Retro Review: Rise of the Guardians

BY JOHN CARTER JR

Released October 10th, 2012, Dreamworks animation’s Rise of the Guardians features characters often found in the imaginings of children. With some being holiday icons and others being fairytale legends. Amongst the ranks of the aforementioned Guardians are none other than Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Easter Bunny. However, there is one holiday figure, who, at the start of the film, is quickly added to their ranks – the main protagonist of the story – -Jack Frost

The film’s story follows Jack as he and his new fellow Guardians face off against Pitch Black (the boogeyman), who is trying to instill fear in the hearts of the children of the world. All the while, Jack tries to find his center or who he is at his core.

Rise of the Guardians is an excellent telling of the “finding out who you are” troupe as it also examines what others think of you and how that factors into our self-image. The Guardians, especially the Easter Bunny, are weary of the man in the moon’s selection for a new Guardian when they find out it’s Jack Frost. The Guardians are supposed to protect their children from the world and Jack’s reputation with the Guardians doesn’t leave much room for credibility.

From the point in which North (Santa) gives Jack the speech about what his center is to the moment when Jack discovers it in his memories, the characters are met with trial after trial –  including the false demise of The Sandman. Finding out who you are takes both low and high moments, such as examining how you will, have, and are responding to the world and the punches life throws at you. In Jack’s case, it took looking back in his past to find his life before he was Jack Frost, and there he found his center. 

Before he was Jack Frost, a holiday elemental, he was simply a boy with a family and, at his core, was simply having fun. Fun was his weapon against fear and this is often a means of fighting it in real life. Halloween is a perfect example of fighting the fears of the world with fun. 

The film excellently captures the forms of its distinct cast. Jack, in particular, has a fun and whimsical design, but the shift from his warm to cold skin captures his story arc quite elegantly. North’s tattoos and attire give a strong or fearless impression, yet the character still maintains his jolly Santa Claus charm. The Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Easter Bunny each are excellently designed to fit the archetypes they fill, but it is Pitch who appears to be a desaturated black-and-white movie film of the past that is best encapsulated. Each character in this film, with the exception of Jack and Pitch, gives the impression that they understand their role or who they are. This is conveyed through their designs and their domains.

Rise of The Guardians is a film about not only discovering who you are but also how your experiences and the perspectives of others affect the way you interpret yourself. It is about discovering a weapon to use in our daily lives against fear, that weapon being fun. The film uses its excellent character designs to not only depict strong versions of these classic fairy tale characters but also it uses them to represent the center of each member of the cast. Finally, the film teaches us, through Jack’s journey, that it takes examining what you have been through and what you are experiencing now to truly understand how you are to move forward.

I give Rise of the Guardians 8/10 snow globes for its excellent character design, narrative about finding yourself, and exquisite voice acting.

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