Joy Ethel Batchelor (12 May 1914 – 14 May 1991) was an English animator, director, screenwriter, and producer. She married John Halas in 1940 and subsequently co-established Halas and Batchelor cartoons, whose best known production is the animated feature film Animal Farm (1954), which made her the first woman director of an animated feature since Lotte Reiniger. Together they created over 2000 shorts/films, and produced roughly 70 propaganda pieces during World War II for the British government. She helped co-write, write, animate, produce, and direct many of their productions.

One of Batchelor's projects as an art director was Cinerama Holiday (1955). She directed and wrote Ruddigore (1967), a television-film adaptation of W.S. Gilbert's opera of the same name, which became the first opera to be adapted into an animated film. She later worked in television, directing series, including animated shows like The Jackson 5ive (1971). She died on 14 May 1991, just two days after her 77th birthday.

Joy Batchelor was born 12 May 1914, in Watford, Hertfordshire. She attended Watford Grammar School for Girls and later attended Watford School of Art, Science and Commerce, to which she had won a scholarship. She was offered placement afterwards at the Slade School of Art, but did not continue schooling to help support her family financially. She worked as a commercial artist and assembly line worker.

Batchelor was born into a family that had hoped for a son, leading to a sense of disappointment from her parents. She grew up feeling overshadowed by her younger brother, John, who received their mother’s devoted attention. In 1921, John died of diphtheria at the age of four, shortly after the birth of their sister, Barbara. The loss deeply affected the family, and their mother, Ethel Amy Herbert, suffered a nervous breakdown, requiring hospitalization. As a result, Batchelor experienced feelings of guilt and neglect during her early years.

Ethel, who had been raised with strict Victorian values, imposed rigid discipline on her children. On one occasion, she punished her by locking her in the cupboard beneath the stairs, an experience that strengthened her resolve to escape her circumstances. She would narrate stories to herself as a form of solace and imagination.

From an early age, Batchelor showed a strong interest in drawing. Her father encouraged her artistic talent, bringing home long paper off-cuts for her to use. Ethel, who harbored her own unfulfilled ambitions, pushed both Joy and Barbara to excel academically, warning them that without scholarships, they would end up in the workhouse. She earned a scholarship to grammar school and later received another to attend the Watford School of Art. She was also offered a scholarship to the prestigious Slade School of Fine Art but declined due to financial constraints, opting instead to enter the workforce to support her family.

Determined to pursue a career in art without becoming a teacher, Batchelor initially worked painting knick-knacks and trinkets on an assembly line, but she was dismissed after openly criticizing the poor working conditions.

Batchelor first began working in animation as an in-betweener for Dennis Connolly's projects. As part of her job as a commercial artist, she worked as a silk-screen printer and printed posters, as well as assisting in design work for fashion magazines. She met John Halas after he advertised for an assistant animator for British Colour Cartoons Limited. Batchelor accompanied him when the company sent Halas to Hungary in 1937 for work. Their first film together would be The Music Man (1937).