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.
A documentary essay about the unsung animation visionary, John Halas. An Animated Utopia explores his desire "to save the world using animation" and highlights his prescient and influential work in exploring new technologies. Though he, along with his wife Joy Batchelor, headed the longest-lasting and most successful British animation studio, he remains an enigma - his achievements, his influence, his success still unknown to so many. This is his story.
A documentary about John Halas, the Hungarian-Jewish emigre who became the father of British Animation. John is a key figure in British cinema and his contribution goes far beyond making Animal Farm in 1954, Britain's first animated feature-film. He produced more than 2000 films between 1938 and 1995, launched the careers of hundreds of British animators and was a visionary who wanted to create a post-WWII utopia through Socialism, animation and international understanding. The film was commissioned and produced by his daughter Vivien Halas who runs the Halas & Batchelor archive.