Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated fantasy film based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by Joyce and Reel FX. Peter Ramsey directed the film, while Joyce and Guillermo del Toro were executive producers with voice acting by Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, and Jude Law. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures,1 it was released on November 21, 2012 and received mixed to positive reviews, but under-performed at the box office, contributing to a studio writedown of $83 million for the quarter and the layoffs of 350 employees.

Set about 300 years after the book series, the film tells a story about Guardians Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman, who enlist Jack Frost to stop Pitch Black from engulfing the world in darkness. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.[5] This was the last film by DreamWorks Animation to be distributed by Paramount Pictures.[6]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Soundtrack 5 Release 5.1 Home media 6 Reception 6.1 Critical response 6.2 Box office 6.3 Accolades 7 Video game 8 Possible sequels 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

Plot
Jack Frost is awakened from the depths of a frozen pond with amnesia. Upon discovering no one can see or hear him however, he wanders off alone. Three hundred years later Jack, as the spirit of Winter, enjoys delivering snow days to school kids, but resents that they do not believe in him and still cannot see him. At the North Pole, the Man in the Moon warns Nicholas St. North (Santa Claus) that Pitch Black, the Boogeyman, is threatening the children of the world with his nightmares. He calls E. Aster Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny), the Sandman/Sandy, and Tooth, the Toothfairy, to arms. They are then told that Jack Frost has been chosen to be a new Guardian. Jack is unimpressed by this position, as he feels wronged for not being believed in, but North convinces him to aid them in facing Pitch.

Visiting Tooth's world, Jack learns that baby teeth contain the memories and innocence of the children who lost them; Jack's teeth are included and he informs her that he has forgotten his true identity. However, Pitch raids Tooth's home in order to kidnap all of her subordinate tooth fairies,(except Baby Tooth whom Jack managed to save), so that the children's teeth can't be collected. If the teeth aren't collected the children will stop believing in her. In order to complete the scheme, he also steals all the teeth thus preventing Tooth from sharing Jack's memories with him. In order to thwart the Boogeyman's evil plan, the group decides to travel the world collecting the lost teeth. During their journey, they come across a young boy named Jamie, who is awakened during a quarrel between North and Bunnymund. Since he believes in them, he can see all of them except for Jack. Pitch's nightmares attack in full force, provoking Sandy into action as the Guardian of Dreams. Jack aids him, but fails as Sandy is overwhelmed and seemingly destroyed by Pitch.

As Easter approaches, the dejected Guardians gather in Bunnymund's home. With the unexpected aid of Jamie's little sister, Sophie, they begin the process of painting eggs for the coming morning. After Jack takes Sophie home, he is lured to Pitch's lair by a voice. While there, Pitch taunts him with his memories and fears of not being believed in. This distracted Jack long enough for the nightmares to destroy all the Easter eggs, ruining Easter and causing children to stop believing in Bunnymund. After losing his trust in the disappointed Guardians, Jack isolates himself in Antarctica, where Pitch tries to convince Jack to join his side. When Jack refuses, Pitch threatens to kill Baby Tooth, unless Jack gives him his staff. Jack agrees, but Pitch breaks Jack's staff and throws him off a chasm. Jack unlocks his memories and he remembers that he was a mortal human boy who fell into a frozen pond while saving his younger sister from falling through. This memory inspires Jack and he fixes his staff and returns to Pitch's lair to rescue the kidnapped baby fairies.

Due to Pitch's powers, all the world's children's beliefs in the Guardians fade, except Jamie's. When Jack finds even Jamie's faith in them is wavering, he causes it to snow in his room and makes him realize that Jack Frost exists. Jack is finally seen and heard after centuries and while the weakened Guardians face Pitch in battle, Jack and Jamie gather Jamie's friends, whose renewed belief bolsters their fight against Pitch as well. Pitch tries to terrify the children with his nightmares, but their dreams prove even stronger, resulting in Sandy's resurrection. Defeated and no longer feared, Pitch tries to retreat, but his own nightmares turn against him due to his own fear and drag him under the desolate bed into his own world. Afterward, Jamie and his friends bid goodbye to the Guardians as Jack accepts his place among them as the Guardian of Fun.

Cast
Chris Pine as Jack Frost, the spirit of winter.[7] Jack Frost is a teenage hellion who enjoys creating mischief and has no interest in being bound by rules or obligations; he just wants to spread his winter magic for the sake of fun, but also wants to be believed in. At the end of the film, Jack becomes the Guardian of Fun. Jude Law as Pitch Black (The Boogeyman), the essence of fear and the Nightmare King.[7] Alec Baldwin as North (Santa Claus), the leader of the guardians,[7] and the Guardian of Wonder. He lives at the North Pole in the Ice Castle and is served by loyal North Pole natives, the Yetis (who built the castle and workshop) and the Christmas Elves. He carries a Russian accent/culture persona.[8] Hugh Jackman as Bunnymund (Easter Bunny), the fabled keeper and bringer of Easter eggs and the Guardian of Hope. He has an Australian accent.[7] Isla Fisher as Tooth Fairy or Tooth for short, the mythical tooth collector and the Guardian of Memories.[7] Tooth is part human and part hummingbird. Assisted by mini fairies that are split-off extensions of herself, she collects the children's teeth, which hold their most precious memories. Tooth stores them in her palace and returns memories when they are needed the most. "[9] The Sandman, or Sandy for short, the Guardian of Dreams is the oldest of the Guardians[10] and the first Guardian chosen by Man in the Moon.[11] He does not speak, but communicates through sand images that he conjures above his head.[12] Dakota Goyo as Jamie Bennett, a child who has not given up on believing in the Guardians.[13] Georgie Grieve as Sophie Bennett, Jamie's little sister Dominique Grund as Cupcake Olivia Mattingly as Pippa

Production
In 2005, William Joyce and Reel FX launched a joint venture, Aimesworth Amusements,[14] to produce CG-animated feature films,[15] one of which was set to be The Guardians of Childhood, based on Joyce's idea.[16] The film was not realized, but they did create a short animated film, The Man in the Moon, directed by Joyce, which introduced the Guardians idea,[16] and served as an inspiration for the film.[2]

Early in 2008, Joyce sold the film rights to DreamWorks Animation,[17] after the studio assured him it would respect his vision for the characters and that he would be involved with the creative process.[18] In November 2009, it was revealed that DreamWorks had hired Peter Ramsey to make his feature debut as director of what was then titled The Guardians, and playwright David Lindsay-Abaire to script.[19] Joyce acted as a co-director for the first few years, but left this position after the death of his daughter Mary Katherine,[17] who died of a brain tumor.[18] Joyce continued to assist as an executive producer, while Ramsey took over full directing, making him the first African American to direct a big-budget CG animated film.[20] As with some previous DreamWorks films, Guillermo del Toro came on board as an executive producer. Present almost from the beginning,[21] he was able to help shape the story, character design, theme and structure of the film.[22] He said he was proud that the filmmakers were making parts of the film "dark and moody and poetic," and expressed hope this might "set a different tone for family movies, for entertainment movies."[21] The final title, Rise of the Guardians was announced in early 2011, along with the first cast.[7]

Roger Deakins, the cinematographer who had already worked on the previous DreamWorks' film, How to Train Your Dragon, advised on the lighting to achieve its real look. He selected photographic references for color keys, and during the production gave notes on contrast, saturation, depth of field and light intensity.[23] The film contains a lot of special effects, particularly the volumetric particles for depicting Sandman and Pitch.[24] For this, DreamWorks Animation developed OpenVDB, a more efficient tool and format for manipulating and storing volume data, like smoke and other amorphous materials. OpenVDB had been already used on Puss in Boots and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, and was released in August 2012 for free as an open source project with a hope to become an industry standard.[25]

Although the film is based on the Joyce's book series, it contains differences from the books. The book series, begun in 2011, explains the origins of the characters, while the film takes place about 300 years after the books, and shows how the characters function in present time. Joyce explained, "Because I don't want people to read the book and then go see the movie and go, 'Oh, I like the book better,' and I also didn't want them to know what happens in the movie. And I also knew that during the progress of film production, a lot of things can change. So I wanted to have a sort of distance, so we were able to invoke the books and use them to help us figure out the world of the movie, but I didn't want them to be openly competitive to each other."[17] The idea for the Guardians came from Joyce's daughter, who asked him "if he thought Santa Claus had ever met the Easter Bunny." The film includes a dedication to her,[18] as well a song, "Still Dream," sung over the end credits.[26]

Originally, the film was set to be released on November 2, 2012, but DreamWorks Animation pushed the film to November 21, 2012 to avoid competition with Pixar's upcoming film Monsters University, which in turn had been pushed to November 2, 2012 to avoid competition with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.[27] Monsters University was then pushed to June 21, 2013, with Disney's Wreck-It Ralph taking its place.[28]

Soundtrack
French composer Alexandre Desplat composed the original music for the film, which was released on November 13, 2012 by Varèse Sarabande. The score was recorded in London at Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with a choral contribution by London Voices. David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the lyrics for the end-credit song, "Still Dream," which was performed by soprano Renée Fleming.[29] Stravinsky's Firebird Suite can also be heard during the scene where North first appears. This film marks the first time that a DreamWorks Animation film has not been composed by Hans Zimmer or a member of his Remote Control Productions family of composers (mainly John Powell, Henry Jackman, Harry Gregson-Williams or his brother Rupert Gregson-Williams).

Rise of the Guardians

Film score by Alexandre Desplat

Released November 13, 2012

Recorded 2012

Genre Score

Length 67:47

Label Varèse Sarabande

Producer Alexandre Desplat

Alexandre Desplat film scores chronology

Argo (2012) Rise of the Guardians (2012) Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Track listing:[30]

No.

Title

Length

1. "Still Dream" (performed by Renée Fleming) 3:12 2. "Calling the Guardians"  2:06 3. "Alone in the World"  2:04 4. "Fanfare of the Elves"  0:53 5. "Wind Take Me Home!" 1:28 6. "Dreamsand"  2:03 7. "Pitch on the Globe"  0:57 8. "The Moon"  1:32 9. "Snowballs"  1:31 10. "Busy Workshop"  1:33 11. "Sleigh Launch"  1:45 12. "Nightmares Attack"  7:17 13. "Tooth Collection"  2:22 14. "Jamie's Bedroom"  2:31 15. "Jack & Sandman"  4:18 16. "Memorial"  1:21 17. "Guardians Regroup"  0:58 18. "Easter"  3:39 19. "Jack Betrays"  3:20 20. "Kids Stop Believing"  2:35 21. "Jack's Memories"  2:24 22. "Pitch at North Pole"  2:00 23. "Jamie Believes"  3:01 24. "Jack's Center"  4:52 25. "Sandman Returns"  2:36 26. "Dreamsand Miracles"  2:18 27. "Oath of the Guardians"  3:11

Total length: 67:47

Release
Rise of the Guardians premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival: Christina Steinberg, producer; Peter Ramsey, director; Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation's CEO; Nancy Bernstein, producer; Bill Damaschke, DreamWorks Animation's Chief Creative Officer Rise of the Guardians had its premiere on October 10, 2012, at The Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley, California,[1] followed by the international premiere at The International Rome Film Festival on November 13, 2012.[31][32] Under distribution by Paramount Pictures, the film was released on November 21, 2012, in American theaters.[27] Digitally re-mastered into IMAX 3D, it was shown in limited international and domestic IMAX theaters.[33] It was the second film released in the firm Barco's Auro 11.1 3D audio format, after Red Tails.[34] The film was also shown in Dolby Atmos, a surround sound technology introduced in 2012.[35] Rise of the Guardians was the last DreamWorks Animation film distributed by Paramount, as DreamWorks has signed a five-year distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, which started in 2013 with The Croods.[6]

Home media

Rise of the Guardians was released on Blu-ray (2D and 3D) and DVD on March 12, 2013.[36]

That was the last DreamWorks Animation home media release to be distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment, since 20th Century Fox announced its distribution agreement with DreamWorks Animation a few months before the theatrical release.[6] The film was more successful at home media sales than at the box office, having at the end of the second quarter of 2013 "the highest box office to DVD conversion ratio among major releases."[37] In the first quarter of 2013, it sold 3.2 million home entertainment units worldwide,[38] and in the second quarter 0.9 million units, for a total of 4.1 million units.[39] As of August 2013, 2 million DVDs were sold domestically.[40]

It was re-released on DVD on November 5, 2013 and comes with a wind-up marching elf toy.[41]

Reception
Critical response

Rise of the Guardians received positive reviews from critics. Based on 145 reviews, the film holds a rating of 74% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A sort of Avengers for the elementary school set, Rise of the Guardians is wonderfully animated and briskly paced, but it's only so-so in the storytelling department."[42] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 57 based on 34 reviews, or "Mixed or average."[43] The film earned an "A" from audiences polled by CinemaScore.[44]

Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and found the film's characters to have "a primal familiarity, as though they were developed by a tag team of Maurice Sendak and Walt Disney."[45] Olly Richards of Empire wrote, "It's gorgeously designed, deftly written and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. For child or adult, this is a fantasy to get lost in."[46] The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan also gave the film a positive review and said, "Thoughts become things. That's the message of Rise of the Guardians, a charming if slightly dark and cobwebbed animated feature about how believing in something makes it real, or real enough."[47] Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars and wrote in his review, "There's an audience for this film. It's not me. I gather younger children will like the breakneck action, the magical ability to fly and the young hero who has tired of only being a name." Though he did say, "Their parents and older siblings may find the 89-minute running time quite long enough."[48]

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "a lively but derivative 3D storybook spree for some unlikely action heroes."[2] Conversely, Justin Chang in Variety said, "Even tots may emerge feeling slightly browbeaten by this colorful, strenuous and hyperactive fantasy, which has moments of charm and beauty but often resembles an exploding toy factory rather than a work of honest enchantment."[49] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal found that the film "lacks a resonant center," and that the script, "seems to have been written by committee, with members lobbying for each major character, and the action, set in vast environments all over the map, spreads itself so thin that a surfeit of motion vitiates emotion."[50]

Box office

Rise of the Guardians grossed $103,412,758 in North America, and $203,528,912 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $306,941,670.[4]

In North America, the film opened to $32.3 million over its extended five-day weekend, and with $23.8 million over the three-day weekend, it reached fourth place behind The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, Skyfall, and Lincoln. The film's opening was the lowest debut for a DreamWorks Animation film since Flushed Away.[44] While the film did gross more than its $145 million budget, it still did not turn a profit for DreamWorks Animation due to its high production and marketing costs, forcing the studio to take an $83 million write-down.[51] This marked the first time that the studio had lost money on an animated film since Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas.[51][52] As a result of this combined with other factors, in February 2013, the studio announced it was laying off 350 employees as part of a company-wide restructuring.[52]

Accolades

The Rome Film Festival and Vanity Fair magazine awarded the new Vanity Fair International Award for Cinematic Excellence in November 2012 to Rise of the Guardians.[31] The film also received the Hollywood Animation Award at the 16th Annual Hollywood Film Festival, held on October 22, 2012.[53]

List of awards and nominations

Award

Category

Recipients

Result

African-American Film Critics Association Best Animation Won Alliance of Women Film Journalists Best Animated Female Isla Fisher (Tooth) Nominated American Cinema Editors Best Edited Animated Feature Film Joyce Arrastia Annie Awards[54][55] Best Animated Feature Animated Effects in an Animated Production Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, David Lipton Won Character Animation in a Feature Production David Pate Nominated Phillppe LeBrun Pierre Perifel Music in an Animated Feature Production Alexandre Desplat Production Design in an Animated Feature Production Patrick Hanenberger, Max Boas, Jayee Borcar Woonyoung Jung, Perry Maple, Peter Maynez Stan Seo, Felix Yoon Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production Johanne Matte Won Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production Jude Law Nominated Editorial in an Animated Feature Production Joyce Arrastia Critics Choice Awards[56] Best Animated Feature Cinema Audio Society Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures Animated Golden Globe Awards[57] Best Animated Feature Film Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing in an Animated Feature Film Hollywood Film Festival[53] Best Animated Feature Peter Ramsey Won International Film Music Critics Association Awards Film Composer of the Year Alexandre Desplat, also for Argo, Moonrise Kingdom, Rust and Bone, and Zero Dark Thirty Nominated Best Original Score for an Animated Feature Alexandre Desplat Won Mill Valley Film Festival[58] Audience Favorite Children's Film Peter Ramsey Producers Guild of America Outstanding Producer of An Animated Theatrical Motion Picture Nancy Bernstein, Christina Steinberg Nominated Satellite Awards 2012[59] Best Animated or Mixed Media Won Visual Effects Society[60][61] Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Nancy Bernstein, David Prescott, Peter Ramsey, Christina Steinberg Nominated Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture The North Pole: Eric Bouffard, Sonja Burchard, Andy Harbeck, Peter Maynez Nominated Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture Last Stand: Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, Andrew Wheeler, Stephen Wood Nominated Women Film Critics Circle[62] Best Family Film Rise of the Guardians – tied with Life of Pi Won

Video game
Main article: Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game

A video game based on the film was released by D3 Publisher on November 20, 2012 in North America,[63] and released on November 23, 2012 in Europe.[64] It allows gamers to lead the Guardians in their battle against Pitch. The game is a 3D beat-em-up, where the player travels through each of the worlds: Burgess, North Pole, Bunnymund Valley, Tooth Palace, and Sandman's Ship, to fight Pitch's army of Nightmares. The player can switch between all five guardians at any time, and freely customize their powers, and they learn new special abilities as they level up. All the game versions support up to 4 player gameplay.[65] It is available on the Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS.[66]

Possible sequels
After the release of the film, the creators of Rise of the Guardians expressed hope that the strong A-Cinemascore average for the film and an enthusiastic word-of-mouth would gather support for the "chance to make a sequel or two."[67] Author and co-producer of the series, William Joyce, also mentioned in March 2013 that he was still in talks about a sequel with DreamWorks Animation: "There is something that we are proposing that we hope they will want to do."[68]