 In the starting year of Halas and Batchelor, Joy Batchelor and John Halas continued to do commercial work to sustain finances.In 1940, Halas and Batchelor was approached by J. Walter Thompson to produce advertising shorts.Their first commissions consisted of commercials for Kellogg's cereal and Lux Soap, producing "Train Trouble" and "Carnival in a Clothes Cupboard" for each respectively.