Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 American 3D computer-animatedaction fantasy-comedy film based on and serving as a continuation of William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by Joyce and Reel FX Creative Studios. 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. 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 the evil Pitch Black from engulfing the world in darkness in a fight of dreams.

Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was released on November 21, 2012. It received mixed reviews and grossed $306 million against its $145 million budget, but lost an estimated $83 million due to marketing and distribution costs. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Plot

Jack Frost awakens from a frozen pond with amnesia. Upon realizing no one can see or hear him, he disappears. Three hundred years later, Jack, as the young Spirit of Winter, enjoys delivering snow days to school kids, but resents that they do not believe in him. At the North Pole, the Man in the Moon warns Nicholas St. North that Pitch Black is threatening the children of the world with his nightmares. He calls E. Aster Bunnymund, Sandy, and Tooth, to arms. They are then told that Jack Frost has been chosen to be a new Guardian, and has him brought to the North Pole by Bunnymund. North explains to Jack that every Guardian has a center - something they are the Guardian of, but a call for help from Tooth's fairies ends the conversation.

Visiting Tooth's world, Jack learns that each and every baby tooth contains childhood memories of the children who lost it, Jack's teeth included. However, Pitch raids Tooth's home, kidnapping all of her subordinate tooth fairies except Baby Tooth and stealing all the teeth, thus preventing Tooth from sharing Jack's memories and weakening children's belief in Tooth. In order to thwart Pitch's plan, the group decides to collect children's teeth. During their journey, a quarrel between North and Bunnymund awakens a boy, Jamie. Since he still believes, he can see everybody except for Jack. Pitch's nightmares then attack, provoking Sandy as the Guardian of Dreams. Jack tries to intervene, but Pitch aims a bow at Sandy, who overwhelmingly disappears.

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 Easter. After Jack takes Sophie home, he is lured to Pitch's lair by a voice. Pitch taunts him with his memories and fear of non-belief, distracting him long enough for Pitch to destroy the eggs, causing children to stop believing in Easter and Bunnymund. With the Guardians' trust lost in him, a shamed Jack isolates himself in Antarctica, where Pitch tries to convince him to join his side. When Jack refuses, Pitch threatens to kill Baby Tooth unless Jack gives him his staff, the source of his magic. He agrees, but Pitch breaks Jack's staff and throws him down a chasm. Unlocking his memories inside his tooth, he learns that he was a mortal teenager who fell to his death in the frozen pond while saving his younger sister. Inspired, Jack repairs his staff and returns to the lair to rescue the kidnapped baby fairies.

Due to Pitch, every child in the world except Jamie disbelieves, drastically weakening the Guardians. Finding Jamie's belief wavering, Jack makes it snow in his room, renewing Jamie's belief and letting him become the first person to ever believe in and see Jack. Jack and Jamie gather the boy's friends, whose renewed belief bolsters their fight against Pitch. Pitch threatens them, but their dreams prove stronger than his nightmares, resulting in Sandy's resurrection and the Guardians reunite with Sandy. Defeated and disbelieved in, Pitch tries to retreat, but his nightmares, sensing his own fears, turn on him and drag him to the underworld. Afterward, Jamie and his friends bid goodbye to the Guardians as Jack accepts his place as the Guardian of Fun.

Cast

• Chris Pine as Jackson Overland "Jack" Frost, the spirit of winter. Jack is a teenage hellion who enjoys creating mischief and has no interest in being bound by rules or obligations; he just wants to use his staff to spread his winter magic for the sake of fun, but also wants to be believed in. At the end of the film, Jack became the Guardian of Fun. While he cannot fly, per se, he can be carried on currents of wind, allowing him to span great distances.
• Jude Law as Pitch Black/the Boogeyman, the essence of fear and the Nightmare King. He has dark hair and wears a black dress/cloak. At the ending, he's scared of his own nightmares after being forgotten.
• Alec Baldwin as Nicholas St. North, the leader of the guardians, 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 has a Russian accent/culture persona.
• Hugh Jackman as E. Aster Bunnymund, the fabled keeper and bringer of Easter eggs as the Easter Bunny and Guardian of Hope. He shares his voice actor's Australian accent.
• Isla Fisher as Toothiana, called Tooth for short, the mythical tooth collector known as the Tooth Fairy and the Guardian of Memories. Tooth is part human and part hummingbird, resembling a Kinnari. 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.
• The Sandman (Sandy for short) is the Guardian of Dreams and the oldest of the Guardians, being the first Guardian chosen by the Man in the Moon. He does not speak, but communicates through sand images that he conjures above his head.
• Dakota Goyo as Jamie Bennett, a child who has not given up on believing in the Guardians.
• Georgie Grieve as Sophie Bennett, Jamie's little sister
• Jacob Bertrand as Monty
• Dominique Grund as Cupcake
• Olivia Mattingly as Pippa and Felicity Frost, Jack's sister