Presenting Thrill Murray: The Bill Murray Colouring Book

This past August, UK-based publishing company Belly Kids released Thrill Murray, a delightful colouring book filled with various artistic depictions of the much-beloved actor by over 20 artists. We completely flipped over this beautiful, weird, perfect book (we ordered our own copy to love and treasure forever) and contacted Belly Kids’ publisher Michael Coley to ask a few questions about how this book came about. It is a wonderful item for children, adults and ardent Bill Murray fans alike. You can order it here.

Broken Pencil: Why a colouring book? Why Bill Murray?

It goes without saying I’m a huge fan of Bill Murray. His movies, the characters he plays and the party myth behind him. He is crazily enigmatic; he is a hero of our time. I was drinking beer and eating pizza with a friend where she turned to me, dead in the eyes and said “I love Bill Murray, he is so sexy. I’d love to fill him up”… After choking on the pizza, I thought “Hey, filling Bill up…” And Thrill Murray was born.

Some of Murray’s roles are more “colourful” than others, and seem like they might lend themselves particularly well to an artistic rendering/colouring book – ie, The Life Aquatic, Ghostbusters. How did you determine which eras of “Bill’ were covered?

I completely agree. I approached illustrators, explaining the book and really left them to decide which film and which era. It was actually an easy project to edit together since everyone had an idea to run with. They had their own favourite Bill.

How did you choose the artists involved? Were there any that you thought were particularly suited to this project (ie, they’ve done colouring books before, they’re Bill Murray-o-philes, etc) and did any of the drawings surprise you?

I have to say 95% of people I talk to in general life are Murray-o-philes (i’m stealing that term)… I wanted a good variety of styles in the book – everything from slacker, psychedelic, scruffy, slick and realistic. I knew most of the illustrators from previous
projects but, as happens in the age we live, the internet was my hunting ground.

How and when did your company Belly Kids start out? and was it your intention to produce and publish so much different media (the “if we like the look of it, we’ll release it” ethos) Or did the expansion sort of occur on its own?

I’ve always been a part of music, art, shows and help out where I can. Belly Kids started maybe with the idea to release bands, on tape and record, with the occasional book release. That soon blossomed into a label which embraces all media, styles and characters. I think there is room for someone to combine all the disciplines in one place. Do it yourself, punk publishing, or something like that.

Bill Murray is notorious for hobnobbing with fans at parties and apparently has a phone number that people can call and he occasionally answers. Do you think you’ll try to get in touch with Bill to let him know about this project, or maybe send him a book?

Hey, I keep trying to get a book to him. Someone invite us both to a party and we can share a bottle of wine and do some crayoning!

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