Absolutely magnificent.

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2013)

I just finished watching and I will again and again.
When I read that it was made by the creators of "How to train your dragon" I couldn't help but to have very high expectations and this can ruin a great movie because there is a huge difference between imagination and concretization... but that movie left me in UTTER AWE. (But don't raise your expectations). You can tell a good animation by the body language, the characters are all very expressive, to a degree that I rarely have the pleasure to see
I'm probably spoiling things just by telling you how cool the characters are:
The way Jack moves is painted with emotions, you forget that it's pixels as it feels more alive than real. The way he makes frost is with poetic grace, my heart was captured with every curls, my breath was taken away. I liked how Frost isn't all goody, he's neutral and looking for who he is... he doesn't know which sides to turn to and can understand both... He understood the distressed of not being believed in and forgotten... I understand that all too well...
The characters are well developed. Santa has tattoos!!! My jaw dropped for how cool they were, it was against everything I was expecting and told. He even managed to make me believe in his spirit. One of his perfectionist workers made me think about myself, how dedication can backfire on you. It made me smile since my clients put me through a similar distress.
The tooth fairy isn't what I've expected... her colorfulness and a very subtle neurotic obsessive side, even a bit morbid because she loves absolutely everything about her job... makes what could have been an annoyingly cheerful character absolutely lovable.
The easter bunny is grumpy... probably because he takes his job very seriously... I never seen any importance in easter, but he explained that it's the coming of spring that brings a new beginning, a new hope... I'm feeling very dark and depressed today and nothing seems to reach me... but that movie lifted my spirit.
The sandman is not the kind of character that I thought I'd like, but he's very endearing. The people who made his art really gave everything they had and more. There's nothing I love more than snow, but it was breath taking. Better than fireworks and he did those too...
The bad guy... he really got to my heart. He was nasty but had the same motivations as the main character, just more desperate and determined about it. I would have loved for a different ending... even if it was pure perfection... the evil guy gets his but kicked as you would expect... I liked how... it was poetic... I like the double edge sword kind of things...
But this is what I'd like to tell to the boogie man: you don't have to hide under beds, you're a star in so many movies. We love being scared, it's exciting, we love you, we all believe in you. Everyday. We're always terrified of everything, even the most trivial things. We're scared to fail. Because of fear we can grow courage. This is your center, your purpose, not to inflict pain. That's why you didn't hurt a single fairy, not really, when you could have used them to stuff yourself a nice pillow; you only took them out of your way. You succeeded to make the whole world feel fear, against a whole team, and each members having a whole team behind them... but you out powered them all... and you did it... all alone. That took a lot of guts! In the dark ages people used your name not to teach despair to their children, but to be careful. Trusting blindly people who seem nice and wanting to give you gifts is dangerous... A lesson that must be learn to protect them from harm... so in your own way, you are a guardian. It must be so confusing for you: if you succeed to terrify children, you fail your purpose, and if they out power your fear, you succeed. A thankless job, even hated. But spoiled children grow selfish and heartless... It's easy to dream and have hope when everything is easy and handed to you. You teach children to be strong. It takes a balance of both... I guess that if you try to break that you deserve to have your ass kicked But you still have an important job to do, just like the other guardians. So take a break and enjoy a snow fight, you earned it, look how courageous you made the kids.
I wish the movie said that clearly, and broke completely free from the usual white vs black... the world isn't like that... they showed Pitch's struggles... subtle emotions of loneliness, hurt and despair before he tried to hide them in anger he wasn't bad by sadism, but so desperately lonely that he was ready to conquer the whole world just to be known by one person... Frost understood that but he didn't help him find a better way... I wish he could have been understood and found his place too.
That movie really got to me... there isn't a second of boredom, even in plain moments of silence, everything is delightful... I feel better after watching this movie, I even feel like a better person.
The theme is like "How you train your dragon" wanting to find who they are, their purpose and place in the world This movie was even more filled with wonder... I didn't think it could possibly be better, and I can't believe it, but it might actually be.
Thank you to everyone who brought such perfection into the world. It made it a better place to live in.