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Halas and Batchelor Cartoon Films
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Ode to Joy 2014
An introduction to the life and work of Joy Batchelor on the hundredth anniversary of her birth. Joy was a director, animator, producer and designer and one half of the Halas & Batchelor Cartoons Studio, which made the UKs first animated feature film, Animal Farm, in 1954. Although a crucial figure in British animation, she has for years been unfairly passed over for recognition. This short film made in her honour seeks to redress that balance and to introduce Joy's work to a wider audience. The film was produced by her daughter, Vivien Halas.
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Johann Sebastian Bach in Euro Deutschland 1995
Part of Halas and Bachelor's unfinished "Know your Europeans" series by the late John Halas. The film takes an irreverent, funny and - at times downright bizarre look at German history.
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Know Your Europeans: The United Kingdom 1994
Set to Gilbert and Sullivan tunes, a musical cartoon attempts to describe the character of the British nation, with occasional interruptions by Prince Charles.
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A Memory of L Moholy-Nagy 1990
Documents the life and influence of the Bahaus artist, László Moholy-Nagy.
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Players 1982
Cartoon tennis match, with players based on Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
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Heavy Metal 1981    star_border 6.5
The embodiment of ultimate evil, a glowing orb terrorizes a young girl with bizarre stories of dark fantasy, eroticism and horror.
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Flying Free 1980
An updated version of Halas and Batchelor's short film, 'The Magic Canvas', with a new electronic score.
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Autobahn 1979    star_border 6.8
An animated visual interpretation of the song "Autobahn," by German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. A fast-paced experimental film which proved to be a groundbreaking combination of electronic and manual animation. One of the first films produced specifically for video disk.
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Dream Doll 1979    star_border 6.7
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 bizarre adaption of Le Ballon Rouge.
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The Carburettor 1977
A BAFTA award nominated reworking of a 1957 documentary using models and animation to explain the need to mix air and petrol in the correct proportions to create an efficient fuel for an engine.
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Engineering - North Sea 1976
A documentary concerned with engineering projects connected with developing North Sea oilfields, specifically the Auk and Brent fields.
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Hydraulics 1976
A BAFTA award winning documentary on the basic principles and applications of hydrostatics.
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The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast 1974    star_border 3
A project assembled to musically support William Plomer's (1903-73) book of poems called 'The Butterfly Ball and Grasshoppers Feast'; in which Alan Aldridge had provided the illustrations. British Lion had secured the rights, and commissioned Glover, through Tony Edwards (the Deep Purple manager), to add the musical dimension that it required if it were to be made into a 26-part animated cartoon series, suitable for TV. (Discogs) This is the music video for the song Love Is All, performed by Ronnie James Dio.
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Football Freaks 1971
Football crazy, football mad. Don’t watch this off-beat jukebox cartoon expecting any conventional soccer action. Equal parts Disney, Dali and Duchamp, this abstract mix of black and white photos and alternative comix style animation is accompanied by a medley of doo-wop classics and documentary soundbites. The film is certainly an extreme departure for those familiar with the more conventional output of the Halas & Batchelor studio, best known for their feature-length version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1954). Paul Vester was one of a number of sixties art school graduates that brought a mix of pop art and illustration influences to the company whilst it was undergoing a brief change in its ownership. As a warning, in keeping with its progressive, adult style there is some brief nudity at the end of the film.
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Animation Has Changed 1971
Out with the old and in with the new – one of Britain’s leading animation companies pitches its new image with great humour.
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A Short Tall Story 1970
The Shorts and the Talls just can’t see eye to eye until a mediating fairy arrives to help them make ends meet.
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Up 1970
An androgynous person is climbing up a swaying tower of humans who hang in the air. Many drop into a sea of flies below them. The flies pick at their brains. At the top of the tower a lotus flower opens and radiates light.
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To Our Children's Children's Children 1969
Cartoon set to songs from The Moody Blues' titular album.
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Topology 1969
One of a humorous series of films devised to explain in graphic terms the concepts of basic mathematical functions.
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Dying for a Smoke 1967
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 into the cigarette habit. Fourteen-year-old Sam falls into the trap, but after awesome visions of his future, expert advice from a doctor, and straight talk from a friendly lorry-driver renounces the habit.
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European Folk Tales 1978
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The Addams Family 1973    star_border 7.3
The Addams Family is an animated adaptation of the Charles Addams cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973. Many of the original actor's from the 1960"s television series returned in voice-over roles.
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The Osmonds 1972    star_border 5
The pop group starred in an animated series that had them touring the world as musical goodwill ambassadors. Each episode featured at least one song.
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The Jackson 5ive 1971    star_border 5.9
The Jackson 5ive was a Saturday morning cartoon series produced by Rankin/Bass and Motown Productions on ABC from September 11, 1971 until 14 October 1972; a fictionalized portrayal of the careers of Motown recording group The Jackson 5. The series was rebroadcast in syndication through Worldvision Enterprises during the 1984–1985 Saturday morning season, during a period when Michael Jackson was riding a major wave of popularity as a solo artist. The series was animated mainly in London at the studios of Halas and Batchelor, and some animation done at Estudios Moro, Barcelona, Spain. The director was Spanish-American Robert Balser.
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Tomfoolery 1970    star_border 4
The Tomfoolery Show is an American cartoon comedy television series made and first broadcast in 1970, based on the works of Edward Lear. The animation was done at the Halas and Batchelor Studios in London and Stroud. Though the works of other writers were also used, notably Lewis Carroll and Ogden Nash, Lear's works were the main source, and characters like The Yongy Bonghy Bo and The Umbrageous Umbrella Maker were all Lear creations. Some original material was also written based on characters created by Lear, although much of the material was a straight recital of poems and limericks or songs using Lear's poems set to music. A recurring joke had a delivery boy running around trying to deliver a large plant and shouting 'Plant for Mrs Discobolus!'. The series was produced by Rankin/Bass, who also made the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.
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DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space 1965
DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space was an animated cartoon series that was syndicated to television from 1965-1970. DoDo was a young extraterrestrial from the planet Hena Hydro, who came to Earth in his flying saucer and had numerous adventures. Other cast members included Professor Fingers, an eccentric scientist who somewhat resembled the later Professor Utonium; Compy, DoDo's computer/duck hybrid pet; and Why and How, two Earth children. The characters speak in rhymes, either independently or playing off each other. "DoDo" was created by Lady Stearn Robinson and produced by British animators Halas and Batchelor. A total of 78 five-minute episodes were filmed.
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Snip and Snap 1960
Snip and Snap was a 1960 British animated series from Halas & Batchelor. It was directed by the Danish paper sculptor Thok Søndergaard and John Halas. It featured the exploits of a dog made of paper and pair of scissors.
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