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My characters are all devoted to a dream or a set of values and they stick with them against the tide.

—William Joyce

William Edward "Bill" 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.

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 and 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.

Exhibitions

Saks Fifth Avenue

In both 1994 and 1995 Joyce designed the Christmas displays 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.

Awards and 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 millennium.

Personal life

William Joyce lives with his 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. His wife, Elizabeth Baucum Joyce passed away on January 20, 2016 at the age of 55 after a long battle with ALS.[1]

Through Moonbot Studios, Bill Joyce and his family released this statement:

Elizabeth said goodbye this afternoon surrounded by friends and loved ones after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). She was sharp as a tack and witty to the end. 

She made an indelible mark on Shreveport as attorney, and social worker. She never hesitated to help people who were at the most desperate edges of poverty. And she did so with genuine grit, grace and determination. Our family hopes she will be remembered for the work she did with the VOA Lighthouse. For those who wish to honor her memory, we ask that they help carry on her mission to be an advocate for those who are in need.

Along with our friends and family, we are working to bring Elizabeth’s memoir “With Love and Fury: How My Fierce Daughter Taught Me to Live and Die” into publication. To be notified of updates, please sign up on our mailing list at withloveandfury.com

She was a fun woman. Amazingly good company with an easy charm and a rapier wit. She charmed diplomats, fast food workers, presidents, check-out folks at the grocery store, movie stars, captains of industry, and every person she ever met. She got things done in a way that made everyone feel like they had won. She was everything the South and Shreveport could be proud of."[2]

—Bill & Jack Joyce'

Occasionally, he releases sketches her on his social media.[3] [4]

His wife is in all his books[5] and very heavily inspired some of the characters in the Guardians of Childhood series like: Tsarina [6], Mother Nature [7] [8], Toothiana [9] and a warrior mermaid [10]. On his instagram, she is the Queen of the Mermaids. [11]

She has also inspired many of his other characters, as well.[12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Works by William Joyce

Books

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

  • 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)
  • The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (2012)
  • The Mischievians (2013)
  • The Numberlys - co-illustrated with Christina Ellis (2014)
  • A Bean, A Stalk And A Boy Named Jack (2014)
  • Billy's Booger (2015)
  • Ollie's Odyssey (2016)

Rolie Polie Olie series:

  • Rolie Polie Olie (1999)
  • Snowie Rolie (2000)
  • Sleepy Time Olie (2001)
  • Big Time Olie (2002)

The Guardians of Childhood series:

The Guardians:

Picture books:

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

Sketches

Jack Frost

Bunnymund

North

Pitch

Sandman

Tooth

Katherine

Others

Cameos

Video links

Trivia

Reference

  1. https://www.instagram.com/p/BAz1Qwyizwt/
  2. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2016/01/20/elizabeth-joyce-wife-author-bill-joyce-dies/79084152/
  3. https://www.instagram.com/p/6plkhzCz3G/
  4. https://www.instagram.com/p/6xaxfQCzys/
  5. https://www.instagram.com/p/6q7acWCz77/
  6. https://twitter.com/heybilljoyce/status/625023543298781184
  7. https://twitter.com/heybilljoyce/status/624920518190305280
  8. https://www.instagram.com/p/6llbg7iz7h/
  9. https://twitter.com/heybilljoyce/status/624920769995407360
  10. https://twitter.com/heybilljoyce/status/624968717391138816
  11. https://www.instagram.com/p/6pj-wDiz0B/
  12. https://www.instagram.com/p/BA81UPWizwW/
  13. https://www.instagram.com/p/BA81lC8izwn/
  14. https://www.instagram.com/p/BA818GhCzw5/
  15. https://www.instagram.com/p/BA82o-lCzxr/
  16. https://www.instagram.com/p/BBAy2hfizzj/
  17. https://www.instagram.com/p/BBGEBcvCz1y/
  18. https://www.instagram.com/p/BBTo-IMCz4s/
  19. https://instagram.com/p/7d366iiz6B/
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  22. https://instagram.com/p/7faNzUCz7K/
  23. https://instagram.com/p/7i8SYjCzzA/
  24. https://instagram.com/p/8TRYEWiz0h/
  25. https://instagram.com/p/8Y_Nugizys/
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  27. https://instagram.com/p/8lVZhyizyw/
  28. https://instagram.com/p/8tx_lECz7j/
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  35. https://www.instagram.com/p/BNh8c14jQP2/
  36. https://www.instagram.com/p/BbVgG54A_EO/?taken-by=heybilljoyce
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  38. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl2YUUVBHZP/
  39. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlT5mYNBmrf/
  40. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlwAdGjBWxg/
  41. https://instagram.com/p/8a29Auizx3/
  42. https://instagram.com/p/8tlZQJCzzZ/
  43. https://instagram.com/p/86kpowiz52/
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  48. https://www.instagram.com/p/_qa6eKCz_3/
  49. https://www.instagram.com/p/_scbFVCz6A/
  50. https://www.instagram.com/p/_7ZuQ4Czxy/
  51. https://instagram.com/p/8gTUCxizyB/
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  55. https://instagram.com/p/9wmekPCz6B/
  56. https://www.instagram.com/p/BZzlCHVgVDs/?taken-by=heybilljoyce
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  73. https://www.instagram.com/p/Be9CGIcgWJJ/?taken-by=heybilljoyce
  74. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk6N7eCh58o/
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  76. https://www.instagram.com/p/6pj-wDiz0B/
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  79. https://www.instagram.com/p/BOME2odjb0T/
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