Oscar-winner William Joyce shares his inspiration for "Rise of the Guardians"
By: Jacque Jovic
Updated: December 13, 2012
Award-winning author, illustrator and filmmaker William Joyce celebrated his birthday this week. He's had a very good year! The Shreveport native sat down with us at his Moonbot Studios office and talked about the inspiration for his latest masterpiece "Rise of the Guardians."
The films is an epic story about appreciating the power of belief. Santa teams up with the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman and Jack Frost to battle a boogeyman named Pitch.
"It really is what I hoped the movie would be and so I beam with pride over it," said William Joyce, "Guardians" creator and Executive Producer. "It's very exciting."
The journey from big idea to big screen has been a long one. It all started 15 years ago.
"My daughter asked one day if Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy knew each other because her little brother Jack had just lost a tooth," said Joyce. "I kinda went 'Yeah, yeah. I think they know each other.'"
During nightly bedtime stories, the characters began to take shape.
"After a while, I was like this is really good stuff. I should probably do something with this," recalled Joyce. "So this was just the beginning."
About a decade later, Joyce inked a deal with DreamWorks Animation to create the film "Rise of the Guardians" and a series of 13 "Guardians" novels.
"The goal was to make these characters new and honor their heritage the way we think of them but make them a little more magnificent." Joyce explained. "Jack Frost and the Sandman.. I felt like they weren't part of kids growing up anymore and I though that was really sad. So I wanted to bring them back and make them a potent part of culture again."
After a competitive opening weekend going up against the Bond movie "Skyfall" and the latest movie in the "Twilight" saga, "Rise of the Guardians" has become number one internationally and is making its way to number one in the U.S.
The end of the film, isn't the end of the story.
"We hope to do more of them. We'd really like to do several Guardians movies," Joyce offered. "This is far from the end of the Guardians sojourn. There's a lot more coming from them."
Joyce hopes this film will become a holiday classic which families will watch every year.
