Animation Artifacts &Books 21 Jun 2007 07:32 am
Illustrated Animal Farm I
- When the film Animal Farm was released, a tie-in book was published which republished George Orwell‘s novel with line drawings from the film by “Joy Batchelor and John Halas.” I somehow doubt they did the illustrations, but obviously one person within the studio did do the work. It has the look of a single hand.
There are some 35 spot illustrations, so to showcase them all I’ve decided to break this up into two separate postings. Part II will be up next week.
Here’s the first group:
This is the book’s dustcover._________________________ (Click any image to enlarge.)
This is the double/title page.
Each chapter has its own heading, and there are usually one to two stills within the body of each chapter.
Some of the illustrations, like this one, spread across two pages under the type.
For those of you unfamiliar with this story, it tells the tale of a farm wherein the animals are mistreated.
Under the guidance of the pigs, the animals take over the farm and create an animal collective.
However, the pigs grow lazy and do less of the work as they take charge of the others.
They eat more than their share of the food and mistreat the animals who do the greatest amount of work.
As animals begin to die under the guidance of the lazy pigs, there is some grumbling among the masses.
The pigs dominate and rule with a heavy hand.
Boxer, the horse, is the figure of strength and symbolically the real leader of the animals.
You can watch Animal Farm on YouTube by going here.
on 21 Jun 2007 at 9:53 am 1.Rudy Agresta said …
Hi Michael,
I believe I read in HALAS AND BATCHELOR CARTOONS by Vivien Halas that her mom, Joy, did those illustrations for the book.
on 22 Jul 2007 at 10:54 pm 2.Chris Rushworth said …
Hi Michael.
I have a copy of the illustrated Animal Farm, signed by Halas and Batchelor, 1955. It is one of many collectibles I own related to the animated film. A comic strip serialisation of Animal Farm was also published in newspapers and other periodicals to coincide with the film’s release, in the UK at least. I have a book with all the serialisation drawings which were by Harold Whitaker, one of the animators on the project.
When I have TIME I will post all my cels, drawings, posters, publications and figurines on the website.
Chris
on 23 Jul 2007 at 7:57 am 3.Michael said …
Animal Farm made quite an impression on me when I first saw it in the early 60′s. I was young and had not seen any such serious animation before. It was a profound moment for me.
I look forward to seeing more of your collection on your site. I have a few drawings and cels, myself. I’ve been a fan of Harold Whitaker’s work for some time. I’ve done a couple of reviews of his book on this blog and have praised him often. You might check here if you want to read one.
on 17 Mar 2009 at 2:44 am 4.Maurice Nkawihe said …
i once heard of it and i gave a try to read it but ooH! its best fair Story though some might crticise it. I think people especially africans need to read it and understand how our leaders come with promises and great honour to our fallen heros just to win and ill treat us. its a kind of philosophy that stands the test of time
on 13 Jul 2009 at 4:51 am 5.John said …
Did Part Two ever get put on this site?
on 13 Jul 2009 at 7:29 am 6.Michael said …
Part II is here (a few days later.)
on 22 Jul 2009 at 5:12 am 7.John said …
Thanks. I am reading Animal Farm with EFL students in Thailand and these drawings will be very useful, as I would like them to produce some project work such asd a cartoon version, spoof newspaper articles et cetera.
on 10 Mar 2010 at 3:30 am 8.Lawrence said …
Thanks for publishing these illustrations. Animal Farm is one of my favorite Classics, and my copy of the illustrated edition has, alas, disappeared.
I was a bit disappointed that you didn’t show one of my favorite illustrations: the new generation of piglets cavorting in the farmhouse garden under the admiring gaze of Napoleon. The ribbons on the pig’s tails is a harbinger of the final blow to the animal’s revolution.