Press release from Breed Music:
Los Angeles, CA — John Hunter, composer and partner at Breed Music, scores the Academy Award winning animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg of Moonbot Studios. The team also worked together on the accompanying app which was named by Apple as one of the “Top 5 New Apps for iPad.” Both the fantastically innovative short and app use a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. John Hunter collaborated on Moonbot Studios’ newest app, The Numberlys. In addition to Lessmore and Numberlys, Breed has worked with Oldenburg on ad campaigns.
John Hunter stated, “I worked closely with the directors to musically convey their vision since the music is such a key component in the storytelling.” The directors wanted to include an ornamentation of the folk song/nursery rhyme “Pop Goes the Weasel” as a theme in the original score. Hunter incorporated a 50 piece orchestra to create a powerful yet retro score that interacts with the visual, mirroring Morris Lessmore’s adventures and emotions.
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, written by William Joyce (Rolie Polie Olie and Meet the Robinsons), follows Lessmore, a man devoted to books, to an unfamiliar place where books live. Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, Louisiana based Moonbot Studios created the story using a variety of techniques, including miniatures, computer animation and 2D animation. The Apple app allows the reader to participate throughout the story by painting the sky, writing in the book or playing the piano all while reading and watching the graphics.
John Hunter is a partner, composer, and music producer at Breed Music. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Hunter partnered with fellow alum Jon Slott to form Juniper Music, a music production company with clients including Coca-Cola, Dodge, and Southwest Airlines. They later merged with long- time competitor Brian Flores to form Breed Music. The Dallas based music production company specializes in scoring and sound design for feature films, shorts, and commercials. Breed clients include HBO, NBC, ESPN, McDonald’s, Budweiser, BMW, AT&T and Ford. Hunter’s film credits include Big Stan, American Virgin, and Tekken.