The Guardians of Childhood/Rise of the Guardians

[Smashmatt]

A series of children's books, being made into a Dreamworks movie this year.



Written by William Joyce, writer/production designer from such movies/TV shows as Meet the Robinsons, Robots, and Rolie Polie Olie, it's basically the Avengers meets childhood icons. Specifically, characters like the Man in the Moon, the Tooth Fairy, Mother Goose, Jack Frost, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and to top it all off, Santa Claus, form a team to combat the Nightmare King and the forces of evil. From what I've heard, there are 2 picture books and 2 novels in the series, with a third novel coming out this October.

As for the Dreamworks movie, it looks like it's only going to include St. Nick, the Easter Rabbit, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman, and will revolve around Jack Frost's recruitment into the team. Now, we all know Dreamworks' tendencies towards sequelitis and milking franchises to death, but honestly, this premise is perfect franchise material. I seriously hope this does well, I'd LOVE to see more movies based on this stuff! Hopefully, the would-be sequel will include the Man in the Moon and Mother Goose...

One last thing I wanted to mention... The main antagonist of the series, the Nightmare King... his name is "Pitch". Why is that a big deal? Well...



Yeah...

[Goombachi]

Hm...I dunno about this. That resume from Mr. Joyce isn't exactly stellar, and this concept could turn out really cheesy if it isn't handled right. And Dreamworks in general is pretty hit or miss.
I'll reserve judgment for now, but I'm not getting my hopes too high.

[Smashmatt]

That resume from Mr. Joyce isn't exactly stellar

I kind of agree, but he has done other things. Like this animated short called "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore" (it won an Oscar earlier this year):



Also, here's another trailer for the movie, this one featuring Jack Frost.

[Smashmatt]

Bumping topic, because the film just came out, and I just saw it.

I really love the premise of the movie, if I didn't make that clear before, and while watching it, there were points where I was shaking with excitement, like the inner child in me was trying to break free, appropriately enough. I sensed a lot of whimsy and fantasy in this movie, like an action-packed Disney movie that's really light on comedy actual... Like there ARE funny moments, but the focus isn't on the humor or any kind of comedic exaggeration so much as it is about this world where the icons of our childhood exist and work together. In fact, of all things, it reminds me of the Oz series of books. There were plenty explanations of how things worked in the land of Oz, as well as origin stories for certain characters, but they all defied logic and had a certain appeal that lent itself to the imagination and creativity of children or people with that child-like quality to them. It makes me want to read the books this movie is based on. William Joyce, the author of those books, worked pretty closely on this movie I hear (incidentally, he was an executive producer), and the character designs come from Joyce's own character backlog. This, along with How to Train Your Dragon, marks to me a shift in tone in Dreamworks, and the way they handle movies. Instead of being cash-grabby and "zany", they don't talk down to their audience, and instead give quality family entertainment... Not unlike how Disney used to do things. I know I compared it to Disney already, but really, after seeing the trailer for their next movie, The Croods, it really feels like they're trying to capture that special "something" that Disney movies used to have... and may still have, if they keep doing the right things.

Although, if there is one criticism I have to say for the movie, it MIGHT come off as a tad predictable. Good wins, evil loses and is sent away, characters act pretty much how you'd expect they would, although with Jack Froze, I do admit, he really is a good kid (and by kid I mean a 300-year-old teen [spoiler]revived by the Man in the Moon as a weilder of froze, ice, and snow[/spoiler]), and really is just lost and confused, and just wants to be as loved and appreciated as the other Guardians. Pitch Black, the Boogeyman, has a similar backstory, but isn't nearly as sympathetic since [spoiler]he doesn't want children to just acknowledge him, he wants them to fear him, and that's just not cool[/spoiler]. Also, it's not that especially "deep" at least not that I can tell. We do get insight into certain characters, especially Jack Frost, but overall, it's pretty simplistic. This is kind of good, since the kids can follow it easily, but for the adult who's just along for the ride, while there's a lot to appreciate in this movie, there aren't that many things in it that only adults would get or something like that.

I think the best thing about this movie is how timeless this feels. There's no pop culture references, no references to modern-day technology, no "winking at the audience" type of humor, nothing in this movie that dates itself. It really feels like an instant classic that will be played on TV for years to come, especially around Christmas, given the winter themes in the movie. (and maybe Easter, since Easter DOES happen at one point). You almost NEVER see a movie like this made anymore, and the fact that DREAMWORKS of all companies produced it is just astounding!

Right, so, good movie, bring the kids, bring the family, enjoy. Here's hoping this becomes a franchise so we can see more done with this premise!