The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore
2011 Directed by William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
Synopsis
Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story. Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time.
Popular reviews
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Booking* good little film.
*Fucking - but I thought I'd try a little wordplay gag seeing as it's about books and books have words and........
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We're reading in the air! [que Aled Jones]
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A remarkable film about how, in the face of hardship, art (such as movies or, in this case, books) is still very important.
This year's nominees for Animated Short Film do not even hold a candle to Mr Morris Lessmore's heartbreakingly uplifting, creative, and gorgeously animated tale. The style, music (variations of an old classic, used to great effect), and overall theme of this short blow films like Fresh Guacamole (which is fun, for what it is) out of the water, in my opinion. -
Beautiful animation and incredible cgi keeps you wanting more when it is over. Funny, touching, and, of course, fantastic. A must see for film lovers and book lovers of all ages.
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Really rather wonderful. Last 5 minutes had me really choked up.
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Well paced and dynamically rendered 15 min. animated film that feels like a technicolor MGM musical of the old Hollywood studio system like "The Wizard of Oz" coupled with a silent cinema visual aesthetic (love the Humpty Dumpty book sight gags) in its quieter moments. Would love this one more if it didn't feel so Oscar bait-y with its heartfelt "books can unlock an entire universe" message to both children and adults (we all ready knew that) but all that being said there is an obvious imagination and passion imbued in the entire production. Check out this link to the video: www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/30/oscar-nominated-animated-short_n_1241605.html
Recent reviews
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So heartwarming story about the love of reading books.
Absolutely wonderful short! -
Embarrassingly enough, I've had this in my iTunes library for two years and only now finally got around to watching it. I could have watched it in each of the last three DVD Talk Academy Awards Challenges, or even the last two Animation Challenges (the next isn't until this August), but nope. It remained neglected on my external hard drive all this time.
Well, the joke's on me because the playback was completely obnoxious. I had audio sync issues with the previous three short films I watched (Acting for the Camera, Countertransference and Cutlass), but throughout The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore I was bombarded with an incessant audio clicking that made it difficult for me to really…
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It's a nice animated short but it lacks narrative pull; its imagination runs wild, but there's an uncomfortable imbalance between it and the story. So much happens in the first few minutes that we don't get to recline and take in the beauty of the animation. It happens too fast. And as cool and charming as the remainder of the film is, involving the tattered book and Morris Lessmore's private journal, there's nothing truly moving about it because not enough time is devoted to cultivating Lessmore's relationship with the books; since there's no dialogue and the books aren't human, how are we to feel that Morris and the books really share something deep? Clearly the film wants us to think…
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A remarkable film about how, in the face of hardship, art (such as movies or, in this case, books) is still very important.
This year's nominees for Animated Short Film do not even hold a candle to Mr Morris Lessmore's heartbreakingly uplifting, creative, and gorgeously animated tale. The style, music (variations of an old classic, used to great effect), and overall theme of this short blow films like Fresh Guacamole (which is fun, for what it is) out of the water, in my opinion. -
A beautifully realistically animated film, with a great plot, and brilliant music. What more could I want?
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Oscar nominated Animated Short Film - 2012
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a cute and exciting tribute for the power of the books. recommended!
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A gang of books hold a person hostage in a house and make them do their bidding until he receives the sweet relief of death.
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We're reading in the air! [que Aled Jones]