Mr. Morris Lessmore's flying books are soaring from Shreveport to Hollywood.

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," produced by Shreveport's Moonbot Studios, is nominated for Best Animated Short in the 84th Academy Awards, to be held Feb. 26.

All elements of the film were created in Shreveport, and "Morris Lessmore" is Moonbot's first released animation.

The theme of the 15-minute animated film revolves around the healing power of story.

In the film, Morris Lessmore and his unfinished book are swept up by a Hurricane Katrina-like storm and transported to a world of flittering books, where he spends the days painting words on his blank pages in the company of numerous novels.

"It's about stories and storytelling and sharing your stories with other people and how that can help you through a tough time in your life," said Adam Volker, the film's art lead.

Volker said he's bewildered by the immense response the film has received.

"The film is sincere. We tried to put as much heart into it as possible, and people are really responding to it," Volker said.

Cazes Verbois, who interned as Moonbot's social media manager after "Lessmore" was completed, said the nomination experience has been surreal.

Verbois said people today don't read as much as they should, and "Morris Lessmore" aims to change that.

Verbois laughed as he recounted how he and some current Moonbot employees enjoy introducing themselves as Oscar nominees. He's been jokingly calling himself "Oscar-nominated Cazes."

He said he hopes to be able to call himself "Oscar winner Cazes" on Feb. 26, when the winners are announced.

"Sometimes I don't process the fact that everyone in the world may see it at some point," Verbois said.

"Morris Lessmore" reached Oscar-nomination status after gaining notoriety in multiple film festivals across the country, Volker said. The movie has been awarded honors from 13 festivals.

To accompany the film, Moonbot created an interactive storybook iPad application. The app is a best-seller in the iTunes Store and was named "App of the Year, 2011" by Apps Magazine and "Best iPad App of 2011" by ipadinsight.com.

"We believe that stories transcend medium," Volker said.

Moonbot is also working on translating "Morris Lessmore" into a printed children's book, he said.

Chris Stelly, executive director of Louisiana Entertainment, called "Morris Lessmore" a "great success story."

Stelly said Louisiana Entertainment provided motion picture tax credits to Moonbot.

"It shows that there's quality work made here and continuing to be created here," he said.

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Contact Emily Herrington at eherrington@lsureveille.com