The
Halas&Batchelor Collection
Vivien Halas
Awards
History
Joy Batchelor
Awards text here
Welcome to the Halas & Batchelor Collection website. Here you can explore the Halas & Batchelor studio, with details about the studio’s history, biographies of key personnel, awards and an extensive range of film clips.
Founded in 1940, Halas & Batchelor Cartoons was the largest and most influential animation studio in Western Europe for over 50 years. In that time, they made over 2,000 films and earned an international reputation for fine animation, extending the medium to explain complex ideas with clarity and humour. Their films reflect the social and style changes of half a century and are here for you to discover.
1954
in Budapest, 1938
1963
1954
Short Film Screenings in New York
Women in Animation
11 - 15 October 2026
We are delighted that two short films by Joy Batchelor will be featured as part of a programme of pioneering women animators, including Mary Ellen Bute, Hermina Tyrlova, Evelyn Lambart, Sara Petty, Sally Cruikshank, Lotte Reiniger, Faith Hubley and Caroline Leaf.
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Screenings will include:
The Owl and the Pussycat (1952)
The Figurehead (1953)
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Premiere at BFI London
Animal Farm in 4k
10 November 2026, 6pm
Screening of newly restored film to 4K by BFI and Silver Salt Laboratory, with input from the Halas & Batchelor Archive. The team have fully remastered the film to produce the highest quality and most complete version of this iconic classic.
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Silver Salt have regraded the colour and restored missing frames.
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On 10 November, Vivien Halas will introduce the film at NFT2, with Jez Stewart, BFI animation guru.
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The film will then be available in HD Blu Ray in a new box set, with new documentary material and a selection of the best Halas & Batchelor short films.
Film screening at Monheim Germany
Britain's Pioneers in Animation
29 November 2026
Screenings of Halas & Batchelor films as part of their 'Britain's Pioneers in Animation: The Story of Halas & Batchelor' programme, featuring:
Animal Farm (1954)
Shoemaker and the Hatter (1949)
Speed to the Plough (1956)
HIstory of the Cinema (1957)
Press coverage
Click above to read Nancy Denney-Phelps article
Click above to read Vivien Halas's article from April 2020
Click above to read Dr Emily Munro's blog post which features Joy Batchelor's films about potatoes.
Vivien Halas was interviewed for this 2019 documentary about the role of women in the animation industry and employment trends.
