You’ve likely seen the image of a small, quiet man in a pork pie hat being carried away by a flutter of sentient, winged books. It's iconic. It feels like a dream you had once and forgot to write down. But The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore isn't just a whimsical piece of animation or a pretty picture book. It’s actually a heavy, gorgeous response to real-world tragedy.
Honestly, most people think it's just a "love letter to reading." It is. But it’s also a survival manual for the soul.
Why the Story of Morris Lessmore Still Matters
If you haven't seen the film or held the physical book, here's the gist: Morris Lessmore lives for his library. He writes in his own book every single day. Then, a storm comes. Not just a breeze—a world-ending, house-flipping gale. His words are literally blown off the page. The color drains from the world.
He wanders into a grey, broken landscape. This isn't just "once upon a time" fluff.
William Joyce, the creator, was deep into this project when Hurricane Katrina hit. He’s from Louisiana. He saw the devastation firsthand. He saw people who had lost every physical possession they owned. Curiously, he noticed that when volunteers brought books to the shelters, the kids changed. They didn't just have something to do; they had a way back to themselves. The "storm" in the story isn't a metaphor for a bad day. It’s a reference to the 2005 disaster that leveled New Orleans.
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The Buster Keaton Connection
Look closely at Morris. He doesn't talk. He has a specific, stoic grace. That’s because he is a direct homage to silent film legend Buster Keaton.
Joyce and co-director Brandon Oldenburg specifically modeled Morris’s movements and the film’s "storm" sequence after Keaton’s 1928 masterpiece Steamboat Bill, Jr. In that film, Keaton stands still while a house facade falls around him. In Morris Lessmore, the character faces a similar existential collapse.
The choice of a silent-film aesthetic wasn't just for style. It makes the story universal. You don't need a translator to understand the grief of losing your life's work or the joy of a book that "wakes up" and starts to dance.
The Tech Behind the Magic
People often debate which version is "best." The short film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2012. It’s a technical marvel because it blends:
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- Traditional hand-drawn animation
- Modern CGI
- Physical miniatures (yes, they actually built parts of that library)
Then there was the app. Back in the early 2010s, the Morris Lessmore iPad app was revolutionary. You could "repair" books by stitching pages together on the screen or play "Pop Goes the Weasel" on a virtual piano to wake up the library. It wasn't just a digital book; it was a playground.
The physical book actually came after the film and the app. That’s rare. Usually, it’s the other way around. But the print version has a "quiet" to it that the digital versions lack. It lets you linger on Joe Bluhm’s illustrations, which are packed with references to Shakespeare, Jules Verne, and The Wizard of Oz.
The "Less is More" Philosophy
The name isn't an accident. Morris Lessmore. It’s a play on the phrase "Less is More." The story suggests that when you lose everything—the "less" part—you actually find what is "more." You find the stories that define you.
There is a specific scene that kills me every time. Morris finds an old, dying book. Its spine is cracked; its pages are yellow and brittle. He doesn't just put it on a shelf. He performs surgery. He tapes the pages. He reads to it.
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The book literally comes back to life because someone gave it attention. It’s a tribute to librarianship and the act of preservation. In a world where we move from one digital headline to the next in three seconds, Morris sits with a single story for decades.
What Most People Miss
People think the ending is sad. Morris grows old. He finishes his own book. He walks out the door and vanishes into the sky, carried by his winged friends.
But look at the last frame. A young girl sits on the steps of the library. She picks up the book Morris spent his whole life writing. The cycle repeats. The "flying books" aren't just characters; they are a bridge between generations.
The real lesson? You are the curator of your own story. If you don't write it, the wind will take it.
How to Experience Morris Lessmore Today
If you want to actually "get" why this matters, don't just watch a clip on YouTube. Do it right.
- Watch the Short Film: It’s about 15 minutes long. Turn off your phone. Watch the way the color returns to the world when Morris enters the library.
- Find the Hardcover: The physical book uses a landscape orientation that makes the library feel massive. It’s worth owning for the art alone.
- Look for the Allusions: See if you can spot the "Humpty Dumpty" book that acts as Morris's guide. It’s a nod to the fact that stories help us put ourselves back together again.
Actionable Insight: Start a "Morris Book." You don't need to be a writer. Just keep a physical record of the things that matter to you. In a digital world that feels like a constant storm, having your own "words" on paper is a form of grounding that no app can truly replace.