Web viewAn older person can teach a child, ... who speaks with a Russian accent, ... the various sides of yourself

Learning Guide to Rise of the Guardians

Subjects: Myths; 

Social Emotional Learning: Courage, Leadership, Teamwork, Talent; 

Moral/Ethical Emphasis: Responsibility, Caring. 

Ages: 7+; MPAA Rating, PG; 2012; 97 Minutes; animated Available from Amazon.com.

 

Description: In his Dreamworks fantasmagora of amazing animated images, the Boogeyman, called Pitch Black, intends to spread evil over the world. The Guardians, North (Santa), Tooth Fairy, Sand Man, and the Easter Bunny (converted for this film into superheroes) are urged by the Man in the Moon to make Jack Frost into a new Guardian and to enlist his aid in defeating the force of darkness. Jack is a prankster. He is happy and playful and doesn’t think he’s up to saving the world of children; he doesn’t want to be Guardian and does not know why he is here. Until Jack can find his true center, his destiny, he will not be able to help. Through the course of events, he discovers his memories and learns that he, too, can be a Guardian.

Rationale for Using this Movie: The Rise of the Guardians presents creative yet plausible roles for the persistence of archetypal characters still commonly enjoyed by children in modern society. In the process, the film illustrates the need to find the element of individual truth in each personality, whether a character in the film or a member of the audience.

Objectives/Outcomes for Students using this Guide: By exercising discussion and writing skills, students will gain an understanding of how archetypes play a role throughout life, how they underlie popular fiction.

Possible Problems: Some of the imagery is dark and there are dangerous situations that may be disturbing to young children.

Parenting Points: Watch the film with your child and share with them some your experiences with the images of Santa Clause, the Sand Man, The Boogeyman, The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.

Using the Movie in the Classroom:

 

The experience of the movie can be enhanced by having students read the following handout before they watch the film.

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Archetypes: Essential Forms of the Human Experience 

People respond at a visceral level to images of children. These images are usually positive, inspiring feelings of love and warmth. Almost every child is cute and people admire the pictures of children shown by loving parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Every Christmas, statues of the baby Jesus can be found in manger scenes all across the country. Lisa from The Simpsons and many other youthful characters populate mass media. Tires, breakfast cereal, cleaning solution, and even political ideas, can be sold by showing pictures of children.

 

The desire to protect the innocence of childhood motivates most people, in real life as well as in fiction. Photographs of suffering children, such as a starving African baby with its stomach swollen and flies landing on its mouth and eyes, imprint themselves on the minds of those who see them. The photograph of a young girl running, screaming, her clothing burned off by napalm, raised the consciousness of a generation and convinced many Americans that the Vietnam war was the wrong war at the wrong time. These profound images are from photojournalism; but their power comes from the human desire to see that youth survives and that life continues.

 

In most cultures, being a child means much the same thing. Early childhood is a time of playful innocence, a period of hope and trust, wonder, and of open minded acceptance of the world. For young children, the moral complications and social pressures that come with adolescence and adulthood are absent. These characteristics of childhood are structural, that is, they come from the nature of the relationships in the family or the community. The characteristics of childhood arise from the situation of being new to life, dependent on others, and growing in body and mind; characteristics of all young children in all human societies for all time.

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1. Are attributes of childhood exclusively reserved for children? Write a brief description of an adult who is still hopeful about something or who still experiences the world with a sense of wonder.

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The fact that children have their futures before them is one of the most important features of childhood. Children are creatures who are becoming something new; they are characterized by hope. The aspect of becoming is especially important for infants and young children. The photographs of the starving baby and the napalm-burned girl have a strong effect on people because the hopes for the future for these children are under grave threat or, perhaps, the hopes of these children have already been lost.

 

Children are seen as pure, close to the instinctive emotional roots that enable them to see the truth unclouded by cynicism and doubt. They are honest; unfettered truth comes "out of the mouths of babes." People are taught to protect young children, to, as the Bible dictates, "suffer the little children," a notion made clear once we accept that the word "suffer" means to allow. In other words, children must be allowed to be children; they must be protected and nourished so that they can grow and mature.

 

Human beings are a species whose offspring are helpless and in need of constant care for many years. It makes sense for people to be programmed to love and care for young children. An older person can teach a child, act as a protector, serve as an all-nurturing mother, be the stern father figure, or the loving grandparent. These ways of relating to children are easily recognized in real life. They are also celebrated in religious tradition, myth, and fiction developed by cultures throughout the world.

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2. What is the roll of fantasy in the lives of children? How do Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost, assist children in their work of becoming . . . the adult they eventually will be?

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There are other, less helpful, but equally well-established roles that older people play in the lives of young children. There is the overly strict disciplinarian or the wicked step-mother who, as in the stories of Cinderella and Snow White, tries to destroy the potential of the child in favor of her own children.

 

Since they are a part of the common human experience, certain characters and relationships resonate clearly with readers and audiences. These characters and relationships, such as the child, the mother,

the father and others cross cultural boundaries and are timeless. The models which people, events, or actions seem to follow are called archetypes. The word is from Latin archetypum, which derived from the Greek word archetypos, meaning "of the first mold" which itself came from combining two other Greek words archein which meant "to begin" plus typos which meant "type."

 

The characters of the child (innocent, full of wonder and hope, characterized by the condition of becoming), the mother (the nurturer), the father (stern and judging), the evil step-parent, the hero, and the wise old man or woman each have their own constellation of attributes which most people easily recognize. As with the other archetypes, the characters and our reactions to them arise from the nature of the relationships in the family or the community. Like other archetypes, these characters and relationships occur again and again in myths, books and film. They remain the same over many centuries and, if they change at all, they change very slowly and their attributes are picked up by other members of society or the family. For example, for many men the role of father is becoming less stern and judging and more nurturing. The role of the disciplinarian is being picked up by the mother, especially in single-parent families.

 

The society of students in every school contains archetypes such as the bully, the leader, the nerd, the class clown, and the teacher's pet. Centuries ago, the bully pattern of personality must have been evident in the powerful hunter or warrior who used his strength to hurt others. They contrast with the leader who uses the power of his personality or his physical prowess to take care of his people. And although math or science as disciplines are rather new in the long history of mankind, certainly there were members of ancient societies who involved themselves with numbers and were devoted to the accuracy of exchange, the measurement of distances, and even the passage of time. There have always been court jesters and comedians. And, of course, the person favored by a teacher or authority figure, the teacher's pet.

 The use of archetypes in telling a story whether in a book, in a movie or in a video game builds the empathic reaction as each reader sees something familiar in characters that populate the story. There is universal appeal in protagonists, antagonists and ancillary characters that partake of archetypes.

Discussion Questions:

1. Did the movie cause you to rethink or change any of the responses you gave to the discussion questions in the worksheet?

 

2. What is the role of hope in life for adults and for children? Suggested Response: Hope is necessary for any happiness in life. If hope is gone, life is very dark indeed. Hope is necessary for any accomplishment or creativity. 

3. What are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost? Are they archetypes or something else? Suggested Response: They are not archetypes, instead they are fanciful constructs for children when they are too young to understand a world without cause and effect being based on powerful sentient beings. 

4. What is the role of wonder in the world in an adult? Suggested Response: Wonder at the world brings a lot of joy to the life of the person who has it. 

5. Santa Claus is a major character in this film. Why did the authors of this story have it take place just before Easter rather than just before Christmas? Suggested Response: The story is about preserving the hope of children. While Christmas is a holiday that is associated with the coming of the light, Easter is associated with new life, hope and beginnings. Since the story of the Rise of the Guardians relates to the protection of hope and of children, it is fitting that the move focus on the Easter Holiday. The discussion should lead to the concept that Christmas is a festival of lights which many religions and cultures have at about the time of the equinox.* There are also many festivals in the spring which celebrate the reawakening of the earth after the death of winter. There is also a set of holidays in the fall to celebrate the successful harvest. Thanksgiving is our version of that holiday. 

6. What is the Boogeyman? Is he an archetype of more of a fanciful figure, like Santa and the Easter Bunny? Suggested Response: We are not aware of an accepted archetype of the boogey man. It is not a type of person. He is a fanciful personification of the force for evil. 

7. In this story, 4hat is the purpose in casting Jack Frost as a prankster? Suggested Response: Jack is all about having fun and the kind of fun available to children in snowy climates involves Snow Days, throwing snow balls, sledding, and ice skating. 

8. Sand Man is silent and does little until he saves the day at the film’s end. What lies behind this characterization? Suggested Response: Answers will vary: Since Pitch does most of his fearful work through nightmares, he intrudes into the domain of Sand Man, the Guardian responsible for bringing peaceful sleep with his calming, golden demeanor. This stresses the importance of sound sleep. 

9. The Man in the Moon represents an overall authority. How is this authority presented? Suggested Response: Jack says that when the Man in the Moon chases the darkness away he is no longer afraid. Jack asks “Manny” why he is here as if somehow the Man in the Moon knows the answer to this question. It is Manny who wants Jack Frost to be inducted as a new Guardian. We are told that Manny chooses all Guardians. Some students may see the Man in the Moon as god-like in authority. .

10. Why is the Boogey Man called "Pitch" Black. Suggested Response: The idea is that his black is so intense, i.e., his loss of hope is so complete, that it can never be regained. 

11. Jack is searching for his memories of where he came from. Why are they so important to him? Is a sense of where you have come form important to you? Suggested Response: There is no one correct response. In this story they show that he has been a guardian from the beginning. The memories of saving his little sister give him the strength to battle Pitch Black. 

12.

Assignments and Assessments

 

Each of the discussion questions can serve as an essay prompt.

 

1. North, who speaks with a Russian accent, shows Jack Frost the Russian Nesting Dolls and says that the dolls reveal who he is: Big, jolly, mysterious, fearless, caring, and, he says, at the center lies wonder. North begins with what is obvious about him in the dolls then gets more precise about his very nature. Draw a series of at least four nesting dolls (you may want to look on the Internet for ideas on how to these "matryoshkas" can be designed) that represent

the various sides of yourself. One doll may be fun loving, like Jack Frost, one athletic, one nurturing, one serious, one clownish, one scholarly, etc. See that the last doll shows the characteristic that lies at your center. Write a caption under each doll to clarify the image on the drawing.

 

2. The Guardians are tasked with the responsibility of keeping hope* wonder alive in children. Write a character analysis of Easter Bunny and North in which you explain their roles in this regard. How, for example, does the Easter Bunny bring about the wonders of spring? How does North put hope in the world of children? 

3. According to the film, Tooth Fairy collects and holds baby teeth in which are stored the memories of childhood. Write a narrative of your experience with losing a tooth and finding it gone, replaced with coins after you had hidden it under your pillow. Include what your parents told you about this peculiar event in your life and explain your thoughts on the matter. Include in your narrative how the concept of the Tooth Fairy in this film may or may not mesh with your experience. Finally, write what you intend to tell your children should you decide to keep the Fairy image going into another generation. 

4. Write a description of an adult that you know who retains their wonder at life or who are full of hope. 

5. Write a narrative of how you learned that Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy were fantasies. Be sure to include how you felt when you received this information.** 

6. Write a character description of an adult that you know who has retained the child-like wonder at the world or who demonstrates that he or she still has hope about something important to them. 

7. To guard them with your life – their hopes, their wishes, andtheir dreams? For they are allthat we have, all that we are andall that we will ever be.” 

The Boogie Man, who wants to turn dreams into nightmares and banish belief in Santa, Bunny, and Tooth. Jack reluctantly agrees to help and, in the process, discovers the true hero within.

Temptation scene –

Our protagonist proves to be capable of genuine development instead of merely playing the self-pitying victim or reluctant hero (A.K.A. the “Why won’t anyone like me? I’m so endearing” deal). I think the film ingeniously defines what it exactly means to have “a lot of heart.” You’ll have to see the movie to understand what I mean.

But beyond all the amazing character work and inspiring “uplifting-ness” this movie’s got, it also features really interesting takes on “stock” mythical characters. To start with, they’re a team of eccentric superstars. Santa Claus, a.k.a North (Alec Baldwin), boasts tattoos of “naughty” on one arm and “nice” on the other. He’s a jolly-but-tough leader, unafraid to showcase his prowess with swords and has a Russian accent. The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) is tall, self-assured, cocky, and has the coolest accent ever. He has some of the best lines and exchanges with Pine’s Jack Frost. The ebullient Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) sends little baby teeth fairies to collect children’s teeth--and there’s a fascinating story behind this tradition. The Sandman, a mute but arguably the most powerful Guardian, weaves dreams of gold dust. For once, these superheroes aren’t the fail-safe answer to the problem of sulky villains. They are portrayed just as vulnerable to and fearful of a darkness that begins to slowly envelop the world, and even they, too, need a little help (and even a reality check). Might this be a comment on grown-ups not having all the answers? The movie beautifully illustrates how people can confront dark moments and doubts if they are able to remember their wonder and zest for life. For those who disapprove of asking children to believe in mythical figures, the point is to believe in something, and that is easier said than done.

What are they guardians of? Hope, wonder

To bring wonder hope and dreams –

Jack: Why I was there, and what I wasmeant to do?

Later- You put me here, the least you cando is tell me, tell me why.

Role of the Guardians -- To bring wonder, hope and dreams.

An enemy we have kept at bay forcenturies has finally decided tostrike back.

Pitch Black the Boogie man

PITCH(leans down to Cupcake)

And look. At. Her. Preciouschild. So sweet, so full of hopeand wonder. Why, there’s only onething missing...a touch of fear.

What is Pitch’s plan – take away belief and then the guardians slipway – become powerless[

BUNNYMUNDThere will be springtime! On everycontinent! And I'm bringing hopewith me!

TEMPTATION OF JACK

Why did you end up like this?Unseen. Unable to reach out toanyone.(beat)You want the answers so badly. Youwant to grab them, and fly off withthem. But you’re afraid of whatthe Guardians will think.

Later says they will never accept him

Easter’s over. Forget this.It’s only then that we realize he’s too late. The spark ofchildhood has already been extinguished in all of them.

When does Pitch make himself vulnerable? What happens?

What does Jack’s memory of saving his little sister show him about himself?

The Oath

To guard them with your life -their hopes, their wishes, andtheir dreams? For they are allthat we have, all that we are andall that we will ever be.”

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Web viewAn older person can teach a child, ... who speaks with a Russian accent, ... the various sides of yourself