
John Halas
Directing
Biography
John Halas OBE was a pioneering British animator. Together with Gyula Macskássy, and Félix Kassowitz, Halász co-founded Hungary's first animation studio, Coloriton, in 1932. Coloriton existed for 4 years, producing animations for cinemas, including Boldog király kincse.
Known For

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 they cannot avoid corruption.
Animal Farm

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 laughter as they outwit, outrun, and generally outrage the very people who are trying to prove them "only human".
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix

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

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.
DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space
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.
The Tomfoolery Show
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.
Snip and Snap

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 some of the great animation pioneers who have worked in Britain – trailblazing talents such as Len Lye, John Halas and Joy Batchelor, Joanna Quinn, and Bristol’s world-conquering Aardman Animations.
Secrets of British Animation

No description available.
European Folk Tales

An animated, dark satire of America's automobile-obsessed, consumerist culture. An anonymous, brilliant scientist toils tirelessly in his ivory tower satisfying the public's ever-increasing demands for novelty and status consciousness, with predictable environmental consequences.
Automania 2000

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

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

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 someone of a lost love, so they are hired immediately hired by nightclub owners, ship captains and even a pirate... wherever circumstances take them.
The Hoffnung Palm Court Orchestra

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.
Dream Doll
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 conflict Halas & Batchelor were commissioned by the British Government to make four cartoons featuring a young boy Abu and his mule. They were intended to demonstrate in simple visual terms that Britain was a stout friend and the Axis powers a pernicious evil.
Abu and the Poisoned Well

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

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

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

The Baronet of Ruddigore, Sir Despard Murgatroyd, has inherited a family curse which forces him to commit a crime every day — or die in agony. He hates the curse, doing his heinous misdeeds as early as possible and good works for the rest of the day to compensate!
Ruddigore

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

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 concept for a cartoon washing powder commercial can be credited to Alexander Mackendrick, who worked at the J Walter Thompson advertising agency before making films at Ealing and then Hollywood.