Willard Carroll is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 film producer, writer, and director. He was executive producer of The Brave Little Toaster

The Brave Little Toaster (film)

The Brave Little Toaster is a 1987 animated adventure film adapted from the 1980 novel of the same name by Thomas Disch. The film was directed by Jerry Rees and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film is set in a world where household appliances and other electronics have the ability to speak...

series, writing the screenplays for The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars is the name of both a children's book by Thomas Disch, as well as the film made from same. Both are sequels to the book and film versions of The Brave Little Toaster. The movie was distributed by Walt Disney Home Video. It was released in 1998...

. He wrote and directed the Ragnarok

Ragnarök

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of future events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...

-themed horror/adventure film The Runestone

The Runestone

The Runestone is a 1991 adventure/horror film, the first film written and directed by Willard Carroll. The film is an updating of the Ragnarok legend, with Fenrir being found in a runestone in Pennsylvania unearthed by archaeologists.-Plot:...

, the ensemble romance, Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart

Playing by Heart is a 1998 comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters.-Plot:Among the characters are a mature couple about to renew their vows ; a woman who accepts a date offer from a stranger ; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who has...

, the family film, Tom's Midnight Garden

Tom's Midnight Garden

Tom's Midnight Garden is a children's novel by Philippa Pearce. It won the Carnegie Medal in 1958, the year of its publication. It has been adapted for radio, television, the cinema, and the stage.-Plot summary:...

, and the Bollywood

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 pastiche, Marigold

Marigold (2007 film)

Marigold is a 2007 romantic musical comedy about an American actress who becomes engrossed in the Bollywood film industry after visiting India...

. An ardent fan of the Land of Oz

Land of Oz

Oz is a fantasy region containing four lands under the rule of one monarch.It was first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, one of many fantasy countries that he created for his books. It achieved a popularity that none of his other works attained, and after four years, he...

, Carroll is recognized as having the largest privately-held collection of Oz memorabilia in the world, and several books, including The Wizard of Oz Collectors' Treasury and All Things Oz have been published displaying parts of is collection, which includes the Wicked Witch of the West

Wicked Witch of the West

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

's hourglass from the 1939 MGM film

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

. He also wrote and produced the video series, The Oz Kids

The Oz Kids

The Oz Kids is a 26 episode television series produced by Hyperion Pictures and Nelvana based on The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum's classic children's novel, and its various sequels. and was first broadcast on September 14, 1996 on ABC...

. He established Hyperion Pictures

Hyperion Pictures

Hyperion Pictures is an American film production company founded by Thomas L. Wilhite, who had previously been the head of motion picture and television produced for and owned by Walt Disney Productions, and writer/director Willard Carroll...

 with Thomas L. Wilhite, a former Disney executive who greenlighted Return to Oz

Return to Oz

Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz...

. Other animated films his studio released include The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina

The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina

The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina is a 2002 direct-to-video animated film directed by Glenn Chaika. Its running time is 74 minutes...

, The Tangerine Bear

The Tangerine Bear

The Tangerine Bear is an animated 48-minute feature film for children. It was directed by Bert Ring. The voice cast include Tom Bosley, Jenna Elfman, Howie Mandel, David Hyde Pierce, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Marlon Wayans. The story was narrated and sung by country singer Trisha Yearwood...

, Rover Dangerfield

Rover Dangerfield

Rover Dangerfield is an animated feature film produced by Hyperion Pictures and released by Warner Bros., starring the voice talents of comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who also wrote and co-produced the film. It is about a street dog named Rover, who is owned by a Las Vegas showgirl. Rover gets dumped...

, and Bebe's Kids

Bebe's Kids

Bébé's Kids is a 1992 animated comedy film produced by the Reginald Hudlin and Hyperion Pictures, directed by Bruce W...

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