Your Very Good Health

1 Jan 1948
Sound
9m

Long before the 'Charley Says' campaign of the 1970s and '80s, another cartoon Charley was used to demystify the newly created NHS.

Long before the 'Charley Says' campaign of the 1970s and 80s, another cartoon Charley was used to explain the postwar Labour government's new legislative reforms. In this film Charley demystifies the new state-funded National Health Service, detailing the benefits a free-at-point-of-delivery health service will offer to everyone in England.

Endowed with an everyday, man-on-the-street charm and armed with cheeky ripostes to authoritative commentary, the cartoon character designed by Joy Batchelor became the familiar face of official postwar propaganda, serving to anticipate and, it was hoped, overcome the British public's characteristic scepticism about government-imposed changes.

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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.