Cycling Proficiency Scheme: Father and Son

1 Jan 1959
Sound
1m

"Dad... I want a bike!” Fun animated campaign aimed at 50s parents and their over-eager offspring.

This simple line animation by top British team Halas and Batchelor extols the virtues of the National Cycling Proficiency scheme, launched by the Government in 1958 after being introduced locally in 1947. Parents are warned not to let their child become another casualty statistic, a message that rings ever more true on today's increasingly congested roads.

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From the collection

Halas & Batchelor

Celebrating the vital and varied work of the pioneering British animation studio

Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Films were a defining force in British animation for more than five decades. Founded in 1940 by the Hungarian-born John Halas and Watford-born Joy Batchelor, the company progressed from producing cinema advertisements to creating vital public information films during and after the Second World War, before producing Britain's first animated feature film, Animal Farm, in 1954.

Whether working in advertising, children's television or independent short films, Halas and Batchelor championed animation as both a commercial enterprise and an art form. Though more than the story of John and Joy, their vision, advocacy and innovation helped shape the careers of generations of artists and practitioners, while bringing a broad range animated storytelling to audiences on screens both large and small.