Rise of the Guardians is a whimsical animated fantasy adventure produced by DreamWorks Animation and based on the works of William Joyce. It follows Jack Frost on his journey to become one of the Guardians of Childhood, a group of mythical figures that represent and defend core aspects of humanity such as hope, memory, and wonder.
The Guardians are made up of Father Christmas (known as North throughout the film), the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman, led under the guidance of the Man in the Moon. Pitch Black is their enemy, also known as The Boogeyman; the living embodiment of fear. The concept reads like a childhood dream come to life, at once comforting and compelling, silly and spectacular. And, just like its immortal protagonist, it does not seem to have aged a day in the last ten years.
The film is not mawkish or saccharine, though its premise certainly could’ve fuelled either if mishandled. With a central plot of Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny teaming up to fight the monster under your bed, it is easy to see how it may have been scoffed at. Yet the film deals with its premise with respect, and delivers it without any trace of derision.
It is funny how many films aimed at children seem to reproach childishness, either by commercialising it or by making excuses for it via sardonic quips and one-liners that pander to parents. Rise of the Guardians, instead, embraces childhood wholeheartedly and nurtures it as its titular characters would.
What also makes Rise of the Guardians stand out is its engagement with folklore. In the modern age, the practice of passing down traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community through the generations by word of mouth has become rarer. Whilst there are still many communities that are actively involved in the preservation of their folklore, there are equally as many who have become detached from it. That is why films that engage with it are integral to keeping folktales relevant, remembered, and alive.
Rise of the Guardians reintroduces and recontextualises key folkloric figures for a modern audience. Jack Frost dons a blue hoodie and North’s sleigh is a souped-up, contemporary version of the more sedate sleighs of Christmas’ past, to name just a few reimagined aspects.
The folkloric figures each have a distinct personality, set of motivations, quirks, and flaws, too. They are accessible, emotionally engaging, and far easier to understand than the abstract figures they are based upon.
However, Rise of the Guardians is not the only animated film that engages with folklore. There is a wider trend of animation taking inspiration from folktales and influences outside of traditional fairy tales. Brave, the How to Train your Dragon franchise, Kubo and the Two Strings, Song of the Sea, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya were all released during the early 2010s. More recent iterations include Coco, Abominable, The Missing Link, Frozen II, and Raya and the Last Dragon. Animated folktales have a clear and undeniable appeal.
Speculatively, this is because animation is the best possible medium for folktales. It is accessible, since animated films are often targeted at families and therefore suitable for audiences of all ages. This universal appeal fits well with the concept of folklore, which concerns the inter-generational sharing of experiences. Similarly, animation as a medium has always had associations with playfulness, creativity, and imagination, all of which invoke the same core aspects of the human experience that permeate folklore.
There is also a lack of cynicism in animation that compliments folk influences; its sincerity derives from its sense of completeness. Where live-action films have to keep within the confines of our reality, animated films have the freedom to establish a reality all of their own. Everything in an animated film is manufactured; every animated world is like a sandbox version of our own. In this way, animation is like folklore in that it provides us with an alternate lens through which to look at and explore our world from the safety of fantasy.
Animation can accommodate the bizarre, fantastic and outlandish parts of folktales in a way that feels startlingly natural. There is no jarring clash between gritty realism and CGI elements, and no need to balance the magical and the mundane in order to preserve an audience’s suspension of disbelief. Jack Frost’s ice powers, though mesmerisingly beautiful to look at, seem as much a believable part of the world as the rural North American setting since all of it shares the same visual style.
That is not to say that the film lacks wonder. The magical elements despite their natural integration never once feel mundane. The dreams made of golden sand by the Sandman are a visual treat, as are the horrifying “Night Mares” created by Pitch. A special mention must also be made to Alexandre Desplat for his sumptuous, emotionally-resonant score, which adds an extra kind of charm to an already magical experience.
Jack’s central concern in the film is working out his purpose. He states that he cannot find out who he is until he finds out who he was. His search for meaning, identity, and a community he belongs to ties into the idea of folktales being a framework for making sense of the world. Folklore shapes our beliefs and customs. It bleeds through all of the narratives we create. It is, essentially, evidence that every generation has tried to conceptualise life through art in one way or another. Folkloric figures and recurring motifs act as a kind of collective memory between us all, regardless of culture, language, or age.
We see glimpses of the past through Jack, who regains memory of his previous life as a human boy centuries ago. It is this revelation that he had a home, a family, and a place in the world, that allows him to finally believe in himself.
This interaction between the past and the present in Rise of the Guardians is what is so important about the preservation and continuation of folklore. The acknowledgement that these stories have been told before, that they are being told anew now, and that they will be reinvented and told again someday in the future is comforting in a world that often seems so unstable and transient. Rise of the Guardians understands and contributes to this with warmth, heart, and a deep sense of hope.
Words by Briony Havergill
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