From
picture books to novels to apps to feature films, the illustrator and
animator William Joyce has told stories about talking robots, a certain
astronaut named Buzz, a solitary bibliophile named Mr. Morris Lessmore
and, most recently, the icons that have populated children’s stories
for decades. His most recent series of children’s books, “The Guardians
of Childhood,” has relayed the tales of such cherished figures as Santa
Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. He has also reinvigorated
characters that once regularly enchanted small children but have since
somehow faded from view — Jack Frost, the Sandman — and revived them in
3-D glory.
His new feature film, “Rise of the Guardians,” follows the publication of two picture books, “The Man in the Moon” and “The Sandman,” and a trio of middle-grade novels about the Guardians cast of characters, all based in the same half-real, half-mythical world. The film, which opens today, features Alec Baldwin playing Santa Claus with a rollicking Russian accent and Hugh Jackman as a wisecracking Easter Bunny who is more jackrabbit than cuddly pet.
I sat down with Mr. Joyce a week before the film had its New York premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater, and we talked about what makes certain characters so iconic, and why young children need someone to watch over them.
His new feature film, “Rise of the Guardians,” follows the publication of two picture books, “The Man in the Moon” and “The Sandman,” and a trio of middle-grade novels about the Guardians cast of characters, all based in the same half-real, half-mythical world. The film, which opens today, features Alec Baldwin playing Santa Claus with a rollicking Russian accent and Hugh Jackman as a wisecracking Easter Bunny who is more jackrabbit than cuddly pet.
I sat down with Mr. Joyce a week before the film had its New York premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater, and we talked about what makes certain characters so iconic, and why young children need someone to watch over them.
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