John Halas
Biography
He was born in Budapest as János Halász. In early 1930s he founded a film studio in his hometown with Gyula Macskássy and Felix Kassowitz. He left to London in 1936 where he met his wife and long-term collaborator, Joy Batchelor. In 1940 they founded Halas and Batchelor Cartoon films. It became one of the top award-winning animation studios in the UK.
Illustration Features
Illustrator, animator and director John Halas (1912-1995) is a key figure in post-war animation. Over 50 years of film production he sought out fresh narrative and technical solutions. Others have built upon his work to this day. He was an artist with extraordinary social sensibility, agreeable humour and resourcefulness through art and animation. He produced and directed a big number of advertisements, educational and original productions. Critics as well as audience mostly welcomed Hamilton, the musical elephant series, Automania 2000 (1963), Autobahn (1979) and Dilemma (1981). George Orwell´s Animal Farm (1954) was arguably his most famouse production. This work carried Halas´s strong moral and social message.