William Joyce (writer)

William Edward Joyce (born December 11, 1959) is an American writer, illustrator, and filmmaker. He has achieved worldwide recognition as an author, artist and pioneer in the digital and animation industry.^[1][2]

William Joyce
Joyce promoting The Man in the Moon in November 2011
Born	William Edward Joyce (1959-12-11) December 11, 1959 (age 63) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Author, illustrator, filmmaker
Education	Southern Methodist University
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Frances Elizabeth Baucum Joyce (1960-2016)
Children	2
Signature
Website
williamjoyce.com

He has written and illustrated over 50 bestselling children’s books and novels which have been translated into over 40 languages.

He began his film career on Toy Story and has since been a producer/director/screenwriter/production designer in both animation and live action.

Among his many awards, Bill has won 6 Emmys, 3 Annies and an Academy award for his short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011).

Bill was named by Newsweek magazine as “one of the 100 people to watch in the new millennium. His feature films, all based on his books, include Epic, Rise of the Guardians, Robots and Meet the Robinsons. His television series include the groundbreaking computer animated Rolie Polie Olie for which he was creator and showrunner.

He has also painted numerous covers for the New Yorker Magazine.

His new company, Howdybot Studios, is focused on Bill’s stories in a variety of mediums and media. Mr. Joyce’s newest short film Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat (2022) has won awards at a number of film festivals in the U.S. and abroad. He is also in pre-production on an animated version of The Great Gatsby from Apple TV+ and Apple Studios. Both projects are in collaboration with DNEG Studios and Epic Games.

His novel “Ollie's Odyssey” will be aired as a live action/CG limited series on Netflix in August 2022.

Career

Children's literature

He has written and illustrated over 50 children's books including George Shrinks, Santa Calls, Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo, Rolie Polie Olie, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs and A Day with Wilbur Robinson, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, The Guardians of Childhood series and many others.

His first book “Tammy and the Gigantic Fish” by James and Katherine Gray was published by Harper & Row (now Harper Collins) in 1983. After the retirement of his longtime editor there Laura Gerringer, in 2011 Joyce moved his backlist and all subsequent books to Simon & Schuster where his editor is Caitlyn Dlouhy.

Since being at Simon & Schuster Mr. Joyce has produced a number of bestselling titles, including The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore which debuted at Number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list in July 2012, a position it held for several weeks. Morris Lessmore has been translated into over 40 languages and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best children's books of all time. Morris Lessmore is the most expansive and experimental of Joyce’s stories. With his company Moonbot Studios, Joyce along with his partners, produced the Lessmore story in a variety of media and mediums simultaneously. A short film was in production (using handmade miniature sets) while the book was being illustrated (along with Joe Bluhm) and an interactive story app was being devised.

The story app of Morris Lessmore received overwhelmingly positive attention and in August 2011 briefly dislonged Angry Birds as the bestselling app in the world. It was voted into the app hall of fame soon after.^[3]

Film and television

Joyce has received three Emmys for Rolie Polie Olie, a Canadian animated television series based on his series of children's books that aired on Disney Channel (part of Playhouse Disney block) and is currently on Disney+. His second television series, George Shrinks, used to air daily on PBS stations. He has received three additional Emmys for other animated projects.

Joyce created conceptual characters for Disney/Pixar's feature films Toy Story (1995) and A Bug's Life (1998). In 2001 Pixar founder John Lasseter introduced Joyce to animation director Chris Wedge. At this time Wedge’s fledging animation studio Blue Sky was completing its Oscar winning short film Bunny and hoped to begin developing feature animated films, which they soon did with the Ice Age franchise.

In 2002, after Joyce and Ice Age director Chris Wedge attempted to adapt one of Joyce's book Santa Calls into a feature film Santa Calls, during that process they both came up with the idea for the computer-animated feature film Robots (2005). Besides being one of the creators, Joyce also served as a producer and production designer.^[4]

In 2005, Joyce and Reel FX launched a joint venture, Aimesworth Amusements, to produce feature films, video games and books.^[5] The new company announced plans to make three feature films:^[6] The Guardians of Childhood, The Mischevians, and Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo.^[7] The first of those projects, The Guardians of Childhood was developed by DreamWorks Animation into the feature film, Rise of the Guardians. It was released in 2012 and is based on Joyce's book series and the short film Man in the Moon, directed by Joyce.^[8] Joyce was originally slated to direct the film, however early in the production his daughter Mary Katherine, his wife Elizabeth and his sister Cecile were diagnosed with terminal illnesses. He continued on as an executive producer along with his friend Guillermo del Toro. At the beginning of the end credits Dreamworks dedicated the film to Joyce’s daughter who died before the film's release.

In 2007, Disney released Meet the Robinsons, a feature film based on his book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, to which Joyce served as one of the executive producers of the film along with John Lasseter and Clark Spencer. Joyce had written several drafts of the screenplay and did production design on a number of key characters and sets for the final film.

In August 2009, Joyce and Reel FX co-founder Brandon Oldenburg and producers Lampton Enoch and Alyssa Kantrow founded a Shreveport-based animation and visual effects studio MOONBOT Studios.^[9] The studio produced an Oscar-winning animated short film^[10] and an iPad app^[11] The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. The short film went on to win an Academy award. A book adaption was released in summer 2012.^[12] The studio released in January 2012 another app, The Numberlys. A short film and a bestselling book followed soon after. The Numberlys film was short listed for the 2012 Academy Awards animated short film Oscar.^[13]

His book The Leaf Men was adapted by Blue Sky Studios into a 2013 feature film titled Epic, with Joyce as writer, executive producer, and production designer.^[14]

In 2021, Joyce wrote and directed the short film Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat with the visual effects company DNEG. DNEG also announced they would be producing a feature animated film adaptation of The Great Gatsby directed by Joyce and written by noted author Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret).^[15]

Joyce’s acclaimed young adult novel “Ollie’s Odyssey” has been adopted as a live action/CG hybrid show by Netflix and premieres August 24, 2022. It is the second of Joyces works to be adapted by Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse 2018).

Awards and accolades

 

Joyce in March 2012 holding an Oscar for his short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore during a parade in his and Brandon Oldenburg's honor held in downtown Shreveport.

Joyce received the for his enduring contribution to the "literary intellectual heritage of Louisiana." The award was presented to him on October 4, 2008, during a ceremony at the 2008 Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge. On February 26, 2012, he won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

Newsweek called him one of the top 100 people to watch in the new millennium.^[16]

Gold medal from the Society of Illustrators for Santa Calls.

Three silver medals from the Society of Illustrators.

Academy Awards

Year	Nominated work	Category	Result
2012	The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore	Best Animated Short Film	Won

Emmy Awards

Year	Nominated Work	Category	Result
1998-1999	Rolie Polie Olie "Little Sister, Big Brother"	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation	Won
1999-2000	Rolie Polie Olie	Outstanding Special Class Animated Program	Won
2004-2005	Rolie Polie Olie	Outstanding Special Class Animated Program	Won
2013-2014	The Scarecrow	Outstanding New Approaches - Original Daytime Program	Won
2014-2015	Silent	Outstanding Special Class Animated Program	Won
2016-2017	Taking Flight	Outstanding Special Class Animated Program	Won

Personal life

William Joyce lives with his son Jackson Edward Joyce in Shreveport, Louisiana. His daughter, Mary Katherine, died on May 2, 2010 at the age of 18, from complications of brain cancer, where she first immigrated in 2005.^[17][18] Rise of the Guardians, a film inspired by stories Joyce told her while young and later resulted in The Guardians of Childhood book series, was dedicated to her memory, reading “For Mary Katherine Joyce, a Guardian Fierce and True” during the credits.^[19] The main character of Epic, which is also based on Joyce's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, was named after her.^[20] His wife, Frances Elizabeth Baucum Joyce, who was a Shreveport attorney, died on January 20, 2016 at the age of 55, from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.^[21]

In 2006, Joyce founded the Katrinarita Gras Foundation to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. He is selling prints of his unpublished Mardi Gras The New Yorker cover through the foundation with all profit going to Louisiana artists and arts organizations.^[22]

Works by William Joyce

Books

In May 2017, Atheneum Young Readers released the picture book Bently & Egg, A Day with Wilbur Robinson, of which the film version is entitled Meet the Robinsons, and Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo. All are under the label The World of William Joyce.^[23]

Note: All books are written and illustrated by William Joyce, except as noted

• My First Book of Nursery Tales, retold by Marianna Mayer and illustrated by William Joyce (1983)^[24]
• Tammy and the Gigantic Fish by Catherine & James Gray, illustrated by William Joyce (1983)^[25]
• Waiting for Spring Stories by Bethany Roberts, illustrated by William Joyce (1984)^[26]
• William Joyce's Mother Goose, illustrated by William Joyce (1984)^[27]
• George Shrinks (1985)^[28]
• Shoes, written by Elizabeth Winthrop (1986)
• Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo (1988)
• Humphrey's Bear by Jan Wahl, illustrated by William Joyce (1989)
• Some of the Adventures of Rhode Island Red by Stephen Manes, illustrated by William Joyce (1990)
• A Day with Wilbur Robinson (1990)
• Nicholas Cricket by Joyce Maxner, illustrated by William Joyce (1991)
• Bently & Egg (1992)
• Santa Calls (1993)
• Don't Wake the Princess: Hopes, Dreams, and Wishes, Cover art (1993)
• A Wiggly, Jiggly, Joggly Tooth by Bill Hawley, illustrated by William Joyce (1995)
• The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs (1996), Play (premiere at Strand Theatre, Shreveport) - 1998
• Buddy (1997)
• World of William Joyce Scrapbook by William Joyce, photos by Philip Gould and design by Christine Kettner (1997)
• Life with Bob (board book) (1998)
• Baseball Bob (board book) (1999)
• The Art of Robots (2004)
• The Art of Rise of the Guardians (2012)
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2012)^[29]
• The Mischievians (2013)^[30]
• The Numberlys, co-illustrated with Christina Ellis (2014)^[31]
• A Bean, a Stalk and a Boy Named Jack (2014)^[32]
• Billy's Booger (2015)^[33]
• Ollie's Odyssey (2016)^[34]
• Bently & Egg (2017)^[35]

Rolie Polie Olie series

1. Rolie Polie Olie (1999)
2. Rolie Polie Olie: How Many Howdys? (board book) (1999)
3. Rolie Polie Olie: A Little Spot of Color (board book) (2000)
4. Rolie Polie Olie: Polka Dot! Polka Dot! (board book) (2000)
5. Snowie Rolie (2000)
6. Rolie Polie Olie - Character Books: Olie, Spot, Zowie, Billie (2001)
7. Sleepy Time Olie (2001)
8. Big Time Olie (2002)
9. Busy Books - Peakaboo You!, Rolie Polie Shapes, Be My Pal!, Rocket Up, Rolie! (2002)

The Guardians of Childhood series

Novels

1. Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, written with Laura Geringer (2011)^[36]
2. E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core! (2012)^[37]
3. Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies (2012)^[38]
4. The Sandman and the War of Dreams (2013)^[39]
5. Jack Frost: The End Becomes the Beginning (2018)

Picture books

1. The Man in the Moon (2011)^[40]
2. The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie (2012)^[41]
3. Jack Frost (2015)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Toy Story		Conceptual and art design
1997	Buddy	Screenwriter & Co-Producer	Screen story
1998	A Bug's Life		Conceptual and art design
2005	Robots	Writer^[a] Producer & Production Designer
2007	Meet the Robinsons	Writer^[b] Executive Producer
2007	Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium	Production Designer	Main title sequence design
2011	The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore	Director & Writer
2012	Rise of the Guardians	Writer^[c] Executive Producer
2013	Epic	Writer, Production Designer, & Executive Producer
2013	The Scarecrow	Executive Producer
2013	The Numberlys	Director, Writer
2014	Silent	Executive Producer
2014	The Cask of Amontillado	Director
2022	Mr. Spam Gets a New Hat	Director
TBA	The Great Gatsby^[15]	Director	Animated film adaptation

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998–2004	Rolie Polie Olie		Created by, based on the book series of the same name
2000–2003	George Shrinks		Created by, based on the book of the same name

Notes

1. Uncredited.
2. The original book A Day with Wilbur Robinson.
3. The original books The Guardians of Childhood and The Man in the Moon.

References

1. . May 27, 2018. Archived from the original on May 27, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
2. "William Joyce: Guardian of Childhood | Arkell Museum". www.arkellmuseum.org. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
3. Kemp, Vivek (February 20, 2013). "Why Mr. Morris Lessmore's Creators Told Their Story App-First [Video]". Fast Company. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
4. Jones, Malcolm (March 13, 2005). "Heavenly Metal". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
5. Daly, Helen (June 1, 2005). "HOT HOUSE: Reel FX Creative Studios Ramps Up for Animated Fare". Studio Daily. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
6. Webb, Cynthia D. (January 16, 2005). "Reel FX moves to larger digs in Deep Ellum". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved September 1, 2011.
7. Connelly, Brendon (April 23, 2009). "Dreamworks Teaming Up With William Joyce for the Guardians of Childhood". SlashFIlm. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
8. McCarthy, Todd (October 11, 2012). "Rise of the Guardians: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
9. "New Talent for Louisiana". PR Newswire. August 6, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
10. LeBlanc-Berry, Lisa (January 2011). . Ourhouse.biz. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
11. Donahoo, Daniel (May 31, 2011). "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a Game-Changing eBook App". Wired. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
12. ""The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" Nominated for Best Animated Short in 2011 Oscars". MarketWatch. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
13. Mitchell, Jon (January 11, 2012). . Read Write Web. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
14. Barnes, Brooks (January 10, 2010). "Taking Aim at the Big Names in Animated Film". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
15. Giardina, Carolyn (February 22, 2021). "'The Great Gatsby' Animated Feature in Development". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
16. Newsweek (April 21, 1997). "The Century Club". Newsweek. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
17. Breznican, Anthony (March 29, 2012). "You'd better watch out for DreamWorks Animation's 'Rise of the Guardians' – NEW PICS & TRAILER". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
18. "Mary Katherine Joyce Obituary". Shreveport Times. May 5, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
19. Feinberg, Scott (October 15, 2012). "'Rise of the Guardians' Unveiled, Rises to Top Tier of Animated Contenders (Analysis)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 17, 2012. Ramsey included a dedication to her at the end of the film, a gesture for which Joyce said he is very appreciative.
20. Desowitz, Bill (May 16, 2013). . Animation Scoop. Archived from the original on November 8, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
21. Talamo, Lex (January 21, 2016). "Updated: Services announced for Elizabeth Joyce". Shreveport Times. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
22. "Cheney-killed New Yorker cover finds new life". New Orleans CityBusiness. September 13, 2006. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
23. Chere Dastugue Coen (May 1, 2017). "New title out this week by bestselling Louisiana author". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
24. . Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
25. Gray, Catherine; Gray, James (March 1991). Tammy and the Gigantic Fish. ISBN 0064432637.
26. Roberts, Bethany (1984). Waiting for Spring Stories. ISBN 0060250615.
27. "William Joyce's Mother Goose". Amazon.
28. Joyce, William (October 2, 1985). George Shrinks. ISBN 0060230703.
29. . Moonbot Studios. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
30. . Moonbot Studios. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
31. . Moonbot Studios. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
32. . Moonbot Studios. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
33. . Moonbot Studios. Archived from the original on March 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
34. Joyce, William (April 12, 2016). Ollie's Odyssey. ISBN 9781442473553. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
35. Joyce, William (April 4, 2017). Bently & Egg. ISBN 9781481489492. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
36. Geringer, Laura (October 4, 2011). Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781442430488. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
37. Joyce, William (February 21, 2012). E. Aster Bunnymund and the Battle of the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781442449916. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
38. "Toothiana". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
39. The Sandman and the War of Dreams. Simon & Schuster. November 5, 2013. ISBN 9781442430549. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
40. Joyce, William (September 6, 2011). The Man in the Moon. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781442430419. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
41. Joyce, William (October 2, 2012). Sanderson Man Snoozy (w.t.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781442430426. Retrieved March 3, 2012.

External links

•  Biography portal

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to William Joyce (writer).

• Official website  
• William Joyce at IMDb
• The Guardians of Childhood
• William Joyce at Encyclopedia of World Biography
• National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature June 24, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
• William Joyce at publisher HarperCollins
• William Joyce at Library of Congress Authorities, with 50 catalog records