Joy Batchelor

A candlemaker entrusts his young son with the task of making candles for their church on Christmas Eve.  (more)

Instructional cartoon for the Admiralty.  (more)

A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when corrupt pigs hijack it for their personal gain. Based on the socialist George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm”, a critique of Stalinist authoritarianism.  (more)

In commissioning Halas & Batchelor, the War Office recognised the potential of cartoons as an unobtrusive and entertaining medium by which official messages could be conveyed - in this case some rather unsavoury warnings pertaining to foot rot, dysentery and VD ...  (more)

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 ...  (more)

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 ...  (more)

The film is designed to encourage recycling - which was a key part of the war effort.  (more)

Joy Batchelor directed, produced, wrote and designed this short film for Brook Bond Tea: two girls compete for the affections of a Teddy Bear.  (more)

In this film Charley demystifies the new state-funded National Health Service, detailing the benefits a free-at-point-of-delivery health service will offer to everyone in England.  (more)

Meet Charley, your jovial cartoon guide to Britain’s changing towns and cities.  (more)

Popular animated character Charley explains the National Insurance Act, which was legislation that made health insurance available to all British citizens.  (more)

An overview of the new schooling system. Part of BFI collection "Your Children and You."  (more)

This cartoon propaganda short by Halas & Batchelor sweetens the pill of post-war coal prices by promising jam tomorrow.  (more)

An animated film about the history and use of hot water.  (more)

Animated version of the fairy tale. Tom proves himself cleverer than his brothers when he outwits an ogre and returns home with treasure.  (more)

For centuries, the Murgatroyd family, the Baronets of Ruddigore, have been under a witch's curse — commit a crime every day, or die in agony. Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the rightful heir, has run away to live as innocent peasant Robin Oakapple in the Cornish village ...  (more)

This highly entertaining animated film begins as a young girl settles down into bed to sleep after coming home from a party. One of her feet protrudes from under the bed cover and the toes come alive and discuss how painful they are after being cramped into ...  (more)

A colorful cartoon commercial for soap flakes seems the last place that the realities of wartime life should creep in. A clothes cupboard opens to reveal a fantasy world where figures on fabric patterns come to life, and a neglected clown is shunned until he bathes ...  (more)

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Cartoon proof that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In this 1940s cinema advert, the tardiness of Signalman Squirrel's breakfast brings passengers to the brink of a major rail disaster every day. The solution is not setting his alarm earlier, ...  (more)