SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Shreveport author and artist William Joyce has a knack for bringing his whimsical stories off the pages of books and onto the big screen while connecting adults and children. And his most recent project with Netflix paid off when nobody thought it would.
KSLA News 12′s Biskie Duncan recently sat down with Joyce to talk about his most recent win at the Emmys and about the emotion that brought a little teddy rabbit to life.
“Nobody wanted me to do this book, or this story or this tv show,” Joyce explained. “It’s like, what age is it for? You know, it’s going to be too expensive and as somebody characters, it’s like picaresque. It’s episodic and like, that’ll make it great for episodic TV.”
The little book that could became the little series that could and did win big at the Emmys.
The odyssey of Joyce’s Ollie tells the story of a beloved stuffed rabbit who gets lost. The Netflix series “Lost Ollie” adapted this story, pulling at more heartstrings and pulling in five Emmys and the children’s and family Emmy awards.
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“You just have to have faith in these things sometimes. And this one turned out,” Joyce said.
Ollie’s story comes from a real experience in Joyce’s life with his own favorite toy.
“A favorite toy as a kid, right? This teddy bear, and he got lost when I was 5 years old on Christmas Day,” Joyce recalled.
Fast forward a couple of decades later to Joyce finding a ratty old box of Christmas paper in his parents’ attic.
“Up spills my, my teddy! He had gotten swept up. And it was like fairly miraculous, you know. It’s like it like took me back immediately.”
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That emotion became Ollie’s odyssey written at a time when more big emotions were at play in Joyce’s life.
“If you’re lucky, and you do what I do, you can use your art to help you get through the hard stuff,” Joyce said. “And so my wife and my daughter were sick and I lost both of them.
“I was writing this story. And I would read it to my wife. She had ALS, so she couldn’t, you know; she was bedridden. So I could read her expressions, you know, which were limited, you know, especially the more the disease progressed. But there was a light in her eyes than I could see. Right? I was getting that she was really connecting with this story. But she was able to type out when I was finished that she thought it was my best story.”
The little book that could. That little series that could. Reaching the adults and every child and the child and every adult.
“So kids look at it, and they’re like they see the future a little bit,” Joyce said. “You know, because the whole point of the book and the show is you lose touch with that beloved creature, but the feeling never really goes away. And so you come back around and it takes you back.”
But for now, Joyce said he’s living in the moment and grateful for the recognition always received from readers, viewers and the Emmys.
“We just want to say thanks. And that’s what it is. It’s saying thanks, pat on the back. Do it again. Thanks for doing it that time. And that’s what feels amazing is those people you’ve admired seeing your stuff and saying good job,” Joyce said.
And that’s The Good Stuff.
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