The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
Tags: psychedelic

Plot synopsis:
Morris Lessmore sits on a balcony in the French Quarter of New Orleans writing a memoir. Suddenly a storm strikes, blowing Morris’s writing out of his book and blowing him off the balcony. While Morris frantically grabs for his book, the storm blows away the buildings.
After the storm, Morris finds the city and its residents devastated. He walks through the streets strewn with book pages and into the countryside. There he sees a woman fly past, magically suspended by flying books which she is holding with ribbons. She sends one of the books down to Morris. The book’s pages flip back and forth to animate an illustration of Humpty Dumpty, who urges Morris to follow him.
The flying book takes Morris to a library where other flying books live. Morris finds no humans there, but notices several portraits on the wall, one of which is the woman he had seen. In the story the books could talk to Morris.
Morris then becomes the proprietor of the library. He takes care of the books, even saving the life of an early French edition of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon after it suffers a catastrophic injury falling from a shelf. He also gives out books to those who visit the library from the city still suffering from the effects of the storm. Eventually Morris begins to rewrite his memoir, sharing passages with the flying books who gather around him on the grassy hill opposite the library.
Years later Morris, now an old man, finally completes the book. Satisfied with his life’s work, he closes the book and heads for the door. The flying books swirl about him and Morris becomes young again. He then flies away, carried by flying books like the woman earlier. As he departs, his book, which had earlier been an ordinary book, becomes a flying book like the others, and returns to the library. Just then, a young girl arrives. She sits down on the steps of the library and begins to read Morris's book as the flying books gather around. The final scene shows Morris’s portrait added to the picture wall in the library.

Review: Charming, humorous, and poignant is the best way to describe The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore, a little piece about the power of stories and how they can positively affect our lives.
The animation utilizes a variety of techniques from CG to stop motion, and, combined with the great background and character designs, makes for pure eye candy.However, the real reason to check out Morris Lessmore is for the story.
It tells the story of a young man in love with books and writing who comes across a library full of living, flying books after his city is destroyed by a hurricane.
The books bring liveliness and joy back into his life, and in turn, he takes care of them.
More happens after that, but I won't dare spoil it for you, as you have to see it in order to really enjoy it.It's a brief piece at only fifteen minutes, but I assure you it's worth every second.
Thus I'm baffled at the current score-- I'm not saying I was expecting a 10 or even an 8, but not even a 7 seems too low a score for one of the best animated short films of the past year..
William Joyce Tells Us the Joy of Reading in This Beautiful, Poignant and Thought Provoking Short.
I must have read the longest part Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (almost eight hundred pages in length) not less than seven times.
I remember being disappointed with the way I ended it abruptly, but that isn't the point.
The point is that I wrote something original and I am absolutely proud of it, and what brought this creative drive in me were the precious Harry Potter books.The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a luminous display of the director's personal vision – to show how integral books are in developing a person's life.
Our protagonist, Mr. Morris Lessmore is a bibliophile who enjoys writing in his diary while sitting cozily in the balcony with just books surrounding him.
In this dark period, Morris wanders miserably till he is captivated by a beautiful lady who is soaring high in the air with flapping books around her.
A Humpty Dumpty book leads Mr. Morris to a huge library filled with books, and not plain books, but living and breathing ones.
Mr. Morris, who has lost nearly everything in the hurricane, now devotes all his time to books.
In this process, not only is he able to bring back happiness and a true sense of satisfaction in his life, but he also starts penning a novel and pledges to help the lives of other unfortunate souls by lending them books.What makes Fantastic Flying Books such a joyous watch is the beautiful manner in which director William Joyce brings books to life.
The entire story itself feels like a tale said by a mother to her young child at night – the opening scene takes us into a book with the film's title.
Also, colors begin reentering Mr. Morris' life only with the arrival of the books; his life comes alive after this.
An ironic thing to be noted is that the same books that infuse life in its readers are typed in black and white.Even with the advancing technology and changing cultures, our books are trying hard to stay relevant.
We have book readers, IPads and software to read online.
I say it's a good thing but it is only in our hands to include or reject books from our lives.
But everyone should give this short film a chance – its beautiful, poignant and thought provoking..
I found this 15 minutes movie totally by chance, as I was browsing the blog of a Portuguese books lover.
An old friend of mine came to my mind: a friendship of some sixty years.I was five or six, he was fifteen or sixteen by that time.
It was about anything one could imagine, about pirates and about explorers, about the North Pole and the South Pole, and about seas and oceans, about hunting exotic animals, and about what job to take when I would grow up.After two years or so I started going to school, and he entered the University.
A book about volcanoes followed, and then a book written by Sven Hedin about his travels all over the world.Years have passed, each of us was following his ways, while both sharing the passion for books.
Each time it was a book that was coming in our discussion.
When I left for America we met and he showed me three books he was reading somehow in parallel, about the American ways and about immigrant experience there.After many years I came back and our friendship was no more the same.
Anyway our last meeting brought the subject of books again, only this time to punctuate disagreements.
Life went on and electronic books became more and more sophisticated, advancing from desktops and laptops to tablets, while printed books remained the same, more and more forgotten on shabby shelves.I called him again today, after watching the movie: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore tells a story about printed books, about their pages, full of words and images, about living surrounded by books, dreaming while browsing the pages till you get lost in their stories.
A movie about the aggressiveness of electronic books, acting like a hurricane, destroying the spirit of words and of images, and about the way to reconstruct the lost spirit.
All this in an animation, in the form of a story for kids, a fantasy taking place in an atmosphere reminding sometimes The Wizard of Oz , maybe also a bit Le Ballon Rouge (while the hero somehow resembles Buster Keaton).Ironically, the story is based on a book that can be read now on laptops and on tablets, browsing the electronic pages and inviting the reader to play interactively.And I called my friend to tell him about all this, and I said that I would dedicate this text to him and to his love for the printed book, only he wouldn't be able to read it: the text is on the web..
After it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short, I felt compelled to give The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore a watch.
The movie is a product of such sheer ingenuity that it could have only come from the whimsical mind of filmmaker and author William Joyce.
The whimsical animation is a great visual factor, and the story takes influence from The Wizard of Oz in more ways than one.
It's hard not to be charmed by all the creativity, and despite a generously short running time, the film still manages to give a strong emotional punch.
I'd love to see something like this get a full length feature of its own, if it weren't for the fact that it would require way too much padding.
This film could be a precursor to some new and interesting talent in this genre, I certainly hope we hear more from the large team involved.The trailer for this short wasn't adequate but I wonder if any trailer could have been.
To sum up any elements in this film would miss several others and render the point confusing at best.Books are our children, but unlike people they never die which means they can go on delighting us and our human children many years after their authors are dust.
The animation is excellent, and most of the music score is the perfect accompaniment.The central theme in the short is the magic of books.
Books bring magic worlds to life.
Books accompany you through life and influence your life and your writing.
Books can be your best companions in life.
Books cheer you up, feed your soul, and bright your life especially when everything around your world is gray.There are a few cinematic elements in the film.
The main character is a mix of a young Buster Keaton and Chaplin; the end of the introductory part is definitely Dorothy being transported to the world of the Wizard of Oz; and one of the main books shows a classic character of Alice in Wonderland.
Those winks are to adults, because small children will probably not get them.This is quite a long short animated film, and I thought it was unnecessarily so.
My Favorite Animated Short.
I have seen some spectacular animation over the years.
I love good animation.
But I can safely say that The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is the only animated short that I have ever seen that made me cry.
If you have lived your life with books, as I have, you will be drawn into this world.
In fact if you are a book person this IS your world.The protagonist, Morris Lessmore, is heavily influenced by Buster Keaton.
and the 1939 Wizard of Oz and the all too real hurricane Katrina (the story opens in Louisiana and the studio that shot it, Moonbot, is located there).
Wandering along Lessmore spots a beautiful woman carried aloft on flying books tethered with ribbons.
The animated Humpty Dumpty pulls the protagonist into a world of enchanted books.
Anyone who loves books can tell you there's nothing fanciful here.
And when you meet Mr. Morris Lessmore give him my regards..
just that I reviewed it here first, before coming to this one, and was shocked at the difference.)This is a good film, to be sure.
It reminds me of Hugo (2011) in that respect, which I thought was also good, but the people who hand out awards seem to think is some kind of masterpiece.It's immediately out of date.
Books don't come on paper so much any more.
The internet is always on, and it's silent.Flying books?
And we've seen the idea that reading things keeps stories alive in Die Unendliche Geschichte (1984).Is a life lived without leaving a book implied to be worthless?I think I know what this short wants to be telling me, but what it actually is telling me is not real clear..
Lovely Animation, But Not Much Else.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is visually appealing but not much else.
The story could have been fleshed out a bit more, and for me, it didn't truly capture the joy that books bring.
I'll probably never watch this short again, however, unless it's randomly playing in a room I happen to be in.
If beautiful, stunning visuals are all that you need, then you'll love The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
But if you're more story-driven (like me) you will find that this short could use a bit of work..
Best Short Ever - Do not miss this one.
I happened upon the best book called "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore." I don't know why this book grabbed my attention as it was sitting in the middle of a bookshelf between tons of other books.
I picked it up and opened it and wow my new favorite book.
I brought it home (yes I paid for the hard cover version) and read the whole thing.
I realized after reading the book that this was a short film as well.
My mom read the book before she watched the film and she cried.
This is not only my new favorite book but now its my new favorite short animation.
You wouldn't think that Hurricane Katrina would inspire a fantasy, but the Academy Award-winning short "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is just that.
After seeing his memoirs destroyed by a hurricane, the titular character goes to a library where the books come to life.Books coming to life was an occasional theme in the early Merrie Melodies cartoons - usually involving puns - but here it takes on a more mystifying character.
The books are become a new part of the protagonist's existence.
I understand that director William Joyce worked on "Toy Story".
Probably the best of the nominees, it's the film most likely to receive the Oscar next week....
For the last several years I have gone to see the Academy Award nominated shorts--both live action and animated.
This year is a first for the animated category in that as we sat watching, I overheard a lot of murmurs about how bad the nominees were.
Fortunately, after three very sub-par films, the final three were excellent and it seems pretty clear that the race is between "La Luna" and "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore".
And, like the last couple years, following these nominees, they showed some animated shorts that were not nominees but were sort of like runners up--and the folks I talked to preferred these films to several of the nominees."The Fantastic Flying Books" is a very, very good film.
Even without some poor nominees against it, it would still be a film that is Oscar-worthy.
His book now is blank--all the words were blown off by the storm!
And, soon he encounters a strange woman who, along with her books, is flying by--literally!
Where it all goes from there is a nice little metaphor about the love of reading but I won't say more--partly because it's hard to describe and partly because I don't want to spoil it.
2012 Oscar winner for Best Animated Short, and it was well deserved.
At the end, there were no reasons for regret, and I was in full agreement with the Academy for acknowledging this work with the Oscar for Best Animated Short.*** WARNING: Possible spoilers ahead ***Is this film a sort-of sideways slap at technology, such as e-books and devices like the Kindle or Nook?
But the point I took away from this scene was that books live only so long as they are read, and to stop reading them is to kill them.
The other thing to remember is that while e-books offer a way to put the printed word in front of more people more economically, not everybody, especially in developing countries or following natural disasters, will have access to the needed technology or infrastructure to fully take advantage of e-books.
Not to mention that sometimes curling up with an actual physical book, turning the pages and idly wondering who else might have held this volume transcends the convenience of glowing letters on a glass screen.Librarians and bibliophiles will be drawn to this, of course, but one can only hope that ordinary people will also see this.
One hopes that they will take away the underlying lesson — that books and stories live on, but only so long as people continue to read, write, and tell them..
An utterly charming and poignant short well worth seeing.
First I feel I must say that, having more than 3000 books in my library and a lifelong fascination with animation, that I would be predisposed to like this short is almost a given.
That said, when a short is good enough for me to watch it half a dozen times in ten days, there's something more there than just personal inclinations would indicate.
Because it would be difficult to discuss this without some details from the short, from this point on, some spoilers will be present.The short starts with Lessmore writing in a journal.
A hurricane sweeps in and takes Lessmore and the house where he lives into the air.
There are nods to the Wizard of OZ, Buster Keaton and movies in general throughout the short.
Lessmore is deposited in a scene reminiscent of one of Keaton's more memorable screen moments and he seems cast adrift and abandoned until a series of events makes him the caretaker of an animated library of flying books.
It's a very visually effective short.Time passes companionably for Lessmore and his charges until, as he must, Lessmore finally takes his leave of of his idylls here and be replaced in turn by another.
It's a tender and bittersweet departure and the ending of the short is perfect.
This deservedly won the Oscar for Animated Short amidst some fairly strong competition and is well worth seeing.
What a wonderful short animation this was.Taking cues from fairy tales and silent comedy films, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore it's a very heartwarming and whimsical story about the love for reading and books, resulting in one of the most satisfying viewing experiences that I've ever had in my life.Not only was the animation of this short film wonderfully made (Having the same level of quality than some of best films from Pixar) but also, the plot was very inspirational, moving and subtle, having an unique charm that not many other movies (animated or not) had.
The final result is pretty, rewarding and moving, being able to express in a very sensitive way all the joy, sadness and hope that any story could contain.
And the most amazing thing is that it is able to do it in only 15 minutes.A must-see.10/10.
I wish there was more in the first 10 minutes of this short film that could have drawn the viewer in and guided him to the above profound question.
For the first two thirds, there's really not much substance to this little short movie.
It thrives beautifully on the animation and effects side, especially the books flying like butterflies, but beyond that, it falls kinda short to raise any true emotions.
And these days, great animation simply isn't enough anymore as there's hardly an animated movie, even when it comes to shorts, that doesn't captivate you with its craft.
The crew really did a good job on that one as they managed to make it sad and funny at the same time.
The last bit is very frequently what makes a film rise or fall in the viewer's memory and I'm pretty certain the excellent closure they gave it was one of the main reasons behind this one winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.