William Joyce



William Joyce is an American author, illustrator, and filmmaker. He is the creator of The Guardians of Childhood  books and the executive producer of the movie  Rise of the Guardians. Plus he is the founder of Moonbot Studios.

Children's literature
He has written and illustrated over fifty 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.

Joyce is currently working on a series of novels and picture books, The Guardians of Childhood, consisting of a total of 13 books.

Film & Television
Joyce has received three Emmys for Rolie Polie Olie, an animated series based on his series of children's books that airs on the Disney Channel. His second television series, George Shrinks, airs daily on PBS stations.

Joyce created conceptual characters for Disney/Pixar's feature films Toy Story (1995) and A Bug's Life (1998).

In 2001, after Joyce and Ice Age director Chris Wedge failed to adapt one of Joyce's books to the screen, Santa Calls, they both came up with the idea for the animated film Robots (2005). Besides being one of the creators, Joyce also served as a producer and production designer.

In 2005 Joyce and Reel FX launched a joint venture, Aimesworth Amusements, to produce feature films, video games and books. The new company announced plans to make three feature films:  The Guardians of Childhood , The Mischevians, and Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures With the Family Lazardo. The first of those projects,  The Guardians of Childhood  was developed by DreamWorks Animation into the feature film,  Rise of the Guardians , based on Joyce's book series and the short film Man in the Moon, directed by Joyce.

In 2007, Disney released Meet the Robinsons, a movie 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. In the same year, he designed the opening title sequence for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

In August 2009, Joyce and Reel FX co-founder Brandon Oldenburg founded a Shreveport-based animation and visual effects studio MOONBOT Studios. The studio produced an Oscar winning animated short film and an iPad app The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. A book adaption is expected to be released in late 2012. The studio released in January 2012 another app, Numberlys, with a short film and a book announced to come later.

His book The Leaf Men is being adapted by Blue Sky Studios into a 2013 computer-animated feature film titled Epic, with Joyce as writer, producer and production designer.

Saks Fifth Avenue
In both 1994 and 1995 Joyce designed the Christmas displays based on his book, "Santa Calls" for Saks Fifth Avenue's original location.

The World of William Joyce
This exhibition is run by the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature. It began in 1998 and is currently still traveling nationally.

Artspace
Artspace is a gallery located in Shreveport that is run under the guidance of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. Joyce serves as the Artistic Director. He has helped bring a Peter Pan Centennial exhibit, an Art of Robots exhibit, and Faces of Katrina.

Community
Joyce has recently founded the Katrinarita Gras Foundation to raise money for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and 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.

Personal Life
William Joyce lives with his wife Elizabeth Baucum Joyce and son Jackson Edward Joyce in Shreveport, Louisiana. His daughter, Mary Katherine, died from a brain tumor at the age of 18 on May 2, 2010, and the 2012 movie, Rise of the Guardians was dedicated to her memory.

Awards & Accolades
Joyce received the 2008 Louisiana Writer Award 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 26 February 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 millenniumWorks by William Joyce

Joyce has recently founded the Katrinarita Gras Foundation to raise money for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and 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.

Books
Note: All books are written and illustrated by William Joyce, except as noted Rolie Polie Olie series: The Guardians of Childhood series:
 * George Shrinks (1985)
 * Shoes (1986) - Written by Elizabeth Winthrop
 * Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo (1988)
 * A Day with Wilbur Robinson (1990)
 * Bently & Egg (1992)
 * Santa Calls (1993)
 * The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs (1996)
 * Rolie Polie Olie (1999)
 * Snowie Rolie (2000)
 * Sleepy Time Olie (2001)
 * Big Time Olie (2002)

The Guardians: Picture books: Moonbot Books
 * Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King (2011) - Written with Laura Geringer
 * E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core!(2012)
 * Toothiana: Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies (2012)
 * The Sandman and the War of Dreams (2013)
 * The Man in the Moon (2011)
 * The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie (2012)
 * The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2012 book)
 * The Mischevians (2013)
 * The Numberlys (2014)

Films

 * Toy Story (1995) - Conceptual and art design
 * Buddy (1997) - Screen story, screenwriter
 * A Bug's Life (1998) - Conceptual and art design
 * Robots (2005) - Producer, production designer
 * Meet the Robinsons (2007) - Writer, executive producer
 * Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007) - Production designer, main title sequence design
 * The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2011) - Director, writer
 * Rise of the Guardians (2012) - Writer, executive producer
 * Epic (2013) - Writer, production designer, executive producer

Television series

 * Rolie Polie Olie (1998–2006) - Created by, based on the book series of the same name
 * George Shrinks (2000–2001) - Created by, based on the book of the same name