Animal Farm
Dir: Joy Batchelor, John Halas
1954
***
Joy Batchelor and John Halas's 1954 animated version of George Orwell's classic tale, Animal Farm has been celebrated for all the wrong reasons. Often and incorrectly reported as the first British animated feature, Joy Batchelor and John Halas's adaptation is actually the second British full length animated feature. Unfortunately it's also a pretty basic adaptation of what is one of the greatest books of all time. The animation itself is rather good although sometimes it does in fact detract the message from the story. It doesn't come close to doing it justice but it's easy to watch all the same, just as long as people realise it is no substitute for the book.