[1] Battaglia was raised in Buffalo, New York, where he states his introduction to Circle Art in High School changed his life.
[11] In 2008, the Ottawa International Animation Festival featured a retrospective of Battaglia's work,[12] and also in 2008 his name was added to the St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute Fine Arts Wall of Honor in recognition of his accomplishments.
[17] Of How the Frog's Eye Sees, The New York Times called it a "witty look at the flies, fish and plant life that pass through the title creature's field vision".
[18] Of The Animated Star-Spangled Banner, Philadelphia Inquirer wrote "The Animated StarSpangled Banner is just that, the national anthem sung by a chorus of fifth graders" and "given a highly literal cartoon expression",[19] and Pittsburgh Press called it "hip and original",[20] while Washington Times noted the film "takes punning license with the words of the national anthem as they're spoken by a group of fifth-graders.
"[21] Variety wrote that the film was "inventively animated," with such imagery as the rocket's red glare becoming a line of Rockettes and then changing into an angry Karl Marx.