gort-8 I have seen some spectacular animation over the years. I love good animation. I'm crazy about great 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. The scenes of the storm were a combination of the storm sequences of Steamboat Bill jr. 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). After the remarkable devastation Lessmore is saddened to witness the devastation around him. One of the great tragedies is that the storm swept the letters off the pages. Wandering along Lessmore spots a beautiful woman carried aloft on flying books tethered with ribbons. She casts one to Lessmore. 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. Of course books have wings! Of course they enable us to fly. If you don't believe me then shut off your computer now and grab a book. And when you meet Mr. Morris Lessmore give him my regards.

BikeBill This is a simple story, told without spoken word but rather by pictures and music. I wasn't sure what I was seeing at first, but was willing to give fifteen minutes. 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? Perhaps, especially as the main character performs "surgery" on the old bedraggled tome rather than merely scanning it into a database. 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.

ihazhart 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. It did try, however, and A for Effort. It was a bit too expressionist and symbolic for me, but that aside the animation was gorgeous. 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.

rgcustomer In comparison, Dimanche (2011) currently has a score of 6.3, a point and a half less than this one's 7.8. I give this 7, and Dimanche 8. Anything less than 7 is quite harsh for either one.(I'm not saying Dimanche should win the Oscar... 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's seemingly simple, straightforward, and computer-animated. It has references to the The Wizard of Oz (1939). It has all the bells and whistles.But when you get right down to it, there's really not a whole lot there. 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. They fly on electromagnetic waves from router to tablet. Even the fax or modem connection sound at the beginning is out-of-date. The internet is always on, and it's silent.Flying books? Isn't that from the intro to "Amazing Stories" (1985)? 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.