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Branston Pickle: Advertising Agency

1 Jan 1957
Sound
1m

15 seconds isn't long, you've got to say Crosse and you've got to say Blackwell, and you've got to say Branston Pickle!

Necessity is the mother of invention. The advertising agency's problem of fitting a distinctive commercial message for Crosse & Blackwell Branston Pickle into 15 seconds of screen time becomes the solution. Britain's leading animation company Halas & Batchelor were brought on board to turn a clever idea into this small but perfectly formed ad from the early years of commercial television in Britain.

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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.