DVDizzy Forum

singerguy04 wrote:yeah, Santa with Tats isn't really working for me. Santa Claus is an established character already. Sure he's public domain, but he is a Saint after all. I'm not sure that this tough guy action hero image is tasteful.

I'm not opposed to the whole idea or anything, but I was almost assuming that maybe his elves would be doing more of the rough and tumble while Santa was maintaining his image. This promo image suggests not.

estefan wrote:Oh, yeah, because How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda 2 were full of pop-culture references. Even Puss in Boots kept them at a surprisingly minimal amount.

Dr Frankenollie wrote:I'm somewhat interested in this movie. The character designs (particularly for Jack Frost) are quite good, and the concept is intriguing. However, knowing Dreamworks, it will be chock full of unfunny pop culture references and be dated in a couple of years.

The first clip showcased a rough version of the film’s opening wherein Jack Frost awakens in the middle of a frozen lake. He has no memories and no idea from where he came. In fact, the only thing Frost knows is his name, a gift given to him by the mysterious Man in the Moon, who functions as a sort of Bosley to these fairytale Charlie’s Angels.

300 years later, Frost is kidnapped by the titular Guardians so that he can help them fight the Boogieman, who has mysteriously returned to earth. Along the way, Frost must uncover his past and learn to be a hero.

During the introduction, Dreamworks executives compared the film’s scope and ambition to How to Train Your Dragon, and the metaphor is apt. The animation is sumptuous and beautiful and while elements of the plot immediately recall Harry Potter, The Santa Clause and even The Nightmare Before Christmas, there is a unique depth and emotional vitality to the piece.

For example, while everyone knows that The Tooth Fairy leaves money in exchange for baby teeth, Guardians posits that she keeps these molars and incisors because they hold the core of one’s childhood within them and that she protects the teeth so that one can draw strength from early memories.

Though most of the animation is still incomplete, Rise of the Guardians has the potential to be something really special. The reimagining of the holiday figureheads is clever – Santa as a massive Russian with, “Naughty” and, “Nice” tattooed on his forearms, The Easterbunny as an ornery Australian tough guy, The Tooth Fairy as a giant hummingbird, The Sandman is a silent pillow-shaped specter who communicates through pictograms – and the entry point of Jack Frost as an outsider who is literally invisible because no one believes him to be a real figure, carries a bit of weight to it. This, combined with a screenplay credited to David Lindsay-Abaire, whose utterly devastating Rabbit Hole took the theater world by storm (and made for a fine, under-seen film), really piqued my interest in the project.