Late To The Party: Rise of the Guardians

We revisit Rise of the Guardians to ask why a box office underperformer became a cult favorite, weighing its heartfelt Jack Frost arc against pacing dips, design quirks, and a thin villain while celebrating standout voice work and underused mythology. A cozy, honest review with spirited rankings, playful chaos, and a new idea we can’t stop thinking about.

• The hook of a holiday Avengers team-up
• Jack Frost’s arc as the emotional center
• The limits and promise of the lore
• Animation highs and uncanny character faces
• Pitch Black’s motives vs clear stakes
• DreamWorks context and timing against big releases
• Our scores, rankings, and where it sits today
• Quick-fire comparisons with animated favorites

Letterbox'd Synopsis: When an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

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Chapters

• 0:12 Kicking Off Late To The Party
• 0:49 Why Rise Of The Guardians
• 2:45 Cast, Director, And Premise
• 3:44 Takeaway One: Jack Frost’s Arc
• 6:46 Takeaway Two: Team-Up Concept And Voice Casting
• 9:15 What If DiCaprio Played Jack Frost
• 12:18 Lore, Mythology, And Missed Depth
• 15:43 Animation Style And Character Designs
• 18:26 Pacing Highs, Lulls, And Rewatch Value
• 20:24 Pitch Black’s Motives And Stakes
• 23:25 Box Office Timing And DreamWorks Context
• 26:25 Scores, Rankings, And Friendly Chaos
• 31:24 Would You Rather: Comparisons With Classics
• 36:20 Outliers, Future Ideas, And Reboot Van
• 38:16 Wrap-Up, Links, And Patreon Shoutouts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:12

This is the Wait For It Podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 0:16

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Wait For It Podcast. I'm your co-host, Phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino.

SPEAKER_02: 0:22

And I'm your other co-host, Mr. Eric Almighty, and we are here for Late to the Party, where we normally pick a movie that we really felt like we were behind on, like it's really popular in pop culture. But did we pick one of the most popular DreamWorks films ever? No, not exactly. We kind of picked one that's under the radar. And it honestly, I don't know how many people have seen it, but I've seen it and I really enjoy it and I like it. So we're here to talk about Rise of the Guardians.

SPEAKER_01: 0:52

Yeah, a movie that I remember seeing plenty of marketing for back in 2012, 2011, whenever it may have been, as this Dreamworks film about uh, you know, all these different fictional characters, well, you know, fictional quote unquote, or uh mythical creatures, mythical characters. And you know, back then it certainly wouldn't have interested me. I mean, 2012 were right in the middle of the MCU brain rot. So, you know, who else knows what we were who knows what we were watching around that time? And and you know, it was I think this is post how to train your dragon as well. So like Dreamworks had like a little bit of uh juice going, you know, they had some good movies that were hidden theaters, Despicable Me, you know, what this was around that time as well, and then along came this film that you know has really just come and gone, but over time has really become a cult classic, and a film that honestly you I don't really hear a lot of people talk about until Eric started throwing out, I think last year's holiday special, how much he enjoyed Rise of the Guardians, because I think this Santa Claus is was in the bracket, right?

SPEAKER_02: 1:57

I believe so, and that's what like got me really early exit too. Spoiler alert for last year's Christmas festival.

SPEAKER_01: 2:05

Sorry. So yeah, that that is why this kind of like kept coming up as like a meme here. Then Eric was finally like, we're doing Guardians or Rise of the Guardians. I'm gonna say Guardians of the Galaxy probably accidentally a lot in this episode, but we're doing Rise of the Guardians in December. So here we are, uh, as the first episode of December, and what is gonna be a giant a jam a jam, jam-packed month here at the Wait for podcast. So excited to talk about this one uh here this evening. Um, if you want to know if you're brand new to the podcast or you've been around here for a while and you need a reminder as to where to find the rest of our content, stick around till the very end and we'll let you know where you can find everything you need. But yeah, Eric, let's jump into Late to the Party Rise of the Guardians, directed by Peter Ramsey. That's a name you guys may be familiar with. He was the director of Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse co-director, I will say. So that is his primary claim to fame. Uh the letterbox synopsis and uh tagline. You better believe when an evil spirit known as Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the Immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs, and imagination of children all over the world. Uh, it's got a pretty stacked cast. Chris Pine plays Jack Frost, Jude Law plays Pitch, Alec Baldwin as North, Isla Fisher as Tooth, and Hugh Jackman as a very, very uh I I I would probably assume um a bunny that maybe confused and awakened a lot of people uh back in 2012 as far as his current or as as far as his character design. Uh so yeah, Eric, I'll go first. We go with our three takeaway episode format, and I'll start off with uh something I very much enjoyed with this movie. Um Jack Frost, his arc is the emotional core of this film, and he works so well compared to some of the other things that I think don't work very well. I mean, are there some like good but safe moments in this movie? Yeah, it's chock full of that. But because Jack Frost and his his backstory, like again, it's it's nothing, it's not we're not rewriting, uh, you know, or rewriting a classic tale here, but I really enjoyed and bought into his motivations, and honestly, like I think they could have maybe spent even a little bit longer. This is a brisk hour and a half film, and it's something that maybe they could have even dove a little bit deeper into. What did you think about the uh the character choices as far as giving Jack Frost, you know, all these characters essentially, I do believe they confirmed they were people at one point. They have backstories, they had lives prior to this, and I thought that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02: 4:48

Yeah, there's this like over, you know, like overlying arch of uh like mystery around the man on the moon and and all of that type of stuff. Like, there's all these like little elements that you don't always get the answers to. You get some answers in the film, but like there is a little bit of mystique with this, you know, you would say rag tag group of very well-known established holiday characters, and I think in that way, Phil, it it does work. There's a lot to enjoy about the character choices. It's a mashup, and this is really my first takeaway, is that I enjoy the the fun aspect of this ragtag group of characters you know, it's like an Avengers film with holiday characters, like that's that's ultimately what they're doing. They're all teaming up and they're forming this group and they're getting the you know the bonds and they have the relationships, like it's nothing that is reinventing the wheel, but I just think the concept, even if we're gonna discuss maybe if that concept wasn't highly marketable at that time, or really if it's ever gonna be marketable to market a movie like this effectively. But as far as the concept in execution, you know, I thought it was pretty good. You got Hugh Jackman as a bunny, Alec Baldwin as a Russian Santa, you got Jude Law, you know, voice acting his ass off. Like, come on, man. It's all just it's all coming together.

SPEAKER_01: 6:13

I did also forget to mention I wanted to talk about this in the beginning before we started kind of talking about our takeaways. Did you know that Leonardo DiCaprio was actually going to be, I believe, Jack Frost of when they first announced the film? Do you think he would have done better than Jude Law?

SPEAKER_02: 6:31

Oh, you mean uh then Chris Pine?

SPEAKER_01: 6:32

Yes. Oh, cure Chris Pine, yeah, correct. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 6:35

So so I was watching a video where um these people were watching it, and one of the guys was saying that he thinks that Chris Pine was miscast, and I don't necessarily disagree because like Chris Pine has a pretty distinct voice, and he also doesn't sound that age like at all. I don't know that Leonardo DiCaprio would have been better, but maybe, like, maybe that would have been that would have been a crazy pull for this movie to have Leonardo DiCaprio as your lead, but maybe also that would have been interesting to people. Like, maybe that would be a good idea.

SPEAKER_01: 7:10

I think I think it would have helped it as far as box office numbers. That and this did flop as far as the box office, and you know, we can kind of discuss that at an and you know, let me be a little bit later in the episode if we want to. But yeah, Leonardo DiCaprio was initially attached to the film. Uh, he had to step away. Guillermo del Toro was also, I believe, on board at one point to become an executive producer. Or I think he ended up being an executive producer. So there were certainly some big names. Again, and I think because of, and this is also based off of a book series called The Guardians of the Childhood, uh, The Guardians of Childhood, as well as a short film um called The Man in the Moon, um, also by William Joyce, who is the uh uh the writer of the book series. So yeah, I think that definitely I think that would have helped. I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio being attached can only really typically help your project. So it would have been interesting to see uh how that would have been if you know he is the uh is the lead over Chris Pine. And we're big fans, me me specifically, I'm a big fan of Chris Pine, you know. I think he's he's solid, definitely a leading man. Uh, but you know, he's and and not very many people are Leonardo DiCaprio. So um, but yeah, I uh I I agree as far as like it is cool to see these characters team up, but like why is the tooth fairy there? You know, I don't I don't know. I I do think like uh what was the uh oh the sandman? Like I think that's a cool character in this uh as far as powers go. You could also make the argument that Sandman is the most important of all those. Like Easter goes away, no one cares. Tooth fairy, I think people forget about Santa is obviously a close second, but like no good dreams ever. That's not good. Like you can that'd be pretty bad. I think so. You can make the argument Sandman is the most important thing in that in the Guardians. So yeah, I think it's a conversation to be had. So yeah, I think that'd be that'd be pretty bad. Um, but yeah, let uh uh let's get to our next takeaway here, and I'll get to my one thing that I it certainly is a criticism, and I'll I'll be interested to see what you thought is the character designs, faces specifically. Not a fan of those. I think the animation is good, but I'm just I just wasn't a fan of the the fucking Tooth Fairy and these little babies specifically are not are unsettling. Did not enjoy them at all. Santa, I think, looks fine. We've seen a big buff Santa. Uh, you know, one of my favorite films is Klaus, of course. We've seen a big Santa before. That's fine. Um, the bunny, yeah, that's that's cool. I get I mean if I picture you jackman as a rabbit, as a bunny, yeah, that's that's pretty spot on. Sam and I thought looked looked fine, but I'm just something about the faces didn't like was not for me.

SPEAKER_02: 9:53

You know, it's funny because my second takeaway was gonna be about the animation, but not not in that direction. I don't think it bothered me as much, but you know, you also like really hate the facial stuff and like the Polar Express, and not that this is the same exact thing, yeah, but like that that is more of yeah, that's more of an unsettling thing for you, I think. Where like for me, what I enjoyed about the animation was like the way Jack Frost moves and things like uh how pitch black it has like those shades where he kind of comes out of the shadows and he's he's got a different like grayscale situation going on from all these other colors in the film. So there's like stuff like that that I really enjoyed. Yeah, I mean, like, is it is it anything a spectacular? No, like it's it's nothing that's gonna break the bank or get people talking in that way, but it also didn't look exactly like a lot of the movies that came before it in DreamWorks, and I think it was just different enough that it just caught my eye as more of a positive thing, but I'm also not gonna like go to back for the character designs, like you know what I mean. Like, that's not that's like not something I'm willing to die on as far as a hill.

SPEAKER_01: 11:06

Yeah, and here's the other thing, too, is like, and this probably ties in also to the first takeaway when we talk about the characters in general, because the mythology behind this is so creative, it's so fun, and they I feel like they didn't dive into it enough, and you could give 25-30 more minutes to building the backstory of each character a little bit better. Why is the Easter Bunny Australian? Why is why what did he do in his past life, you know, to become the Easter Bunny? We know we will only really explore again the two like the Tooth Fairy area, which again is the most unsettling character in my opinion, out of all of them, just strictly based on design. So, like they built something here that I think is really cool, but I I didn't get enough of it, and you know, in as much as like I felt really good about what I learned about Jack, you know, about him sack his sacrifice and and all that stuff. I felt good about what I learned about him as a character, and also the cover, like the the the the coming around, like that scene where Jack um and the little boy and the little boy can see Jack. I was like, that's great. Love that, love that so much. And um, it would be nice to get you know just a little bit more from those other characters, I think. That's fine, and and that's probably a good thing. Like, I wanted more um because uh maybe I just wanted them to maybe look different and not as unsettling in my opinion.

SPEAKER_02: 12:25

So, yeah, I mean, like it is it is it is what it is, you know. There's not much we could really do about it.

SPEAKER_01: 12:31

It's um I think we don't need a Santa backstory, you know. I mean, like Santa. We've seen that. We've seen enough. Watch Klaus.

SPEAKER_02: 12:39

Well, so and that's and that's the interesting part of it, because like I do view this as a Christmas film, but like an argument can be made that it's not.

SPEAKER_01: 12:47

It's an Easter film, even though it released in what was it? Hold on, I just had it. November, yeah, released in November 2012. So it technically would have been a Christmas film. I wonder what else came out in November, twenty November and December in 2012. All of that up while you were about to say something.

SPEAKER_02: 13:05

Yeah, no, uh the biggest thing I was gonna mention was just like again, I think that is probably the biggest thing against it is that this movie is balancing quite a lot of different like themes. And um, I guess Phil, like, I don't know, you kind of you kind of gave an additional take, so I don't know if that was your third take. It was not, but no. Okay, I'll throw my third one in here just to kind of uh change it up and just to wrap my side of it up because most of it is positive in like a very like nostalgic way. Like what I've seen this film, it's a movie we put on, I wouldn't say every year, but this movie does come on every now and then. You know, it really does. And I think for me, the thing that holds this movie back from being a movie I can just recommend to anyone or like really want to put on as like a watch party type thing, is that the the story does stall a little bit from time to time. So you mentioned that the movie could actually be longer. I think if they took the story maybe a different direction, they could have done that. But the one we got, I would say it's it's on the verge of being too long for what we did get. And unfortunately, with original, you know, original movies like this or movies with like these very different scripts and unproven stories in film, they're lucky to get an hour and a half, you know what I mean? And that's unfortunate. But the version that we did get, I do have to criticize it a little bit just for the pacing at points. I did feel like there were some lulls, and they weren't very long, but there were enough lulls where it takes me out of the movie just a little bit, even on rewatches. Like there are parts of the movie on a rewatch, I know, where I can like get up and go do something, and that's not always a great thing. So I do have to kind of hold it against it because that's probably my biggest negative of the movie. I can get past all the silly stuff, I can get past the character designs, but yeah, the lulls are definitely something that I always think about when I consider am I gonna put this movie on again?

SPEAKER_01: 15:02

Yeah, there are definitely those moments where I was certainly like not as interested as uh in what was going on for sure, and and my score will reflect that. So, yeah, it isn't is it a movie that I would watch again? Probably, but I wouldn't go out of my way to like I oh, I want I I'm in the mood for Rise of the Guardians right now. And and one of the reasons for that, which is my third takeaway, you talked about pitch black a moment ago, and I think again, character does and like movements and and uh the use of lighting. Um, we didn't even talk about like uh uh well you did mention like the sand looks really cool, ice effects, sleigh chase, all those things are really good. But his his motivations just seem very vague and like half baked. I get the idea of uh, and he's making good points. This could fall into one of those, like when he's having that like one-on-one with Jack, and he's like, You don't think I know what it's like to be forgotten? But like, buddy, you're a nightmare. Like, why you're you're the boogyman? So it's like have you seen a mirror recite? Do you know what a nightmare is? Like, why you know? So, like, I still not 100% sure what the motivation is. Like, I get like, yes, you're just evil. Like, are you just evil for the sake of being evil? Like, what what purpose did that character serve in the grand scheme of things? Like, it's not I'm trying to think of another character where it's like I thought maybe we were also heading towards uh hey buddy, like, well, let's let's help him out type of situation towards the end. I thought they might go that route. I'm glad that they didn't, but like, yeah, like why would you we want the boogeyman to stick around? That seems like something we would want to eradicate. So I'm still not sure, and you can tell me what it was. Um what the fine like what was his end game other than to just get rid of the guardians?

SPEAKER_02: 16:47

Well, I mean, to get rid of the guardians and cover their world in in bitch black, like make everybody afraid of him. I mean, that's uh to me, I don't know how much depth the boogeyman needs. You know what I mean? Like, I like a for for a story. Well, let me correct myself. It's not that because I've because I'm the first person that's like, I like my villains to have depth, so I totally get where you're coming from. For me, a movie with this Avenger style team up of all these holiday characters against the boogeyman in this type of setting. I don't know that I need too much justification or like backstory. I think what we got between pitch black and Jack Frost on the ice when they're fighting and they're having that conversation. I think that was enough to know. It's almost like a parallel of where Jack Frost went. Like, Jack Frost has this life where like nobody can see him and he should feel very negatively, but like his center is fun, like that's what he was meant to do, right? That's his thing. Pitch Black doesn't have that. Like, his center is to literally be an evil piece of shit. Like, that's that's what it is. So, like, again, I could dig deeper if you want. Like, I feel like I'm scrap I'm grasping at straws, but like, it's not that there's nothing there. I get that there's not enough depth in you would normally like. I just think for the type of movie it is, it's something I'm willing to forgive.

SPEAKER_01: 18:13

I think don't do it.

SPEAKER_02: 18:18

Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it, Phil. You can't I know it's a dreamworks film, you can't do it. Listen, man. Don't you don't you fucking this thing?

SPEAKER_01: 18:30

They did it, they did this with that character again who had no business being as iconic as he as he is. And then I think maybe if it's like something other like me and and I obviously for for reasons you can't just like pick a holiday to be the evil holiday. You can't you can't do that. But like I don't think of the boogeyman in the same vein as as uh the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. I get it with the Sandman, but why wouldn't there be an opposite Sandman? But it feels like just those two would be fighting. Like this, why does this concern Santa and the Easter bunny? Why does he care what about Santa and the Easter Bunny? He should just be fighting the Sandman.

SPEAKER_02: 19:16

That's true. Yeah, I mean like I'm not again, everything you're saying completely valid. Uh I just again probably also things I would say are in my like criticisms is like, yeah, the lore doesn't fully Who would be the fire character to fight Jack Frost?

SPEAKER_01: 19:31

Is there a fire, is there a character in lore?

SPEAKER_02: 19:34

Probably like uh yeah, like a Hanukkah candle.

SPEAKER_01: 19:38

Okay, no, see this is what I just said about you can't just pick another card.

SPEAKER_02: 19:42

Yeah, no, because it'd be like it'd be like a bunch of different like candles, and it would just be like what do you mean? What do you mean? You just put a face on it and then it's done. And then it's done.

SPEAKER_01: 19:54

Stop, stop, stop. Why did I invite this part of the cover? I don't know why I did that. That was my favorite. I don't know, I don't know why you did that either.

SPEAKER_02: 20:03

Uh it'd be 4th of July, like explosions, like a like a like a firework.

SPEAKER_01: 20:07

Yeah, and then it'd be like, and then people call it anti-American. I do think this film would have fared better now if it were like a straight to streaming type of thing. Because that's what the energy that it gives is a street, a straight to streaming movie, but we didn't have that back then, so it went out to the it went out to theaters to flounder. Uh, because a couple weeks before this, now it was like two or three weeks removed, but Wreck It Ralph came out in November, in the very beginning of November. Uh The Twilight, Breaking Dawn, part two came out in November. Skyfall was that uh was that month. And not all these are kids' films, but just kind of giving you an idea what else was coming out at that time. Um, so you know, it's when you have a Wreck It Ralph, even if it's a couple months removed uh weeks remove, people are still going to go see and and was doing very well, uh mind you, of course, with um Wreck It Ralph. So, yeah, you know, a bad timing thing. I I'll say this this belong it doesn't belong in the tier of the how to train your dragons and Kung Fu Pandas, Shrek, but it also doesn't belong in the tier of Turbo and Home and some of their other lessers. Obviously, Puss and Boots is its own. I don't even associate with Shrek anymore. This Puss and Boots less, which is its own franc.

SPEAKER_02: 21:28

This is a fucking masterpiece, man. It's so good.

SPEAKER_01: 21:31

Um, so I would put it like Tintin. You know, I we really enjoyed Tintin. Like, I think it belongs in that like B C tier area and a lot of these that we all never watch like home and Peabody Swimming, you know what I mean? Like, I'm not gonna watch those.

SPEAKER_02: 21:44

It's not one you're gonna bring up as a joke, it's gonna be one that you're like, again, it's one of those ones you would speak of positively. Like, if someone didn't say they've seen it, you're like, that's a good time, you know. And that's kind of all I sold you on. It was was like, I think you'd have fun. I feel like we've watched worse. I feel like it's a pretty shooter dig.

SPEAKER_01: 22:02

Yeah, and I think with me and and my score will reflect this. I think there's just more, there was more fun to be had if they you know, it um barring a little bit, you know, some better different choices, you know, better writing again. And again, I just wasn't a fan of uh the animation either. So um, but yeah. Um we'll talk about scores in a moment. Do we want to do more like this before or after?

SPEAKER_02: 22:25

I know we uh we we tend to do it after, but I can we can do it before. I I'm good with that.

SPEAKER_01: 22:30

Well, let's yeah, let's do it after because I've I'll give my uh my score. Why don't you go ahead and go first since you've seen this already? Um I'll give the uh first I will give the Rotten Tomatoes score uh here 75% certified fresh over on Rotten Tomatoes, 80% popcorn meter score, so very solid over there. Uh a 7.2 on IMDB and a 3.6 over on Letterboxd. So Eric, what is your score for Rise of the Guardians 2012?

SPEAKER_02: 22:56

Yeah, so for Rise of the Guardians, it is a movie that I would recommend to people to watch, but again, would I go out of my way to get like say to bring Phil over and say, hey, come watch Rise of the Guardians.

SPEAKER_01: 23:08

We're having a Rise of the Guardians night. I'd be like, don't call me.

SPEAKER_02: 23:12

No, no, and that's where it falls uh short. I probably enjoy this a little bit extra, so I don't know that this will be reflected in my score as much, but it will be reflective in my rankings of late to the party films. With all that being said, I gave it a three and a half out of five. Uh, really, because of pure bias, I could say a 3.75 if I was forced to do so. And that's literally not because the movie deserves it, but it's just because, again, I have a good time with this movie. I really do. Uh, but there are definitely issues with it, and again, I kind of mentioned this in the pre-show. Had Phil come here and said like this movie was ass, I also wouldn't have like fought him very much on it. Like, I could see someone not enjoying it and where they'd be coming from. I, on the other hand, had a good time, and I'm unapologetic for that.

SPEAKER_01: 24:03

Yeah, totally get it. And it, I think it is a movie that, like you just said, if someone had said, Oh, I've never I never put it on, like, yeah, definitely worth a watch because you may very much enjoy it. 3.6 is a really good score for our letterboxed average. It's really, really good considering uh, you know, DreamWorks' um body of work. So um, I ended up giving this a three. I again I don't know that I would watch it again on my own, but if some if somebody had it on, I wouldn't complain about it uh whatsoever. Um, again, I think it's not gonna happen at this point. We're 12, 12, 13 years removed from the movie. This is something that could warrant a sequel. There are characters and there are other characters they could introduce into this franchise, and uh unfortunately I do think it might be it's likely dead in the water. Um it was very hard to find YouTube breakdowns about this. Not a lot of people talk about it, but it's one of those movies that people will mention, like uh, like, oh man, I really, really loved that movie. Um, I don't think it deserves like uh, you know, obviously uh as far as like all-time status when it comes to this, but it definitely deserves a reputation of being underrated and underappreciated, and I think it just was a product and a uh a product of its time, and and that's why it fell short when it comes to uh when it came to expectations. But um, yeah, I like I said, definitely enjoyed it. Uh, Eric, where does it rank on your list for your late to the party? I'll go first. For me, this is gonna sound low because we've only this is our 42nd movie uh or TV show that's on this list, and it's low because it's a three, because the movie, like, think about how many good movies we've watched. Uh it's 35th uh behind Pinocchio and Man of Steel, uh, but still ahead of Taxi Driver and Shinkonzilla and uh Scott Pilgrim movies like that. But uh yeah, 35 on my list, so I'm sure it's much higher than the on yours.

SPEAKER_02: 25:49

Yeah, so so hold on. So scratch what I said. So you fucking hated this movie.

unknown: 25:54

No, I did not this movie.

SPEAKER_02: 25:55

Phil, Phil, this movie only beating. Hold on, hold on. I'm just gonna just one second. Just give me let me cook. So I'm gonna name, I'm gonna name the I'm gonna name the seven movies that are below it. The seven movies below it. From starting from last. The shining.

SPEAKER_01: 26:12

These are all I just wanted these are all classic films to people other than Legwind and Jocko!

SPEAKER_02: 26:17

It's gonna be really weird. So I just want this to be for the record. The movies that are slightly above it, like that below it. The Shining, you fucking hate it. We hate it. Let me correct ourselves. We hate it. Spirited Away, you hate that movie. Akira, you hate that movie. I wasn't fond of it. Lego Ninjago, not gonna say anything else. Scott Pilgrim vs. the world, we both notoriously did not enjoy that. Shin Godzilla, Borderline hate that movie. Taxi Driver, Borderline hate that movie. Then Rise of the Guardians, and then Pinocchio, which I know you don't like. I think I'm more mad about the Pinocchio thing than I am all the shit I just said. You don't like this movie. So if I you just lied to me for 30 minutes straight.

SPEAKER_01: 27:03

So if I move above Pinocchio, would you be happy?

SPEAKER_02: 27:06

I'd feel a little bit better, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 27:07

Okay, I'll change it.

unknown: 27:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_02: 27:09

I'll bully you in a spot. That makes me feel I cannot express to you that makes me feel better.

SPEAKER_01: 27:14

I I don't I I'm not gonna say that I liked it more than Manisteel, the menu, or Raiders of the Lost Ark, or any of the other TVs on here.

SPEAKER_02: 27:21

No, I'm literally okay with all of the rest of that. It's the Pinocchio thing because I you like specific I I would also argue you don't like Pinocchio, you just appreciated it, so it got a three.

SPEAKER_01: 27:31

Sure. Yeah, that's fair.

SPEAKER_02: 27:33

And I feel like you at least had some fun with this. Like, yeah, yeah. Don't talk to me for 30 fucking minutes that you like this film and then put it above the seven films you fucking hate. Yeah, I'm moving it down.

unknown: 27:43

No.

SPEAKER_02: 27:46

Uh so Rise of the Guardians, way higher. Um, I'm actually gonna do one quick edit out of spite. One second. Oh my god. And I just want you to know.

SPEAKER_01: 27:54

You definitely moved it below real steel.

SPEAKER_02: 27:58

No, no, you're gonna get more mad.

SPEAKER_01: 27:59

Real steel is way lower on your list.

SPEAKER_02: 28:00

Yeah, no, you'll get more mad than that. Um, so I actually have this. It's uh my second highest rated three and a half film on my list. It's a 17. Uh, I just bumped it up one uh right over Goodfellas at 18. So you fucking piece of shit. It's uh it's right behind the whale, which I gave a four. Although on on retrospect, I might I might lower that to a three and a half. But yeah, it's right below the whale and Paddington, uh, but right above Goodfellas and Bullet Train. So I can be petty too, bitch.

SPEAKER_01: 28:34

What do you mean? You don't even give a shit about Pinocchio.

SPEAKER_02: 28:38

No, I don't know it was the principal. No, it's the principal lying to my mind. My brain does, but not in my heart. Not in my heart.

SPEAKER_01: 28:54

Okay, man. Go to the more like this so I can pick any movie but Rise of the Guardians.

SPEAKER_02: 28:59

This is crazy. Alright, let's uh do more like this.

SPEAKER_01: 29:03

You're gonna throw turbo in there or something.

SPEAKER_02: 29:05

Yes, so you can't contradict yourself. Uh, if you haven't been on the podcast before or listening to this episode, we do something called more like this, where I go through letterbox and IMDB films that are more like this, according to those platforms, and Phil tells me whether he'd watch that movie or this one that we just talked about for 30 minutes, in which Phil lied through his fucking teeth. So let's get started with uh Rise of the Guardians or the Polar Express. Say it. Lie to me. Lie to me. I gave you the I gave you the first one I knew you'd have to pick, Rise of the Guardian. Say it. Tell me you like the Polar Express more. Tell me the movie that you've never spoken positively about is better than Rise of the Guardians. Say it to me. Say it to me. You're gonna piss me off. You're making me mad. Elf.

SPEAKER_01: 29:58

Only people that know you know how. Fucking crazy that just was. Rise of the Guardians. Easily. Does that make you feel better?

SPEAKER_02: 30:06

It does. Um, I'll get I'll give you the the the gimme. Uh Rise of the Guardians or Klaus.

SPEAKER_01: 30:12

You don't have to do this.

SPEAKER_02: 30:14

I gave I listen, I gave you the easiest one one way.

SPEAKER_01: 30:17

Yeah, Klaus is one of my favorite animated movies of all time. So for those of you that are.

SPEAKER_02: 30:20

I could have done I could have just done Puss and Boots The Last Wish. It's the third film that shows up on Letterboxd, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_01: 30:27

Because it's Dreamworks, probably.

SPEAKER_02: 30:29

Yeah, probably. Speaking of Dreamworks, we'll kind of stick in that realm for a little bit and holiday movies, but would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or How to Train Your Dragon?

SPEAKER_01: 30:38

How to Train Your Dragon.

SPEAKER_02: 30:39

Any of the How to Train Your Dragons.

SPEAKER_01: 30:41

Yes. Yeah, I thought so.

SPEAKER_02: 30:44

Would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or any of the Toy Story films?

SPEAKER_01: 30:52

Probably just one and two. But the rest of them. Yeah. Yeah. Um okay. I mean, I like four. We like four a lot more than other people. You know how I feel about three.

SPEAKER_02: 31:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 31:03

Oh, we gave four a lot of grace. Um, that probably didn't deserve, but like, you know. Also, somehow on Toy Story 5, Emperor Woody has returned.

SPEAKER_02: 31:14

Somehow. I do want to make a comment here that uh at some point I will return to making you watch Legend of the Guardians, the Owls of Gahoo.

SPEAKER_01: 31:25

Oh my god. Why did I think this was that movie? I totally forgot about the the owl movie.

SPEAKER_02: 31:30

No, that one's just owls. And Zack Snyder. And Zack Snyder, so you can expect a lot of slow-mo and lightning.

SPEAKER_01: 31:38

Which is crazy because you hate Zack Snyder. You love that movie.

SPEAKER_02: 31:42

No, but respectfully, this might be his best work.

SPEAKER_00: 31:46

You're not the first person to say that.

SPEAKER_02: 31:49

I know. Alright, late to the party, coming up very soon, guys. Get uh get your fucking get your belt ready. Alright. Let's uh let's do another Christmas film, arguably a Christmas film. Would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or The Nightmare Before Christmas? Nightmare before Christmas.

SPEAKER_00: 32:07

Two times.

SPEAKER_02: 32:09

Would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or any of the Shrek films?

SPEAKER_01: 32:14

Probably one and two, bare minimum. Yeah. How many are there? Four that are out or three? Four, yeah. Probably Shrek one, two, and it'd be a toss-up for three, definitely before four. Rise of the Guardians before four.

SPEAKER_02: 32:26

I don't think anyone liked Forever After.

SPEAKER_01: 32:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 32:30

No.

SPEAKER_01: 32:31

If Puss and Boots and Burrito don't get ample screen time in the next Shrek, we riot. We riot. We know they're on their way. We know they're on the way. The last wish had to do heavy lifting to get the Shrek movie back into production.

SPEAKER_02: 32:49

Crazy.

SPEAKER_01: 32:50

Doing all the work for you then.

SPEAKER_02: 32:52

Would you rather watch The Rise of the Guardians or Monsters vs. Aliens?

SPEAKER_01: 32:59

Monsters vs. Aliens, I love that movie. Derek. Love that.

SPEAKER_02: 33:07

Would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or Over the Hedge?

SPEAKER_01: 33:12

Yeah, you know how we feel about Over the Hedge. Over the Hedge.

SPEAKER_02: 33:15

Yeah. Underrated. Would you rather watch Rise of the Guardians or Turbo?

SPEAKER_01: 33:21

Never seen Turbo. Never gotten to, so Rise of the Guardians.

SPEAKER_02: 33:25

Would you rather watch The Rise of the Guardians or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? Cloudy with a chance of meatballs, for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 33:32

At least one. Two, there's a discussion, but one for sure.

SPEAKER_02: 33:35

One for sure, yeah. Yeah, and that's about it. I mean, there are some other films here. I think we talked, you've never seen The Crudes, right?

SPEAKER_01: 33:41

I've seen the first crudes. I did not see the second one. I probably watched the first crudes.

SPEAKER_02: 33:45

I like the first one. Over Rise of the Guardians?

SPEAKER_01: 33:46

Yeah. I like the first one.

SPEAKER_02: 33:47

The first crudes is funny.

SPEAKER_01: 33:49

It's funny. Nicholas Gates is legitimately funny.

SPEAKER_02: 33:51

It's animated unhinged.

SPEAKER_01: 33:52

Yeah, it's legitimately fun. Like him celebrating whenever he thinks his mother-in-law has died is his peak comedy. His peak comedy. So yeah, I really enjoy the first uh the first crudes.

SPEAKER_02: 34:04

Yeah. Yeah, really good shit. Yeah, Rise of the Guardians, guys. So you uh you heard it here. And um, yeah, was this the like the weirdest? This was like as close to a Lego Ninjago episode, but in a positive way, we could kind of get. Yeah. And uh yeah, we'll we'll have some more big hitters going into next year, but we just thought, you know, end of the year, have a little bit of fun. Also, Christmassy vibes. Uh, sure, are there other Christmas movies we could have uh where does where does this rank on Outliers?

SPEAKER_01: 34:35

Because I think there are five, you could say. I think Tucker and Tucker and Dale versus Evil, Spirited, I think you can put in that list. Lego Ninjago, Rise of the Guardians. There's probably one more, I think. It might just be those four, I think. The rest of them are like pretty. I mean, maybe Forward Unto Dawn you could throw in.

SPEAKER_02: 34:59

Forward unto Dawn was a little but I don't know. A lot of people like that have seen it have nostalgia to that.

SPEAKER_01: 35:04

Yeah, and understandably so. So I I get that. I mean, my favorite, my highest ranked out of that is Spirited. You know, I really enjoyed that. But it's more so because of the music, you know. And I think also I do like the I do really like the story.

SPEAKER_02: 35:17

Yeah, maybe Mitchell's versus the machines.

SPEAKER_01: 35:19

I don't know. People love that movie, and also that have seen it. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, that's true. It does. The fact that it has not, they better release the second movie in theaters. I swear to god, Netflix. After what just happened with K-pop Demon Hunters, you sons of bitches better put Mitchells versus the Machines. Fuck this up, I swear to God. The same thing with the second K-pop Demon Hunters movie that releases straight to streaming. I'm not gonna catch my membership. I pay too much money for it. I'm in too deep now. But we want to watch it.

SPEAKER_02: 35:46

Yeah, so yeah, no, I would actually agree. I think those are probably some of the main ones. Maybe the menu. Maybe the menu.

SPEAKER_01: 35:54

Yeah, because it's more of like it's I mean, it's horror adjacent, so like that's that's really popular in that crowd. So which I again we I I I will re-watch. Like, that's how I felt about after the second rewatch and nope. Like, I just watched it on my own. I was like, Yeah, I get that. Okay, I understand.

SPEAKER_02: 36:10

You know what, you know what? Like, I do think some type of rewatch either series or stream or something, second chance. Yeah, like a second chance. I I do think that would be entertaining. That is really good. Is there hold on, hold on, is there a podcast called the Reboot Van? Are we stealing hold on? I'm actually like scared to let this air because I think this is like really good fucking shit. No, the reboot podcast. Yeah. No, uh, beyond the reboot van podcast, that's technically different, and it would be our episode. Oh, no way. Uh the the the only video on here is a fucking picture of Kanye. I don't know what's I don't know what's happening here. Uh holy shit. Okay, listen, hold on to that one, guys. We've been talking about doing a bonus episode or some type of content.

SPEAKER_01: 37:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 37:15

The reboot van is fucking fitting because our last one. Imagine getting rid of the win.

SPEAKER_01: 37:19

Yeah, imagine getting rid of the game room where it happens and then we have an episode called the reboot van. Yeah. That's right. And that could be an episode where we watch or play games from our past and see if they're still good.

SPEAKER_02: 37:31

I do like that. I like that idea. And then we could give like commentary throughout it. Uh-huh. Okay. We're cooking. I'm gonna write this down somewhere because I will forget. Uh, holy shit, guys. Well, what listen, we have a lot to talk about about the future of this podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 37:45

This is the creative process of here of the Wait for a podcast.

SPEAKER_02: 37:48

So that was uh listen, when it happens, it's magical. Uh and you guys got to experience it for free.

SPEAKER_01: 37:54

There you go. There you go. But you can also experience the Wait for a podcast for free, and a lot of our content for free by clicking the Link Tree link in the show notes of this in every single episode. You can find us on all streaming platforms, uh, Spotify, Apple Podcasts. If you are listening over there, make sure you give us a five-star review. It's one of the best ways to support the show. You can also follow us over on social media, Instagram, TikTok, join our growing Discord community. Follow us on Twitch where we are streaming each and every single week. Follow Eric and his personal page over on Twitch where he is also streaming each and every single week, and then some. You can also follow me at Phil the Filipino to follow uh to keep up with my voice acting journey. You'll have some very exciting news to share very, very soon. All of that and um all of that support is great and we very much appreciate it. But if you're looking to maybe uh get some bang for your buck and maybe get some episodes a little bit earlier, and just support the podcast just a little bit more. Eric will let you know how you can do all of that before wrapping us up.

SPEAKER_02: 38:51

Yeah, so you can actually join our Patreon and support us on that platform, like other people are doing right now. In fact, those patrons are Briar T3 Kato, Vintage Macaroni, Corey from the World of My Burrito, Nick Casbaro, the author of the Vitalyrium series, and Botter from the Shortbox Podcast, where they're supporting us monthly in exchange for behind the scenes and early access to episodes like this one, being a part of our decision making on certain episodes on Patreon months, and they're also getting polls and different things that they can vote on, like the reboot van episode. We gotta we gotta run that by them. They might love that idea. Join us over there if you'd like to be a part of the conversation further, or do all the free stuff that Phil mentioned that only takes a moment of your time. Either way, we really appreciate it, but we gotta let you go. It's the end of the episode. My name is Mr. Eric Almighty. That is my co-host Phil the Filipino, and please don't forget we release new episodes for the podcast every Wednesday, and all you have to do is wait for it.

SPEAKER_00: 39:55

This is the Wait for It Podcast.