Animal Farm – based on George Orwell’s 1945 novel and the first animated entertainment feature film to come out of the UK – will celebrate its 70thanniversary this year and is honoured with a screening at Brighton International Animation Festival this April.
Animal Farm was made in 1954, and produced by British animation greats Halas & Batchelor. The first female-led animation studio in Western Europe, Halas & Batchelor Cartoons was founded in 1940 and remained the largest and most influential studio in the territory for over 50 years. Making over 2,000 films and earning an international reputation for fine animation, Halas & Batchelor extended the medium to explain complex ideas with clarity and humour and reflected the social and style changes of half a century.
Notably, Joy Batchelor was one of the first female Animation Directors of her time and a pioneer for women in animation, often being referred to as ‘The female Disney’.
Showing traditional cel animation at its best, both the message and the methodology of Animal Farm still stand the test of time today. The first animated entertainment feature film to come out of the UK, it quickly became a staple in classrooms across the country, the United States and other English-speaking countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand into the 2000s.
Vivien Halas – daughter of Joy Batchelor and John Halas – of Halas and Batchelor Estate will present the story of their studio at Brighton International Animation Festival on Saturday 6th April, ahead of the 70th anniversary Animal Farm screening on Sunday 7th April.
Visit the Brighton International Animation Festival website for more information and keep updated by following @brightonanimation on Instagram.
