Every year we celebrate Stroud’s unique animation heritage with a relaxed, free, drop in screening of some of Halas & Batchelor’s superb animated short films, to coincide with Stroud Film Festival. Beautifully crafted, technically brilliant, wonderfully inventive and full of humour … and every scene was drawn by hand! We love them and hope you do too.

During the 1940s and 1950s Stroud was Britain’s main centre for producing animated films. The Halas and Batchelor studio made hundreds of films, including Britain’s first ever animated feature film ‘Animal Farm’ (1954). In the Museum you can see a sound-video editing machine once used at the studio. If you or someone you know used to work at H&B we’d love to hear your memories and stories.

The short film collection will be showing on repeat throughout the day in the Museum’s Collectors’ Room.

Magic Canvas (1948); Flying Free (1980); The Owl and the Pussycat (1952); The Figurehead (1953); The History of the Cinema (1957); Foo Foo The Stowaway (1960); Haba Tales: The Cultured Ape (1960); Hamilton The Musical Elephant (1961); Automania 2000 (1963); DoDo – The Kid from Outer Space: The Kidnapped Kid (1964); Tales from Hoffnung: The Symphony Orchestra (1964); Flow Diagram (1966); The Question (1967); Children & Cars (1971); Butterfly Ball (1974); Autobahn (1979); Dilemma (1981)

With thanks to Vivien Halas and the Halas & Batchelor Collection.

Free event, donations welcome. Please be aware that some content is not suitable for young children.