William Joyce Helped Make `Toy Story'

November belongs to William Joyce.

Like the fantastical lives and wonderful situations he creates for his characters, the children's author-illustrator's life is a swirl of activity:

-- His art is to be featured on the annual Thanksgiving cover of The New Yorker magazine.

-- Saks Fifth Avenue's Manhattan Christmas windows have been designed by Joyce for the second consecutive year.

-- Wednesday, Walt Disney released "Toy Story" for which Joyce helped design the two principal toys.

"I helped with early preproduction design work on some of the main characters," says Joyce of Disney's "Toy Story."

The film is set in a world where toys have a life of their own when people are not present. It's an irreverent comedy-adventure that is viewed mostly through the eyes of two rival toys - Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), a pull-string cowboy, and Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen), a superhero space-action figure.

Joyce will work on another Disney project called "Bugs," designing some of the insects.

"Toy Story" is the best thing Disney's done in a long time, he says.

"It's not really like all the Disney features for the past few years. It's just beautiful. It looks more like the things I draw. The sensitivity is purer than the last ones, which have seemed Broadway musicals with pre-teen sex-kitten heroines. Those don't appeal to me.

" `Toy Story' is what animation will become. It's computer animated and looks more real than conventional animation. The jokes are for kids and adults. It feels more classic and timeless."