Introducing IMAG•N•O•TRON

NEW YORK, JUNE 29– Simon& Schuster Books for Young Readers, Academy Award ™ winner William Joyce, and Moonbot Studios have partnered to share extraordinary digital content for TheFantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (available in book stores everywhere now).  

Moonbot Studios has created a digital app called IMAG•N•O•TRON“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” Edition, available now oniTunes. This app gives readers a thrilling new reading experience through access to augmented reality features. The genius of IMAG•N•O•TRON is that, unlike other “app-centric” apps, it is unabashedly “book-centric.” Users can download the app for 99 cents starting today and use their physical version of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore to unlock exciting content on every page. The augmented reality experience will combine the real scenes from the book viewed by the reader with virtual scenes generated by the handheld device. Books fly off the page, Humpty Dumpty befriends you, and you get a sneak peek into a different part of Lessmore’s world, not shown in the book or movie. The app currently works on iPads 2 and 3 and iPhones.

Originally created as a short film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a remarkable bridge between the book world and the digital world. Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, and The Wizard of Oz, the book and film are a love story to people who devote their lives to books and to how books return the favor. The short film received an Oscar at the 84th Academy Awards™.

“What excites me is how William Joyce and Moonbot are constantly pushing the envelope, but always in service of the book,” said Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher of Atheneum Books for Young Readers.  “This groundbreaking app allows readers get more out of the book they were able to purchase anywhere.  How terrific to have something that is looking to enhance the printed experience, not replace it!”

Book Signings

Joe Bluhm and William Joyce at the Shreveport, LA Barnes & Noble book signing.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore picture book is now in stores!

In New Orleans this Friday? You don't want to miss a special New Orleans Center Creative Arts Academy event, hosted by Octavia Books.  Beginning at 6 PM, the evening will include a screening of the The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore film, a book signing, and Times Picayune Book Review Editor Susan Larson will conduct an interview with William Joyce. The interview will be broadcast on WWNO's The Reading Life . For more info, check out NOLA.com.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore Picture Book

The story that inspired the Academy Award®-winning animated short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is now a picture book! Select your favorite retailer from our list at morrislessmore.com and pre-order your copy today!

Experience Mr. Morris Lessmore's story once again, this time in the classic picture book format. Filled with 50 pages of beautiful illustrations, the book has earned a Kirkus Star and will be in stores on Tuesday, June 19th.

William Joyce at Book Expo of America 

Will you be attending the Book Expo of America?  The event takes place June 4-7 2012 at the Javits Center in NYC. William Joyce will be in Simon & Schuster Booth (#3657) signing copies of the Morris picture book  on Tuesday June 5th at 12:30 PM.

Future Events

• Tuesday June 19th at 6 PM: Book Signing in Shreveport, LA Barnes & Noble 
• Friday June 22nd: Book signing in New Orleans, details TBA
• Sunday June 24th: ALA Conference, Anaheim, California, details subject to change
• September 7th-9th: Southern Independent Booksellers Convention, Naples, FL, details TBA

“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 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.