timed movements will have an attractive flow and fluidity that will capture the viewer's attention.

Reference List:

Aminian, Parsa . “Timing: The Magical Art of Controlling Speed and Impact.” Pixune, 25 Oct. 2023, pixune.com/blog/timing-in-animation/.

“Timing and Its Important Role in the World of Animation.” Darvideo Animated Explainer Video Production Company | Animation Studio, 6 June 2021, darvideo.tv/dictionary/timing/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.

John Halas (1912-1995)and Joy Batchelor (1914-1991)

They were a British couple of producers known for their influential animated films.

Galas was educated in Hungary and Paris, and studied with George Pal in 1936, when he moved to England as an animator. After art school, Batchelor became a commercial artist and met Halas in 1936 while working on the film The Music Man (1938). They later married and in 1940 founded Halas and Batchelor Animation, which became the largest animated film studio in the UK.

The collaborators directed and coproduced their greatest work in 1955, an animated version of the George Orwell novel Animal Farm, England’s first full-length colour feature cartoon.

By 1950 the studio had made over 100 films, two of which were features. Their unique ability to produce longer works, for an adult audience, created not only a new genre of animation, but gave them the necessary experience for making Animal Farm, their best-known work. Adapted from George Orwell's classic book, Animal Farm was released in 1954, and won critical acclaim worldwide.

Throughout their lives, they have received more than 200 awards for all their works.

After the death of Joy Batchelor in 1991, John Halas continued to produce films until his death in 1995. His last ever production was a projected series of 12 films about the European Union of which one stands out, Know Your Europeans UK 1995 which was made by Bob Godfrey.

Reference List:

Britannica, Encyclopaedia . “John Halas and Joy Batchelor | British Directors | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2023, www.britannica.com/biography/John-Halas-and-Joy-Batchelor. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Halas, Vivien . “Timeline of Studio.” Halas & Batchelor, 2024, www.halasandbatchelor.co.uk/timeline-of-studio. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

[screen1ne]

Animal Farm Celebrates Historic 70th Anniversary At the Brighton International Animation Festival this April

Animal Farm – based on George Orwell’s 1945 novel and the first animated entertainment feature film to come out of the UK – will celebrate its 70thanniversary this year and is honoured with a screening at Brighton International Animation Festival this April.  Animal Farm was made in 1954, and produced by British animation greats Halas & Batchelor. The first female-led animation studio in Western…

[izmooi]

izi's Random Movie Reviews

Animal Farm, 1954 dir. Joy Batchelor and John Halas

This post contains spoilers.

"This movie is agonizing from an outsider's perspective because the farmer is just like the animals."

When I was in middle school, we had different groups in my English class to read certain classics of literature. While I wasn't in their group (and I still regretfully haven't taken the time to read the book), I was always fascinated by what the Animal Farm group was up to in their readings. I've grown to understand this literature as a means of portraying politics and the "human" condition (only put into quotes because this media is about animals and not people). To sit and watch this movie, especially during the time of America's uncertainty but undeniable corruption of politics, is eye-opening. Animal Farm has stood the test of time by always being relevant (being an animated film from the 50s also fills me with many questions about how this was received). History is doomed to repeat without proper discipline and understanding of perspectives and equity. I think that is what Animal Farm represents.

The animals started their revolution strong but eventually became what they were warned not to become (the farmer). Animal Farm became a clear visual of how important it is to keep your humility and remember what started the revolution in the first place. Animal Farm had established rules that reminded them of what they were there for and who they represented (animals, not humans). Over time, with the dictatorship of Napoleon and soon other pigs, those were rewritten. This movie is agonizing from an outsider's perspective because the farmer is just like the animals. The farmer starts the film by showing he's overworked. He then reflects the behavior he is subjected to onto the animals, and in turn, the animals do it to themselves in a vicious cycle. Despite going through so much hurt and dismay, many animals (especially poor little Benjamin) never lost sight of what being an animal and a part of that community means.

For the film (and I'm assuming the book) to end just like it started, with a revolution driven for change, provides hope of breaking the cycle bit by bit, until proper rights and freedom are restored for the animals. At the end of the movie, the narrator shares that the animals don't even quite know if there's any point in doing what they're doing and how it will affect their near future or the end of their life, but they still know it's something they have to do. That is something that can be said for every generation. Generations work hard to live the life they have always wanted to live, to embrace their freedoms more than the generation could before them, and only hope to give space for the next generation to have their prosperity too.

This movie was beautifully animated (the animals were so animal-like in nature, it was very charming). The backgrounds were beautifully rendered to help set me in the space of Animal Farm. I really enjoyed the limited dialogue and the elaborate soundtrack that carried the emotion, voice, and action of the animals. It's been a long time coming for me to finally experience this narrative, and now that I'm not in middle school, I feel like I can understand it so much better. Hopefully, now I can borrow the book and read about more details that may have been missing from the film. A must-watch (and/or read) for everyone.

8/10

Check out this review and more on my Letterboxd

[awesomesaurous]

I found the Ruddigore cartoon through your fanart (love your work btw) and can I just say that this cartoon has so much meme potential because of how topsy-turvy the plot and characters are? I mean if the Dr Livesy walk from the old Treasure Island cartoon can become a meme, so can this. But it’ll be a long time that someone picks it up and make a meme out of it on TikTok or whatever.

it's a lot to hope for but I definitely agree with you about meme potential

and thanks so much, I'm glad you liked my art (and that you found a new cartoon because of it)!

[thinkbolt]

Christmas Visitor (Hallas & Batchelor, 1962)

[weirdlandtv]

Halas & Batchelor stop motion short, THE FIGUREHEAD (1952).

(These images come from HERE.)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

I saw this little NEON-released horror movie last night called CUCKOO. Starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens.

Spoilers ahead.

The weirdest thing is, if I didn't know a thing or two about actual cuckoo birds, I wouldn't have been prepared for what was going down in that movie.

I was... Not because I have any knowledge of various avian.

But because I'm familiar with an obscure cartoon from 1948, called THE CUCKOO. Directed by David Hand for Gaumont-British Picture Corporation.

Background. David Hand was an animator and director at the Disney studio in the 1930s, who headed up some memorable Mickey Mouse shorts such as PLUTO'S JUDGMENT DAY and THRU THE MIRROR. He would become supervising director on SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, and then later BAMBI, the latter of which was originally supposed to follow SNOW WHITE and be the studio's second-ever animated feature.

Hand left Disney in 1944 and went across the Atlantic, helping establish the animation side of Gaumont-British, which itself was the British offshoot of Gaumont, the French film company. After doing some commercial work, Hand launched two series of theatrical cartoons there: Musical Paintbox, and Animaland. They ran, to my knowledge, only in British and Canadian theaters. The latter series was initially meant to be comedic looks at various species, with a slight educational bent to them. THE CUCKOO, for me, is probably the most memorable for its feverish dream sequence and the ending encounter with a slimy weasel.

But prior to seeing that cartoon, I didn't know that cuckoo birds actually laid eggs in other bird species' nests. That plays into the creature-feature plot of Tilman Singer's CUCKOO. And halfway through, after not knowing what this movie was specifically going to be about, it clicked. I remembered THE CUCKOO, and internally I was like "Ohhhhhhh..." Then the movie started getting pretty cool from there!

I would recommend the movie if you're into horror/weird sci-fi stuff.

Again, it was cool that I got my small knowledge of what cuckoo birds do through a cartoon that few have probably seen. The Animalands were eventually released on VHS and DVD in the 1990s, probably their first-ever appearance in the U.S. I have the old DVD from the late '90s, fascinating trinkets of animation history, especially that of British animation not made by, say, Halas & Batchelor or Aardman. Worth checking out for Hand's direction and the Disney-esque animation quality alone.

[chrisshepherdfilms]

I was interviewed today by the amazing Richard Shaw for a new film about Halas and Batchelor. Here's the guys - thanks for having me. AND i got to handle some of the original cells!!!!

[everyanimatedmovie]

277. The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)

7/10

Sorry for the late update, everyone! My air conditioner broke yesterday, and I ended up collapsing in exhaustion from the heat in the afternoon. By the time I woke up, I’d completely forgotten about everything I was supposed to do!

At any rate, in this Asterix movie, he and Obelix must complete twelve impossible tasks set for them by Caesar. This is supposed to prove the rumors among the Romans that they are actually gods, and therefore cannot be successfully invaded.

A solid movie in every way. There's no bad musical numbers, and the animation quality is a big step up from the last two Asterix movies.

[fyeahadicons]

George (1959-1964) - COI Road Safety (UK)

[megamichaelbthings]

The Question (1967) Wonderful animation from the brilliant Halas and Batchelor studio.The question we’re all seeking the answer to. 

[zampagen993-blog]

⋛ᵜAnimal Farmﾐ♈ﾐJohn Halas & Joy Batchelor≭(1954)ᵝ⁀➣