If you’re looking to have your illusions about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy shattered, Rise of the Guardians is just the kind of animated adventure you’ve been waiting for. Don’t worry, though. I’m not talking about any of that “Santa’s not real” kind of stuff, because we all know that would just be ridiculous. There are a lot of things you probably didn’t know about Santa, the Sandman (no, not that Sandman) and all the other fantastical beings that have existed on the periphery of your imagination since your childhood, though.
Based on William Joyce‘s The Guardians of Childhood books (and reminiscent of Rankin/Bass‘s adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus), Rise of the Guardians reveals that Santa, the Easter Bunny and all the others are very much real. But the roles they play in the lives of children are far more involved than delivering presents or hiding Easter eggs. Collectively, they form the Guardians and they each have their own set of responsibilities towards protecting the world. Santa, a tattooed swordsman with an Alec Baldwin-voiced Eastern European accent, is the Guardian of Wonder and calls a meeting at his North Pole home when he gets a cryptic message from the Man in the Moon a few day before Easter. Like any ragtag group such as this one, there’s plenty of good-humored in-fighting between the Australian adventurer the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the hummingbird-like Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the benevolent Sandman, the oldest and first Guardian chosen by the Man in the Moon. (I’m just glad the Tooth Fairy isn’t The Rock in a hockey uniform.)
The reason the Man in the Moon has summoned all of the Guardians is because The Boogeyman (no, not that Boogeyman) has gathered his strength and is threatening to destroy all that is good in the world. Whether he’s turning the Sandman’s dreams into nightmares, preventing the Tooth Fairy from gathering teeth or keeping the Easter Bunny from hiding his eggs, the scare tactics of this Boogeyman (voiced by Jude Law) are quickly causing children to stop believing in the Guardians. As a result, the Guardians’ power is slipping while the Boogeyman is only getting stronger. But there’s a reluctant new Guardian in Jack Frost (Chris Pine), who’s used to being a prankster, not a protector. But as the Boogeyman grows more powerful – and as Jack learns more about himself and his purpose as a Guardian – it seems that Jack is the only hope for the Guardians to prevent the Boogeyman’s fear from enslaving all of humanity. Thankfully, there’s still one kid out there who believes, but his faith is dwindling as his friends try to convince him there’s no Easter Bunny.
But as long as someone still believes, there’s hope for the Guardians. And though they normally like to be more secretive, the Guaridans realize that by revealing themselves to Jaime (Dakota Goyo) and his friends, they’re able to stand up to the Boogeyman and his legion of black stallions. In the process, Jack is able to figure out who he is and why he has been chosen as a Guardian. Even the Boogeyman learns a few things about himself, which ends up being his ultimate undoing, at least for now. And the greatest thing about Rise of the Guardians is that, much like The Nightmare Before Christmas did almost two decades ago, this film creates a new mythology where all holidays are created equal.