The Ministry of Information (MOI) was the government’s wartime attempt at keeping the British public informed primarily on the matters of the second world war. The Ministry of Information was activated in September 1939. It sent information out to the public in the form of film, newspapers, radio, posters and news. A large number of the films were animated, produced by Halas & Batchelor Cartoons. Kenneth Clark, the Head of Films at MOI suggested in 1940 that animation could be ‘a very flexible medium of propaganda’. Halas & Batchelor made 70 films and trailers for the wartime.

​

MOI was not without its criticism however, as some found MOI’s films to be unclear and some felt that they had little to say in terms of wartime changes. A member of the public, naming themselves only as ‘An Angry Scot’ wrote to the Dundee Courier in October 1940, asking the question 'What precisely does the Ministry of Information attempt to do or accomplish? It costs huge amount and supports host of officials, but what information does it supply?’ and later going on to say ‘On Monday morning I listened to the o'clock 8.8.C. broadcast. the bombing of a city, but that there was no official news. Within half an hour I was reading my morning paper which gave a full account of what had happened in Edinburgh area. Later on mention was made of the attack on the Scottish capital. I ask again, what is the precise work of the Ministry of Information?'. It seems that many felt they could get their war information without the involvement of the MOI.

 

Despite criticism from the public, MOI lasted through the war, and was dissolved in March 1946. Its duties were passed to the Central Office of Information, which would run a much longer course until 2012, providing the public with a varied public information scheme up until its closure.