Silver Lining Movie: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Last week’s surgery has really gotten me down. Between the persistent swelling and pain, I have some major post-surgery blues.

The way that I usually deal with a down-in-the-dumps mood is by exercising: hiking, tennis, running, tag with Sweetly Six…you get the idea. However, my plastic surgeon told me that exercise is my “enemy” (yes, enemy) which, you guessed it, means that I absolutely positively cannot exercise. Oh and to add to the “no” list, I cannot drive for at least another week. UGH.

Silver Linings, where oh where art thou?  Oh, they’re there. They always are…

One big Silver Lining  of the week was watching The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (click on it here to view it!) win the Academy Award for the best Short Film (Animated).

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am about this. I love-love-love this film! It is a shining testament to the joy and wonder of books (Silver Lining).

In a nod to the state where William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg’s studio is located, “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” has a Louisiana theme, as the title character, his books blown away in a storm that closely resembles Hurricane Katrina, finds his library reconstituted by whimsical volumes that fly like birds. As Lessmore faces old age and the prospect of mortality, he realizes that literature, like his timeless flying books, has the power to outlive individual lives.

It features no dialogue, but does use a variety of animation techniques, including stop-motion, miniatures, 2D animation and CGI. From their site, “Inspired in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, Morris Lessmore is a story of people who devote their lives to books and books who return the favor.”

This film is lovely and moving and definitely a Silver Lining to my week!