Published 01/11/2012
Celebrating the heyday of animation; the historic collection of Halas&Batchelor now available for licensing through Bridgeman's footage platform.
Formed in 1940, the Halas&Batchelor studio has long occupied a unique place in British cinema. Led by John Halas and Joy Batchelor, the studio became one of Europe's largest and most influential producers of animated films right up into the 1970s.
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A selection of the wonderfully entertaining Halas&Batchelor collection is now being represented by the Bridgeman Art Library, including historic gems such as Sleeping Beauty, Snip and Snap, History of Cinema and The Owl and the Pussycat. The collection includes a number of the amusing satirical films, including Automania 2000, a prophetic look at the fruits of over-production and Dilemma, a film about the use and misuse of man's skills. As well as satire, Halas&Batchelor embraced the arts and created their own mini series dedicated to the Great Masters. Educational and entertaining, explore the history of Toulouse Lautrec, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. |
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Halas&Batchelor were well known for expermenting with new technologies of the time and embraced all of the new advancements in animation as they became available. These included stereoscopic film (The Owl and the Pussycat), computer animated sequences for Videodisk and one of the first fully digitally produced films, Dilemma.
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The history of this very special collection is lovingly preserved by Vivien Halas, daughter of John and Joy. This year has marked the centenary of John Halas, and in celebration a number of his films have been shown at festivals and events across the world. In November, John Halas will be posthumously awarded the BAF 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and there will be a special screening of Paul Wells's film An Animated Utopia; a documentary examining the films, life and many achievements of John Halas. There will also be special events held at the Bath Film Festival (November) and BFI Southbank (December). |
Bridgeman is very proud to be working with the Halas&Batchelor collection and will be adding new films to the website in the coming months. To view the current collection represented by Bridgeman, please click here and to enquire about other films made by Halas&Batchelor, contact newyork@bridgemanart.com.
