R.W Winfield

Creator of Millie Moonbeam and Wistful Winnie, R.W Winfield is most well known for his book, “Hearth of Meadowvalley,” and its following series of sequel novels. Newspaper artist, illustrator, author, Winfield was a man of many talents and was possessed by a restlessness to explore new mediums. 

Born into a fairly wealthy family from a young age, Winfield had always been fascinated with the arts. However due to his lineage, such pursuits were actively discouraged by his parents, who wished for the young Winfield to follow in his father’s footsteps. But the medical field was, in Winfields words, “a stifling profession,” so at the time of his 18th birthday, Winfield ran away from home to elope with Irene Amber, a much older woman from a rivaling family. It would only be many years later, when his father was on his deathbed, that Winfield would return home and reconcile with the family left behind.

As for the marriage between Amber and Winfield, the relationship started off amicably and for some time the two were happy in one another’s presence. However in the third year of their arrangement, the two would get into terrible bouts and during the following October, the two would divorce, leaving Winfield on his own. During this time, Winfield worked as a hotpresser while attempting to hone his artistry skills with several rejected submissions to the paper companies in his area. 

Winfield, a stubborn and unyielding man, continued to improve upon his craft for the next several years before finally being offered a job by a sympathetic friend. His friend Mitch Briar, head of the Lewinder Tribune, hired Winfield to illustrate short stories in the papers. For a time Winfield, though a very morose appearing man, was notably happy with his work at the Lewinder. His work was fairly well received by audiences, especially his illustrations for the short fantasy stories in the paper. His work was characterized by astonishingly detailed creatures and landscapes with an amazing use of hatching and ink work.  

This arrangement between Mitch and Winfield was, for a time, amiable. However the cracks of their friendship would start to show when Winfield began to pursue other avenues of creative expression by making his own cartoons and attractions on the side. Mitch claimed that this was in violation of his agreement with Lewinder and a conflict of interests. In fear of losing his job, Winfield reluctantly dropped his external ventures- an event that caused Winfield to forever hold a grudge against Mitch. 

Tensions would come to a head when payments for Winfields work at the Lewinder began to come in later and later, with his last payment from the company being several months late. For Winfield this was the final straw, and he severed his relationship with Mitch Briar and Lewinder Tribune.

Despite being barred from external ventures while working at the Lewinder, Winfield had been privately working on several concepts. Inspired by the stories he had illustrated during his career, Winfield had written the prototype for a novel called, “The Hearth of Meadowvalley,” a book detailing the adventures of Millie Moonbeam, a small lightning bug. After several revisions and much fighting, Winfield managed to secure the assurance of Noarwhool Publishing in the distribution of his novel. 

The novel was a hit with audiences, with Winfield receiving immense royalties and praise for his work. For a year, Winfield received letters from children expressing their wonderment at the adventures of Millie Moonbeam, as well as a desire for a sequel. In spite of their pleas, Winfield was fairly steadfast in his desire to move on to other projects. Winfield’s mind would be changed upon receiving a letter from a little girl that rather bluntly implied him to be a one-hit wonder incapable of commitment. Charmed by her letter, Winfield began writing the sequel to his award winning novel, and the following year released it to an eager audience. 

Spurred on by the success of his sequel, and because it was putting food on the table, Winfield would go on to release more books, most being small collections of stories from the world of Meadowvalley. 

Near the later years of his life, Winfield would enter communication with a company called Circewheel Productions. They had approached him with the offer of adapting Hearth of Meadowvalley into a live action movie. Ever since his childhood, Winfield had been fascinated by movies, his greatest dream being to have his work shown on the silver screen. With his fame and excitement clouding his judgment, Winfield signed on board and thus began a long and painful production that was perhaps doomed from the start.

The movie was by all accounts a nightmare to work on, the conditions were notably horrible with several actors and actresses passing out on the set due to the stress. Several props caught on fire, one of the actors was poisoned by aluminum dust, and several writers quit mid-production. Throughout it all, Winfield was reported as feeling helpless against the inadequacy and ignorance of Circewheel, and feeling a sense of doom towards the chances of the film ever completing production. 

These fears were proven correct when, after several years of toiling, Circewheel went bankrupt and production ceased. Defeated, bitter, and tired, Winfield would then be approached by Liquid Laff Pictures. The company offered him the chance to make an animated short film featuring Millie Moonbeam, and in his desperation to see his work on the big screen, Winfield signed on board without realizing that by doing so, he was giving up ownership of Millie to Liquid Laff. 

The details of Millie’s ownership would not be made explicit to Winfield until after the production and release of the film, a film he had been invited to watch the opening showing of. 

This was an event that drove Winfield to the darkest place of his life, and soon after Winfield was documented to have made an attempt on his own life. He would retire to his old countryside home and release one more book, featuring his other popular character Wistful Winnie. This book however was not well received due to its dark nature, and today it’s fairly unknown compared to his body of work. 

In the final years of his life, Winfield would pour his money into the construction of a library dedicated to the preservation of literature. It took a year and a half to complete, and was named the Winfield Library. A month after its completion, Winfield would be found dead in the library, his cause of death being undetermined.