Review for The Halas & Batchelor Short Film Collection

This is what we want - a complete history lesson in a box. I love it when collections like this get the royal treatment and are packed to the gunnels with extra features that are so exhaustive that by the end of the viewing experience (and we’re talking several evenings to squeeze it all in) you’ll feel like you’re something of an expert on Halas and Batchelor yourself. So much value squeezed into a single disc.




Affectionately referred to as 'the British Disney', Halas & Batchelor's highly influential and internationally acclaimed body of work encompassed children's series, public education films, wartime propaganda, advertising and abstract surrealism. This collection of short films (selected from some two thousand made by their ‘studio’ in Halas’s lifetime) is a great cross-section that reflects the highly varied, often humorous, occasionally subversive and always surreal body of work in a really compelling way.
You can get the idea with a preview video here.


Famously. Halas and Batchelor produced what is arguably the very first full-length animated feature in the UK with their excellent ‘Animal Farm’ (1954). a really great adaptation of the book with the exception of its oft criticised ‘optimistic ending’. (The case for that is argued saliently enough by Halas in one of Clapperboard interviews in the special features). That feature is available on a separate Blu-Ray from Network whilst this excellent set focuses on their shorter films.


It all started 75 years ago when, In the spring of 1940, the Hungarian John Halas and the Watford-born Joy Batchelor married, and then founded their own animation studio. They then spent the next 40 years creating literally hundreds of animated films from their Covent Garden headquarters.



The disc contains a wide variety of shorts representing every aspect of the considerable studio output. What is clear is that, despite H & B being a commercial concern, employing many full-time and freelance staff over several decades, there is arguably an underlying ideological core to their work. It seems pre-occupied with the betterment of mankind in one way or another. Whether that was contributing to the war (and post-war) efforts in Britain or prophetic dystopian future-gazing, you can feel this concern in pretty much all the samples on the disc.



 From an uncannily prophetic, Oscar nominated satire on technological overkill and automated gridlock (Automania 2000) to the adventures of a paper cut-out dog and his friends (Snip and Snap), there is one of everything here to enjoy Drawn from an archive that includes numerous international award winners, these animated gems have been newly transferred in High Definition from the original film elements; all showcase the beguiling humour, questing yet playful spirituality and sheer technical brilliance that characterised the studio's output, serving as both an introduction to and celebration of a unique body of work that, as Network and the BFI rightly point out, is ripe for re-evaluation. And this is the set that will let you do it.



Though it may be controversial, I would recommend watching the special features before you watch the short films themselves. Whilst there may be some spoilers, the trade-off in understanding the context and history of each piece is well worth it.

The biggest (and unexpected) joy for me was the inclusion of three complete ‘Clapperboard’ episodes from 1980 which use a lengthy and illuminating interview with John Halas as the centre piece. Across 90 minutes you get a detailed understanding and appreciation of this charismatic man’s work. ‘Clapperboard’ was a Granada TV series, hosted by Chris Kelly which ran from 1972 for a decade, running up 254 episodes in the process. (I have no idea how many survive but if it’s a majority I for one would welcome a complete series release. I note that the ‘Hawk the Slayer’ Blu-Ray from Network also has a ‘Clapperboard’ episode in its special features, hopefully heralding more on the way). Not only is John Halas a deeply engaging interviewee, with his strange accent and over-emphasised delivery of words.




There’s also a feature comprised of interviews with many who worked with Halas reflecting on their work together in a featurette called ‘John Halas’ remembered. Although the disc is more heavily focused on Halas, there is also a short featurette called ‘Ode to Joy’ remembering the importance of his wife’s contribution as a very distinct illustrator and animator who really helped define the look of their earliest work together in particular.

There’s a so-called ‘colourised’ version from 1980 of their classic of ‘The Cultured Ape’ which features a flute-playing ape searching for a suitable audience for his high-art. Finally there’s a featurette called ‘ An Animated Utopia: the Life and Achievement of John Halas. Finally a useful image gallery set to music.




So on to the films themselves. It’s a necessarily variable bunch though each has some merit as a part of the whole. Highlights of the 18 shorts include ‘The Magic Canvas’ (1948) a surreal and abstract visual ‘ballet’ set to specially written music. ‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ (1952) based on Edward Lear’s nonsense rhyme. ‘The Figurehead’ (1953) which was arguably the first ever British stop-frame animation piece using figurine’s and dolls. The very cynical (but wickedly enjoyable) ‘The History of Cinema’ (1957). The previously mentioned ‘Automania2000’ (1963) ; an episode of ‘DoDo – The Kid from Outer Space’ (1964) who has a TV Ariel attached to his head so ‘…he can see you watching him’. The wonderful ‘The Question’ (1967) which bottles up a thousand years of philosophical contemplation into under ten minutes and ‘Autobahn’ (1979) which is a surreally repetitive space programme set to 12 minutes of Kraftwerk’s 1974 electronic masterpiece.



This fantastic set from Network ties in with the 75th anniversary of Halas and Batchelor’s first work. The BFI have pulled together something of a celebration too and there’s a site focused on the duo’s contribution to British film. You can access the site here.

If you have any interest in animation at all or in this particular aspect of British film history then you’ll definitely want this excellent disc in your collection. I’m pleased as punch to have it mine.