By Dave Montalbano
AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com
I had no interest in seeing Rise of the Guardians until I heard about Guillermo Del Toro’s involvement.
Visually, this film is full of Del Toro details that reference his mentors, H.P.Lovecraft, Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood.
Yet as a narrative, Rise of the Guardians seems to be stitched together by two or three short stories involving Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost.
Frost (Chris Pine) is the central character. He is commissioned to become a guardian in an effort to help children keep their innocence. Like any hero who reads Dr. Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces,” Jack refuses the responsibility. The master antagonist, this time it is a character named Pitch (Jude Law), who threatens the dreams of children and Jack Frost rises to the occasion. Sad to say, midway through one of the many animated action sequences, I lost interest.
One Christmas movie I never lose interest in is March of the Wooden Soldiers, based on the Victor Herbert Operetta starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Until the last decade, this holiday classic used to play on television in rotation with Miracle on 34th Street and Bells of Saint Mary’s. While grownups might feel that children are prejudiced to black & white movies, please expose them to this classic.
Laurel and Hardy are toymakers for Santa Claus. Instead of creating 600 one-ft. wooden soldiers, Laurel reverses the order and creates 100 6-ft. soldiers. While Santa Claus finds this mistake amusing, the pair lose their jobs.
To make matters worse, they are trying to help pay Little Bo Peep’s mortage from the evil Barnaby. Things become more dire when Barnaby unleashes the Boogey Men upon Toyland, Little Bo Peep’s community.
The conclusion is a wild epic, which involves a cameo from an unbilled Mickey Mouse. Yes, the special effects are not as slick as Rise of the Guardians, but March of the Wooden Soldiers has so much more heart. Do yourself a favor, pick up March of the Wooden Soldiers from your local library!
