1st Oscar for Louisiana-made animated film goes to William Joyce

Score one for Hollywood South – and for Byrd High School alum and friend Bill Joyce.

The Louisiana-made animated film "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" -- conceived, crafted and completed by Shreveport's fledgling Moonbot Studios -- won the Oscar for best animated short at last night’s 84th annual Academy Awards.

The beautifully rendered and emotionally rich film is a 15-minute charmer co-directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg.  It is the first film from Moonbot Studios, which hopes to use its success to springboard into the animated-feature game.

I was in Shreveport this weekend and enjoyed reading the news stories in anticipation of Oscar night.  We also looked through our old yearbooks to see drawings Bill did back at Broadmoor Junior High and Byrd High School.

Although it was going up against a strong field -- including the wonderful "La Luna" from animation heavyweight Pixar -- the win by "Morris Lessmore" shouldn't come as an enormous surprise for Oscar-watchers. In a year in which the Academy has shown a taste for cinematic nostalgia, in the form of best-picture front-runners "Hugo" and the silent film "The Artist," Moonbot's lovely and lyrical story, about the curative power of books, fit the bill.

A silent film with a main character inspired by silent-era comic Buster Keaton, it tells the story of a man whose French Quarter-dwelling life is literally blown away at the movie's outset. As he deals with his grief, he finds a refuge in a fantastical library in which the books have literally come to life.

Former New Orleans resident and "Morris Lessmore" producer Lampton Enochs said those literary underpinnings were no accident.

Taking the stage Sunday arm in arm, Joyce and Oldenburg paid homage to the storytellers who have inspired them ever since they were children -- as well as tipping a cap to their Louisiana roots.

"We're just, like, these swamp rats from Louisiana," said an overjoyed Joyce, wearing a jaunty porkpie hat with his traditional tux. "And this is so grand. We love the movies. We love the movies more than anything else. ... We're just down there in Louisiana, where people just keep on trying and keep going, and thank you to the Academy."

Watch a short video about Bill’s Moonbot Studios here…www.moonbotstudios.com

Story insights from award-winning author and illustrator William Joyce

A few weeks ago I wrote that an old friend from Shreveport won this year’s Louisiana Writer Award.
William Joyce is an Emmy-winning author and illustrator of children's books – and he has been hailed by Newsweek as one of the top 100 people to watch in the new millennium.

As he took home the award, here are a few thoughts on story development shared in the media:


"If we take a child and introduce him to the fun and joy that comes from knowing characters in a story, if we are able to inspire that child and see the first sparks of wonderment that come from reading, then we know we've set that child on a course that will be stayed throughout his or her life," said Louisiana state librarian Rebecca Hamilton.

"Joyce's work shines at this. His stories are playful, full of joy and mischievousness, and children open up to that quality and want to know more," she said.

Joyce best-selling children's books include "George Shrinks," "Santa Calls" and "Dinosaur Bob and his Adventures with the Family Lazardo." He won three Emmys for his popular children's show "William Joyce's Rolie Polie Olie," an animated Disney Channel series. Joyce was named by Newsweek magazine as one of the top 100 people to watch in the new millennium. His feature films include "ROBOTS" and "Meet the Robinsons," and he's created conceptual characters for popular films "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life."

Joyce said the inspiration for his stories could come from a variety of sources, including life transitions, like the birth of his first child, something he hears or an inexplicable feeling.

He's working on two projects — "The Guardians of Childhood" and "Misheviants."

"The Guardians of Childhood" is a movie about how all the popular holiday and mythical characters — including Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost and others — band together to defeat Pitch, otherwise known as the Boogeyman.

Joyce's other project, "Mischeviants" will be a children's book series about the little creatures that live in the house and do all the things that annoy humans, such as hide the remote control and eat homework.

His advice to other aspiring artists: "Never underestimate the power of goofing off."

Joyce also pointed out that today's generation has even more opportunities to achieve careers in storytelling. "There are so many opportunities that weren't available before, whether it's in film, television, cartoons, animation, graphic novels, comic strips, storyboarding or whatever else. The American entertainment culture has something that translates worldwide and will never be outsourced."