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Imagine there is a movie that offers everything (and more) that you may wish for. It fundamentally brings together all your favorite childhood legends, puts them all in a group as the loveliest guardians, engulfs you in a warm blanket of nostalgia, tickles your adult brain all the same way, and sprinkles your eyes with magic due to some of the most marvelous animations you have ever laid eyes on.
But this same movie almost ruined an entire production studio. Doesn’t sound right? Well, the animated fantasy movieRise of the Guardiansis proof that a great animated film can still almost ruin an entire studio.
Rise of the Guardians
What Is ‘Rise of the Guardians’ About?
In DreamWorks’Rise of the Guardians, the legendary and fun-driven Jack Frost meets the bubbly Tooth Fairy, dedicated Santa Claus, the bossy Easter bunny, and the sweet-dreams-wishing sandman. Since Jack was used to living in invisibility ever since drowning in a frozen pond and coming back to the mortal realm with amnesia and his new skills, finding out that he has been chosen to become one of the guardians comes with some difficulties.
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Adjusting to his new rank is anything but easy, and the fact that a dark force, an evil bogeyman called Pitch Black, is returning to earth in order to engulf people and their dreams in darkness is not helping at all. Jack is left to battle the threatening darkness just as much as he is battlinghis own demons, but he slowly but surely learns that he is far from alone.
What Makes ‘Rise of the Guardians’ So Good?
Rise of the Guardiansis a visually stunning, fantastic film for various reasons. What stands out the most, though, is that the animation doesn’t break with traditions, but it offers a more modernized approach to representing these legendary guardians that influence our childhood and maybe even adulthood. The movie is tied to all these well-known legends, honoring and bringing them to life in a marvelous way while keeping the movie action-packed, refreshing, and fun.
This 2013 animated movie also does a fantastic job of bringing vivid childhood imaginations to life by carefully diving into the character of each legendary guardian.Rise of the Guardiansis arguablyone of the greatest animated moviesthat offer the best character development, as it highlights the authentic chemistry between the characters and allows their different personalities to define their choices in a relatable way.
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Even though Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and Sandy each bring their own special story and eclectic behavior to the table, Jack’s story especially stands tall as it carries the entire storyline. From getting to know the background of Jack Frost’s origin and seeing how he deals with children not necessarily knowing much about him to following his journey as he steps into his role as a guardian,Rise of the Guardianensures that every tiny detail will touch you.
Even though it’s not one ofthe highest-grossing animated movies,Rise of the Guardiansis still a special film that circles the various stages of belief.It explores the deeply-rooted joy that believing in these legends can bring to children and adults and how they can warm their hearts or keep their minds open. However, it also doesn’t shy away from shedding light on losing belief in something and feeling the disappointment it brings along. It does so without exaggerating, which ensures that this animated movie remains authentic and captivating.Rise of the Guardianstruly is all about belief and the importance of sometimes stepping away from reality and allowing your imagination to flow.
How Did ‘Rise of the Guardians’ Almost Ruin DreamWorks?
Considering thatRise of the Guardiansis not just one of the best but also one ofthe most underrated animated Christmas movies, it is almost painful to say that this movie was the reason why DreamWorks had to drastically change things. Unfortunately, this reset included laying off 350 hard-working people while also looking into how to make movies in a cheaper and faster way. If anything, this complete failure must have been one of Pitch Black’s doings because there is no way Jack Frost wouldn’t have been able to wrap every single person around his fingers with his charming (and also sometimes cheeky) behavior.
As is probably clear by now, it wasn’t the content of the Christmas movie itself that almost brought DreamWorks to a premature end. It undoubtedly delivers everythinggreat Christmas moviesshould have, but it was what happened around it that causedRise of the Guardiansto be a box-office failure.Rise of the Guardianswas produced with a budget of $145 million, but it only grossed around $307 million worldwide. This might seem like it brought in a considerable amount, but what hurt the studio was the fact that the distribution and costs were very high, leading to the unfortunate financial loss.
In general, this animated movie was marketed as a children’s movie, which, in reality, it simply isn’t.Rise of the Guardiansis a movie for everyone, young and old alike, and it should certainly have been promoted as such. The bad marketing and high costs eventually ledRise of the Guardiansto be a massive box office failure, as DreamWorks lost roughly $87 million, which certainly isn’t a small sum.
The 2012 movieRise of the Guardianswas DreamWorks’ biggest box office flop, and it was only pushed from its unwanted throne whenRuby Gillman, Teenage Krakenmarked anew record low for DreamWorks. The movie’s reputation certainly leaves a sour taste, but one look at the stunning animation is enough to know thatRise of the Guardiansdeserved better. This animated movie is a must-watch on all levels and should become a staple in everyone’s Christmas list.Rise of the Guardiansis available to stream onPeacockandAmazon Freevee.
