Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
A 2010 animated fantasy about owls fighting brainwashing and tyranny.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a 2010 animated fantasy action-adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. It adapts Kathryn Lasky's Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series, with a screenplay by John Orloff and Emil Stern. The film was an Australian-American co-production from Village Roadshow Pictures and Animal Logic, the team behind the 2006 film Happy Feet. Its voice cast includes Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Ryan Kwanten, Anthony LaPaglia, Miriam Margolyes, Sam Neill, Richard Roxburgh, and David Wenham.
The story follows Soren, a young barn owl voiced by Jim Sturgess. After his jealous brother Kludd pushes him from a branch, both are kidnapped by owls working for the Pure Ones and taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. There, Queen Nyra (Helen Mirren) and her mate Metal Beak (Joel Edgerton) brainwash owlets into supremacist soldiers or "pickers" who gather magnetic "flecks" for a superweapon. Soren and a fellow owl named Gylfie resist the brainwashing, escape with help from a reluctant Pure One named Grimble, and set out to find the legendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole on their island home.
Along the way, they meet two more owls, Digger and Twilight, and reunite with Soren's family's blind snake, Mrs. P. Guided by an oracular echidna, they reach the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, where Soren warns the Guardians about the Pure Ones. A scout named Allomere returns with two moon-blinked owlets, including Soren's sister Eglantine, who reveals Allomere is a traitor. The Guardians fly into a trap at St. Aegolius, where Metal Beak holds them captive in a magnetic field. During the battle, Soren neutralizes the trap, Kludd attacks him and falls into a fire, and Soren kills Metal Beak with a flaming branch. Nyra retreats with the remaining Pure Ones. Soren and his friends are initiated as new Guardians, but a shadowy owl with red eyes—resembling Kludd—is later seen taking Metal Beak's mask, implying he survived.
The film was released in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D in North America on September 24, 2010, and in Australia on September 30, 2010, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was accompanied by a new 3D Looney Tunes short, Fur of Flying. Critics gave mixed reviews, praising the dark tone, animation, and voice acting but criticizing changes to the source material.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Zack Snyder
- Producer
- Zareh Nalbandian
- Screenplay
- John Orloff / Emil Stern
- Based On
- Guardians of Ga'Hoole · Kathryn Lasky
- Starring
- Helen Mirren / Geoffrey Rush / Jim Sturgess / Hugo Weaving / Emily Barclay / Abbie Cornish / Ryan Kwanten / Anthony LaPaglia / Miriam Margolyes / Sam Neill / Richard Roxburgh / David Wenham
- Music
- David Hirschfelder
- Editing
- David Burrows
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures / Animal Logic / GOG Productions
- Distributor
- Warner Bros. Pictures / (United States) / Roadshow Entertainment / (Australia/New Zealand)
- Released
- 19 September 2010 · Grauman's Chinese Theatre · 2010 · 9 · 24 · United States · 2010 · 9 · 30 · Australia
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- Country
- Australia / United States
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows Soren, a young barn owl from Tyto Forest who is kidnapped with his brother Kludd and taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. There, the Pure Ones, led by Metal Beak and Nyra, brainwash owlets into becoming supremacist soldiers. Soren resists the brainwashing process called moon-blinking, befriends an owl named Gylfie, and escapes with her to find the Guardians of Ga'Hoole on the Island of Ga'Hoole. Along the way they meet Digger, Twilight, and Mrs. P, a blind snake, and eventually reach the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole.
Reader's Guide
The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its dark tone, animation, and voice acting but criticized changes to the source material. It grossed $140.1 million worldwide against an $80 million budget. The animation process took place at Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia, with over 500 artists designing 15 owl species and other creatures. The end credits sequence, conceived by Felicity Coonan, used a shadow-play style blending 2D and 3D. The film was released in RealD 3D and IMAX 3D, accompanied by a new 3D Looney Tunes cartoon, Fur of Flying. A video game based on the film was released for multiple platforms on September 14, 2010.
Did You Know?
- The film was an international co-production between Australia and the United States.
- Hugh Jackman was originally cast as Allomere but was replaced by Sam Neill.
- The animated end credits sequence was conceived by Felicity Coonan and took around three months to animate.
- The film was accompanied by a new 3D Looney Tunes cartoon entitled Fur of Flying.
More in Xenofiction films 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced