Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 American 3D computer-animated fantasy-adventure film based on William Joyce's The Guardians of Childhood book series and The Man in the Moon short film by Joyce and Reel FX. Peter Ramsey directed the film, while Joyce and Guillermo del Toro exec-produced. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it was released on November 21, 2012 to generally positive critical reception.

Jack Frost

(First lines) Darkness. That's first thing I remember. It was dark, it was cold, and I was scared. But then... then I saw the Moon. It was so big, and it was so bright. It seemed to, chase the darkness away. And when it did... I wasn't scared anymore. Why I was there and what I was meant to do, that I've never known, and a part of me wonders if I ever will.

My name is Jack Frost. How do I know that? The Moon told me so. But that was all he ever told me. And that was a long, long time ago.

Hey, wind! (the wind starts blowing) Take me home! (flies off to Burgess on the wind)

Snow day!

(To the Man in the Moon) If there's something I'm doing wrong, could you... could you just tell me what it is? Because I've tried everything, and no one ever sees me. (receives no answer) You put me here! The least you can do is tell me... (almost tearfully) tell me why.

(North, Bunny and Sandy are taking Jack to Tooth's palace) I told you I'm not going with you guys. There is no way I'm climbing into some rickety, old... sleigh. (sees North's impressive sleigh) Okay. One ride, but that's it.

How can I know who I am, until I find out who I was?

...Pitch was right. I make a mess of everything.

(Has just remembered how he sacrificed his life for his sister as a human; to Baby Tooth) Did you - did you see that?! (Baby Tooth shakes her head) It was - it was me! (picks her up excitedly) I had a family! I had a sister! I saved her! (laughs a little then looks up in awe at the moon; to the Man in the Moon) That's why you chose me. I'm... I'm a Guardian!

(Last lines) My name is Jack Frost, and I'm a Guardian. How do I know that? Because the Moon told me so. So when the Moon tells you something... believe it.

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Nicholas St. North

My fellow Guardians, it is our job to watch over the children of the world, and keep them safe. To bring wonder, hope, and dreams, and so I have called us all here for one reason and one reason only. The children are in danger. An enemy we have kept at bay for centuries has finally decided to strike back. We alone can stop him.

(Arguing with Bunny about Pitch returning) Look, he's up to something very bad. I feel it! (beat) In my belly!

This is going to be EPIC!

We are very busy bringing joy to children. We don't have time... (awkward pause) for children.

(Comes up a chimney in the middle of battle, and sees the fight is on another roof) Wrong roof!

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E. Aster Bunnymund

(To Jack) You don't wanna race a rabbit, mate.

(In order to stop North from coming down a chimney, Bunny starts a fire) Ho, Ho, Ho!

(About Jamie) Sandy, knock him out. (Sandy makes a fist and Jamie looks worried) With the dreamsand, y'gumbie!

(Easter is late and children have stopped believing in Bunny) Easter is new beginnings. New life. Easter's about hope, and now, it's gone.

(to two Nightmares chasing him) G'day, mate. (destroys them with his boomerangs)

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Toothiana

(Admiring a girl's first lost tooth) Have you ever seen a more adorable lateral incisor in all of your life? Look how she flossed!

(Keeps one of her fairies from beating up the Tooth mouse) Take it easy there, champ. He's one of us. Part of the European division.

(Jack, Bunny, North and Sandy show their respective bags of teeth) Wow! You guys collect teeth and leave gifts as fast as my fairies! (The boys suddenly look shocked) You guys have been leaving gifts, right? (Sandy begins nodding, then thinks, and shakes his head. The boys all share looks of embarrassment)

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Pitch Black

(Upon corrupting a girl's dream) What a pretty little nightmare!

(To the Man in the Moon) My nightmares are finally ready. Are your Guardians?

No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing but fear, and darkness... and me. It's your turn not to be believed in.

(Watching as Sandy is consumed by nightmares) I'd say sweet dreams, but there aren't any left.

(taunting) So what do you think, Jamie, do you believe in the Boogey..? (is hit in the face by one of Jack's snowballs causing the Guardians and Jamie to laugh and his Nightmares to look confused)

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Jamie Bennett

(When his friends stop believing) ...What's happened to you guys?

(To his toy rabbit, pretending it's the Easter Bunny) Okay, look. You and I are obviously at what they call 'a crossroads'. So, here's what's gonna happen. If it wasn't a dream, and if you are real, then you have to prove it. Like, right now. (doesn't get a response) I've believed in you for a long time, okay? Like, my whole life, in fact. (picks up the toy rabbit) So you kind of owe me now. You don't have to do much. Just a little sign so I know. (whispers) Anything. Anything at all. (Nothing happens) I knew it. (drops the toy rabbit dejectedly)

(To Pitch) I do believe in you... I'm just not afraid of you!

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Dialogue

[Moonlight shines down on the Guardians, signifying the Man in the Moon's presence]

North: It's been a long time, old friend. What is big news?

[A silhouette of Pitch appears in the moonlight]

Bunny: It is Pitch!

[North pats his belly as if to say, 'I told you so' to Bunny and turns his attention back to the Man in the Moon]

North: Manny, what must we do?

[Under the moonlight, a compartment opens to reveal a large crystal stand]

Tooth: Uh, guys, you know what this means?

North: He's choosing a new Guardian!

Bunny: What? Why?

North: Must be big deal. Manny thinks we need help.

Bunny: Since when do we need help?

Tooth: I wonder who it's gonna be. [Sandy conjures a sand four-leaf clover] Maybe the leprechaun?

Bunny: Please not the groundhog, please not the groundhog...

[Light from the crystal starts to take form, revealing the image of a young, hooded figure carrying a staff.]

North: Jack Frost.

[Tooth's fairies swoon]

Bunny: Uh... I take it back, the groundhog's fine.

Tooth: [stares dreamily at the image, then quickly gathers herself] Well, as long as he helps to, uh, to protect the children, right?

Bunny: Jack Frost?! He doesn't care about children! All he does is freeze water pipes and mess with my egg hunts. He's an irresponsible, selfish—

North: Guardian.

Bunny: Jack Frost is many things, but he is not a Guardian.

Jack: Anyone wanna tell me why I'm here? [Sandy raises his hand and tries to explain the situation using sand pictograms, leaving Jack confused] Uh, that's not really helping, but thanks, little man. I must've done something really bad to get you four together. Am I on the naughty list?

North: Ha! On naughty list? You hold record. But no matter, we overlook. Now, we are wiping clean the slate.

Jack: How come?

Bunny: Ah, good question.

North: "How come?" I tell you how come. Because now, you are Guardian!

[An extravagant ceremony starts. Jack looks on dumbstruck until he stops it with an angry strike of his staff]

Jack: What makes you think I want to be a Guardian?

[Beat, then North bursts into laughter]

North: Of course you do. Music!

[Elves begin playing a fanfare]

Jack: NO MUSIC! [An elf throws down its horn and stomps away. The Guardians stare at Jack in disbelief] This is all very flattering, but, uh, you don't want me. You're all hard work and deadlines, and I'm snowballs and fun times. I'm not a Guardian.

Bunny: (About Jack refusing to become a Guardian) Y'know what I think, I think we just dodged a bullet. I mean, what's this clown know about bringing joy to children anyway?

Jack: Uh, ya ever hear of a snow day? I know it's no "hard-boiled egg," but kids like what I do.

Bunny: But none of 'em believe in you, do they? Y'see, you're invisible, mate. It's like you don't even exist.

Tooth: (scolding) Bunny! Enough!

Jack: No. The kangaroo's right.

Bunny: The-the what? What did you call me? I'm not a kangaroo, mate!

Jack: (sarcastically) Oh, and this whole time I thought you were. If you're not a kangaroo, what are you?

Bunny: I'm a bunny. The Easter Bunny! People believe in me.

[North is giving Jack a tour of his workshop]

Jack: Hey, slow down, would ya? I've been trying to bust in here for years. I want a good look.

North: (sternly) What do you mean "bust in"?

Jack: Oh, don't worry. I never got past the Yetis. (to a Yeti who is giving him a menacing look; casually) Oh, hey, Phil.

[North is trying to explain to Jack what a "centre" is, using a nesting doll. Jack takes it apart and sees at the centre...]

Jack: (dryly) There's a tiny wooden baby.

North: Look closer. What do you see?

Jack: You have big eyes...

North: Yes! Big eyes, very big, because they are full of wonder. That is my center. It is what I was born with, eyes that have only seen the wonder in everything! Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air. This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a guardian. It is my center, what is yours?

Jack: I don't know.

Pitch: (about a nightmare) Don't be nervous, it only riles them up more. They smell fear, you know.

Bunny: What fear? Of you? No one's been afraid of you since the Dark Ages!

Pitch: Oh, the Dark Ages. Everyone frightened. Miserable! Such happy times for me. Oh, the power I wielded! But then the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my fear with your wonder and light, lifting their hearts and giving them hope. Meanwhile, everyone wrote me off as... just a bad dream! "Oh, there's nothing to be afraid of!" "There's no such thing as the boogeyman!" Well, that's all about to change! [Tooth's palace begins to slowly disintegrate] Oh, look. It's happening already.

Jack: What is?

Pitch: Children are waking up, and realizing the Tooth Fairy never came. It's such a little thing, but to a child...

Jack: (to Tooth) What's going on?

Tooth: (shocked) They... they don't believe in me anymore.

Pitch: Didn't they tell you, Jack? It's great being a Guardian, but there's a catch: If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect — wonder, hopes and dreams, it all goes away. And, little by little, so do they.

[Pitch and his nightmares have raided Tooth's palace, stealing the teeth and kidnapping all but one of her fairies]

Jack: I'm sorry about the fairies.

Tooth: You should have seen them. They put up such a fight...

Jack: Why would Pitch take the teeth?

Tooth: It's not the teeth he wanted. It's the memories inside them.

Jack: What do you mean?

Tooth: That's why we collect the teeth, Jack. They hold the most important memories of childhood. [leads Jack to a mural depicting her duties as the Tooth Fairy] My fairies and I watch over them, and when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them.

[The Guardians find Jamie's toddler sister Sophie in Bunny's warren]

Bunny: What is she doing here?!

North: [feels around his coat] Uh, snow globe.

Bunny: Crikey! Somebody do something!

Jack: Don't look at me. I'm invisible, remember?

Sophie: [pulling an elf by its hat] Elf! Elf!

Tooth: Don't worry, Bunny. I bet she's a fairy fan. [strikes a pose in the air and approaches Sophie] It's okay, little one.

Sophie: Pretty!

Tooth: Aww. You know what? I've got something for you. Here it is. [holds out some teeth] Look at all the pretty teeth, with little blood and gum on them!

[Beat, then Sophie screams and runs away]

Jack: (laughing) Blood and gums?

[Jack and Baby Tooth follow a familiar voice to Pitch's lair]

Pitch: (from the shadows) Looking for something? [Jack shoots some ice at the voice, and flies around, looking for Pitch] Don't be afraid, Jack. [steps out from the shadows] I'm not gonna hurt you.

Jack: Afraid? I'm not afraid of you.

Pitch: Maybe not, but you are afraid of something.

Jack: You think so, huh?

Pitch: I know so. It's the one thing I always know: People's greatest fears. Yours is that no one will ever believe in you. [Pitch disappears again] And worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know why. Why you? Why were you chosen? To be like this? Well, fear not. For the answer to that is right here. [holds out the canister containing Jack's childhood teeth] Do you want them, Jack? Your memories? [Jack reaches for the canister, but withdraws his hand. Pitch disappears again] Everything you wanted to know, in this little box. Why did you end up like this? Unseen. Unable to reach out to anyone. You want the answers so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them, but you're afraid of what the Guardians will think. You're afraid of disappointing them. Well, let me ease your mind about one thing: They'll never accept you. Not really.

Jack: Stop it! Stop it!

Pitch: After all, you're not one of them.

Jack: (firmly) You don't know what I am!

Pitch: Course I do! You're Jack Frost. You make a mess wherever you go. Why, you're doing it right now. [tosses Jack the canister]

Jack: What did you do?

Pitch: More to the point, Jack, what did you do?

[Pitch disappears, laughing. Furious, Jack lunges at him, but instead finds himself in a dark tunnel. He suddenly remembers that he left Baby Tooth behind. He tries to go back, but finds the tunnel blocked.]

Jack: Baby Tooth!

Pitch: (disembodied) Happy Easter, Jack.

[Jack turns around and discovers, to his horror, that Pitch destroyed Bunny's Easter eggs.]

Jack: No.

[The rabbit Jack conjured up explodes into snowflakes]

Jamie: Whoa! [laughs, then stops, confused] Snow...? [a snowflake lands on Jamie’s nose, and his eyes go wide] ...Jack Frost!

Jack: ...Did he just say...?

Jamie: Jack Frost?

Jack: [gasps, shocked] He said it again! He said... You said...

Jamie: [finally turns around and gapes at Jack] Jack Frost!

Jack: That's right! But-but that's me! Jack Frost! That's my name! [looks at Jamie, amazed] You said my name! [Jamie continues to gape at him, which he slowly realizes] Wait, can... Can you hear me? [Jamie nods] Can you... [leans in closer] Can you see me? [Jamie nods again, beginning to smile. Jack chokes out a laugh] He sees me! He... He sees me! [laughs, and back flips onto Jamie's desk]

Jamie: You just made it snow!

Jack: I know!

Jamie: In my room!

Jack: (excitedly) I know! [leaps off the desk]

Jamie: You’re real?!

Jack: Yeah, man! Who do you think brings all the blizzards, and-and the snow days?! And you remember when you went flying on that sled the other day?

Jamie: That was you?!

Jack: That was me!

Jamie: Cool!

Jack: Right?!

Jamie: But... what about the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy? I mean, like, what about-?

Jack: Real! Real, real! [picks up Jamie's toy rabbit] Every one of us is real.

Jamie: I knew it!

Jamie's Mother: [from downstairs] Jamie! Who are you talking to?

Jamie: Um... [looks at Jack, who nods, as if to say; "go ahead"] Jack Frost?

Jamie's Mother: [laughs, exasperated] Okay...

Jamie: [sees Bunny in his small form; giggles] That's the Easter Bunny?

Bunny: (frustrated) Now somebody sees me! Where were you about an hour ago, mate?

Jamie: (to the Guardians) What happened to him? He used to be huge and cool, and now he's cute. [tickles Bunny under his chin]

[After the children's belief is restored and Pitch has been defeated]

North: Are you ready now, Jack? To make it official? [Jack smiles, yes. A yeti hands North the Guardian's book] Then is time you take oath. Will you, Jack Frost, vow to watch over the children of the world? To guard them with your life, their hopes, their wishes and their dreams, for they are all that we have, all that we are, and all that we will ever be?

[Jack turns to Jamie, who nods, then turns back to North]

Jack: I will.

North: Then congratulations, Jack Frost, for you are now, and forevermore, a Guardian.

Jamie: You're leaving? But what if Pitch comes back? What if we stop believing again? If I can't see you...

Jack: Hey, slow down, slow down. Are you telling me that you stop believing in the moon when the sun comes up?

Jamie: No.

Jack: Okay, well, do you stop believing in the sun when the clouds block it out?

Jamie: No.

Jack: We'll always be there, Jamie. And now we'll always be here. [points to Jamie's heart] Which kinda makes you a Guardian too.

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