Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

Snyder, Z. (Producer), & Nalbandian, Z. (Director).  (2010).  Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole [Motion Picture].  United States of America: Warner Brothers Pictures. 

Plot description:

This movie is about some young barn owls and two rivaling groups.  At the start of the movie we see Soren and Eglantine pretending to be Guardians.  When their dad comes home, Soren and Kludd are taken on a flying lesson, but they don’t do well; they go out later that night to practice while the parents are gone.  Unfortunately, some owls from St. Aggie’s kidnap them to train them to be evil soldiers.  Kludd is chosen to be a warrior while Soren is chosen to be a picker.  Soren doesn’t like this group of owls and fights until he escapes.  He escapes with Gylfie and they head to find the Guardians.  What will happen to these adversary groups and the young owls?   

Brief Review: 

I felt that this movie was a great animal movie.  I found that the movie taught some great lessons about different aspects of life.  It also teaches tweens about family values through close owl connections, whether it be an actual family or owl colonies.  The music composer did an excellent job incorporating the musical composition in a way to make the story of the movie to come to life.  I believe that there will be more of these movies based on the popularity in the box office.  The book series also continues which also leads me to believe that they will try some more movie adoptions. 

Genre Label:

Movie, Adventure, Fantasy

Interest Level:

4^th -6^th grader

Characters/Descriptions:

Soren- main owl

Eglantine-  Soren’s sister

Kludd – Soren’s oldest brother

Nyra- Queen Owl

Metalbeak- King Owl

Mrs. Plithiver - Snake is the nurse maid

Grimble – teaches Gylfie and Soren to fly and help them escape

Ezlryb- hero of Soren; teacher

Gylfie – small female owl

Digger – first owl they meet when they leave

Twilight- 2^nd owl they meet when they escape; who brings Mrs. Plithiver home for dinner; plays the lute and sings

Allomere- Guardians; patroller

Otulissa –training to be a navigator

Similar Items:

Happy Feet from Warner Home Video

The Lion King from Walt Disney Studios

Over the Hedge from Dreamworks

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Bruckheimer, J. (Producer), & Turtelaub.  (2010).  The Sorcerer’s Apprentice [Motion Picture].   United States of America: Walt Disney Pictures.

Plot description:

The main character in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is Dave Stutler a young man living in New York City who has stumbled upon an antique store run by Balthazar Blake.  Balthazar is one of Merlin’s apprentices and after a battle between Merlin and Morgana, Merlin instructions Balthazar to find the Prime Merlinian.  The Prime Merlinian along with other Merlinians are to protect the world from Morgana and her followers.  Balthazar has collected several Morganites over the centuries, but David accidently releases one of them, Maxim Horvath.  Maxim is determined to release Morgana, and will at any cost, including stabbing other Morganites in the back.  With the release of Maxim, Balthazar begins training David in the art of sorcery who becomes distracted by Becky.  In the end though, David sees how important he is for the battle of good versus evil.     

Brief Review: 

I thought that this film was a good full length story about one of the most famous scenes in Fantasia.  The writers even put in the mopping scene from Fantasia which added to the charm and story of the movie which appeals to tween parents and other adults.  I thought that the actors and actress were a great choice for each of the characters.  With the ending of the movie, one can predict that there will be a sequel to this film.  I cannot wait to see what Disney does with the development of these characters and what additional characters will be introduced.    

Genre Label:

Movie, Fantasy

Interest Level:

4^th grade and higher

Similar Items:

Fantasia

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone