Rise of the Guardians Trailer

The Jade Sphinx James Abbott has published his review of Book Two of The Rise of The Guardians series: E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!.  

Joyce’s imagination is like a great attic filled with comics, old TV shows, pulp novels and adventure stories, toys and Americana, and tumbled and jumbled together until it forms something uniquely its own.  Part of the great fun is running a mental finger down the line of his inspiration and watching him tickle the source.

Book Events
Book Expo of America, NYC: June 5-7th 2012, details TBD
American Library Association, Anahiem, CA: June 21-26th, details TBD

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore picture book will be released mid-June 2012.

In Rise of the Guardians movie news, Dreamworks recently hosted a preview of the film along with the first theatrical trailer. You can catch the trailer in theaters starting April 6th. The film is set for release mid-November of this year!  

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” from Moonbot Studios Wins Best Animated Short in 2011 Oscars

Image source: msn.com

William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg take home Academy Award for first original film

Los Angeles, CA – February 27, 2012 – Just announced last night at the 84th Annual Academy Awards®, Moonbot Studios took home an Oscar in the animated short film category for the studio’s very first project, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg.  “Morris Lessmore” was released in February 2011 in conjunction with the launch of the studio itself.

“The idea for the film was inspired by a dear friend and mentor, Bill Morris, a lover of books and a grand old gentleman of children's book publishing,” said William Joyce, co-founder of Moonbot Studios and co-director on the “Morris Lessmore” film.  “I know Bill would be touched to see a film about his life’s passion honored by the Academy.”

Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, “Morris Lessmore” is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story.  Using a variety of techniques, including filmed miniatures, stop motion, 2D, and 3D animation, award-winning author and illustrator William Joyce and co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals and is the most cutting edge of today.

“We created our film and our studio at the same time,” said Brandon Oldenburg, co-founder of Moonbot Studios and co-director on the “Morris Lessmore” film.  “The short is a sort of gumbo of everything we love about film and animation and so is our studio.”

The Moonbot team created thousands of hand-painted books and constructed a full city block of the New Orleans French Quarter in 1/12th scale.  The entire production of the film spanned a year’s time.  After the release of the short, Moonbot unveiled an interactive iPad App version of the story which has received worldwide praise as a ground breaking leap forward in storytelling on the iPad.  The best-selling, interactive “Morris Lessmore” iPad App is available on iTunes for $4.99 in the App Store.

Much of what has allowed Moonbot to flourish creatively can be attributed to the company’s strong local roots, including support from the State of Louisiana and the City of Shreveport.  The creators are closely associated with ArtSpace, Shreveport’s regional arts center, and the Robinson Film Center, a non-profit organization that hosts independent, international, and classic films and assists with film education.  In keeping with the local theme, Joyce and Oldenburg were even outfitted for the Oscars in custom tuxedos created by Dickies, the clothing designer traditionally known for its “work wear” based in Oldenburg’s hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

“We can’t emphasize enough how much the support of Louisiana Economic Development and the Shreveport community has helped to get Moonbot where it is in such a short time,” said Lampton Enochs, co-founder of Moonbot Studios and co-producer on the “Morris Lessmore” film.   “With the support of State incentives and workforce training programs, we’ve been able to build a strong team of talented artists and storytellers and have far exceeded our expectations for what we could accomplish in our first months of business.”  

The second book in The Guardians series, E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core! is now available for purchase.

Interviews
Bill Desowitz's comprehensive interview covers past and future projects including The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and Rise of The Guardians.

DMagazine has posted their interview with William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg.

Upcoming TV Appearances
Good Morning America (ABC) Thursday 2.23.2012 & Saturday 2.25.2012
CBS Sunday Morning Sunday 2.26.2012
The 84th Academy Awards® (ABC) Sunday 2.25.2013

“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, is one of five animated short films that will be considered for outstanding film achievements of 2011 in the 84th Academy Awards,® which take place on February 26, 2012. Since the final nominees were announced, William Joyce has been quite busy!

 Nominees Luncheon Photo: ©A.M.P.A.S.®

Meeting Steven Spielberg

Arriving in LA earlier this week

Keep up with the Oscars Adventure by following @MoonbotStudios and @MorrisLessmore via Twitter and visiting the Moonbot blog as well as www.moonbotstudios.com. 


In other news, the Discovery Channel has released a series of interviews with William Joyce via Curiosity.com. Watch them all here.

January 2012 Update

Greetings from the moon! We've been quite busy here at "The Museum of Future Children's Classics", aka, Moonbot Studios. Our new storybook app, Numberlys, out now on the iTunes App Store, happens to be the App of the Week for iPad and iPhone! Huzzah!

  

The Numberlys presents a fanciful depiction of the origins of the alphabet and is the newest interactive epic from Moonbot Studios, the creators of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. The Numberlys is a story App celebration of the early fantasy epics King Kong, Metropolis and Flash Gordon with a dollop of the Marx Brothers, a splash of the Fleischer Studios technicolor Superman and a little bit of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

The Numberlys is huge in scope. It's an adventure! A mystery! A game! And a story!

It's a new way to entertain, learn and rediscover our storytelling "golden age".

Interested in learning more about William Joyce's copious creative endeavors? Animation Magazine's detailed report/interview, Expanding the Magical World of William Joyce, is profuse with the author's thoughts on projects past and future, including everything from Leafmen to Morris Lessmore to Rise of The Guardians. 

 

Last but certainly not least, we encourage you to enjoy this video, courtesy LPB.