Peter Ramsey
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Filmography
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The Polar Express (2004)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
influenced Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Visuals Themes
Guardians is visually more akin to The Polar Express than to Shrek, with semi-realistic looking humans/environments and edgier character designs.
The film improves as it nears the end, but when compared to a like-minded classic like 2004's " The Polar Express ," it pales enormously.
I suspect these objections will fade over time, similar to how The Polar Express gradually found an audience.
All that we see of Santa's North Pole home is a big cottage on a mountain and a scene or two in the elves' toy shop (speaking of the elves, they come off as unfunny rip-offs of the yellow minions from 2010's " Despicable Me ," whether that's the case or not).
The film relies far more on the mere fact of "Santa Claus with swords" or "Easter Bunny with boomerangs and a bad attitude" than it does in giving anybody a distinctive, meaningful personality, and the whole film ends up feeling like a gimmick; a handsome, complex gimmick, but still just one more in the line of DreamWorks's impersonal pop culture melanges, thankfully deprived of any obnoxious jokey references outside of the lazy theft of the minions from Despicable Me .
His shop is manned by Yeti (who look a heck of a lot like Chewbacca) and Elves (who resemble the Minions from “Despicable Me” in almost every way).
Then there are Santa's elves, who provide the kind of silly comic relief that the minions of Despicable Me provided.
Even the deeply adorable stuff — like Baby Tooth, a tiny helper fairy, and Santa’s elves, who are more like an army of rambunctious kittens crossed with Despicable Me’s Minions — cut as often as they cute.
Elves consisting of conical red hats with eyes peering out and skinny legs protruding beneath are this movie's "Despicable Me" minions, lots of little funny, somewhat inept guys that make cute little squeaky noises.
He’s been forced into marriage (Santa Clause 2) and working retail (Miracle on 34th Street).
He’s had problems with overgrown elves (Will Ferrell in Elf) and recalcitrant brothers (Vince Vaughn in Fred Claus).
The last decade has seen a lot of ‘reimaginings’ of Santa’s workshop, in films like The Santa Clause, The Polar Express, and Elf, but I am far more fascinated by how Rise of the Guardians handles the North Pole, and that is only one fraction of the film’s larger tapestry.
Certainly no child should be expected to sit through My Dinner with Andre, but at times it feels like the caffeinated camera is too easy a crutch, used to distract from an insubstantial script.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
influenced Rise of the Guardians (2012)
A prolific storyboard artist whose filmography includes work for Francis Ford Coppola (Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black), David Fincher (Fight Club), and Steven Spielberg (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence), Ramsey has a great eye for detail that’s complemented wonderfully by a talented crew of animators, acclaimed cinematographer Roger Deakins (working as a visual consultant), and gorgeous art direction by Max Boas (Kung Fu Panda).
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Directed by Henry Selick
influenced Rise of the Guardians (2012)
When he was making up tales for his daughter, author William Joyce spun out what would become The Guardians of Childhood series and, as adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire ("Robots," "Rabbit Hole"), one can see pieces of everything from "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Monsters, Inc.," "Peter Pan" and even "Arthur Christmas" (which itself borrowed from prior films) in the mix.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
Directed by Bill Melendez
influenced Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Themes
First-time feature director Peter Ramsey (a longtime storyboard artist) delivers a series of absolutely stunning set pieces and painstakingly detailed tableaux that make the movie a visual feast, but its willfully blinkered secular message is a mess, and a serious miscalculation: Unlike the classic TV specials "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which demonstrated that the significance of Christmas transcends material goods, this movie tells us that if kids don't get toys and colored eggs, they stop believing, and Christmas and Easter die.
Based on a series of children’s books by William Joyce, “Guardians” was directed by longtime storyboard artist Peter Ramsey, who’s worked on films like “Men In Black,” “Fight Club,” and “Minority Report.”
"Rise of the Guardians" is the directorial debut of storyboard artist Peter Ramsey (2004's " Shark Tale "), believe it or not the first black filmmaker to ever helm a major computer-animated feature.
He’s had problems with overgrown elves (Will Ferrell in Elf) and recalcitrant brothers (Vince Vaughn in Fred Claus).
When he was making up tales for his daughter, author William Joyce spun out what would become The Guardians of Childhood series and, as adapted by David Lindsay-Abaire ("Robots," "Rabbit Hole"), one can see pieces of everything from "The Nightmare Before Christmas," "Monsters, Inc.," "Peter Pan" and even "Arthur Christmas" (which itself borrowed from prior films) in the mix.
The daughter of writer/illustrator William Joyce (“Dinosaur Bob,” “Robots”) once asked him whether the Easter bunny knew Santa Claus and that inspired him to create a series of stories about the characters of fantasy and folklore who care for children.
David Lindsay-Abaire is no stranger to the cartoon world: he adapted Joyce’s Robots for the screen, and worked on Shrek the Third, as well as the Shrek stage musical.
Rookie director Peter Ramsey and screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire (“Robots”) find the right balance between action and emotion, creepy and comforting.
Robots screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire easily could have made Guardians a kid movie, but he writes one that doesn’t treat them like babies.
Before the movie’s helmer, Peter Ramsey, came onboard (with only Monsters vs Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space and second-unit directorial credits to his name), Rise of the Guardians was the brainchild of fan-favorite writer and production designer, William Joyce (Meet the Robinsons and Robots) – who is also publishing a standalone Guardians of Childhood book series that traces the origins of each character depicted in the film.
The Easter Bunny is a huge, aggressive, Australian thing, mistaken for a kangaroo at least once, a Crocodile Dundee-meets-Donnie Darko lepus creature and somewhat stressed-out CEO of egg-dyeing.
Perifel has spent most of his career as an animator; some of his first films were Curious George and The Illusionist , he did some CGI work on Monsters vs. Aliens and Shrek Forever After , he did some traditional animation work for Kung Fu Panda 2 and the Lord Shen character specifically, and he was also the supervising animator on Rise of the Guardians .
Director Pierre Perifel (lead character animator for the underrated Rise of the Guardians ) definitely was influenced by the effortless cool tone of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Trilogy .
He worked on the animated films “Kung Fu Panda 2” and “Rise of the Guardians,” so has familiarity with animal characters.
He runs a busy enterprise at the Pole where giant Yetis — think of multiples of Chewbacca in “Star Wars” — make the toys while elves merely get in the way.
Like last fall’s “Rise of the Guardians,” “The Croods” takes the blocky look and runs with it.
The storytelling in “The Croods” isn’t as sharp and emotionally engaging as the better recent animated flicks -- “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Rise of the Guardians.”
Nor, in my mind, does it come close to "How to Train Your Dragon", but it absolutely rises above the horrid "Rise of the Guardians", one of the worst animated films ever.
DreamWorks appears to have very abruptly rounded a corner, even just in the handful of months since 2012 ended: last year's intentionally simplistic Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted and the handsomely designed but somewhat blocky and plasticine Rise of the Guardians were business as usual for a studio that has perpetually lagged between two and four years behind Pixar in the visual sophistication stakes, but The Croods (and, judging from the attached trailer, this summer's Turbo ) represents a jump in animation quality above anything the studio has ever produced (and I regretfully include HTTYD itself) that it hardly seems possible to be the same team.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Directed by Bob Persichetti
influenced by Rise of the Guardians (2012)
However, the latest film by a team featuring The Lego Movie co-screenwriter Phil Lord and Rise of the Guardians director Pete Ramsey is bringing a new vision of the superhero , which recently won the Best Animated Film at the New York Film Critics Circle.
In the hands of directors Bob Persichetti (storyboard artist on The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away), Peter Ramsey (director of Rise of the Guardians), and Rodney Rothman (screenwriter on Grudge Match and 22 Jump Street), there is an obvious and eclectic blend of styles on display that perfectly matches the narrative’s multi-format approach to the character of its hero: Spider-Man.
Directed by animation veteran Bob Persichetti, Rothman and Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Into the Spider-Verse looks like an entirely new art form.
Directors Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Bob Persichetti and Rodney Rothman have created a very modern, fresh and timely version of a classic franchise in need of an overhaul.
Under the joint direction of Bob Persichetti (the story artist for Shrek 2 making his co-directorial debut), Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians) and Rodney Rothman (screenwriter of 22 Jump Street), as well as Christopher Miller and Phil Lord (directors of The Lego Movie) on hand as producers, Spider-Verse pays both loving tribute to the incarnations that have come before, as well as revamping a character who has become all a little too well-worn at this point; in the space of sixteen years we’ve had four different actors over the course of three separate story strands.
Add Peter Ramsey (of underrated Rise of the Guardians fame) and long-time art department mainstay Bob Persichetti to direct alongside Rothman and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was born—a sprawling, high-concept, 2D-halftone/3D-render hybrid animated feature bringing fan-favorite Spidey secret identity Miles Morales to life after years of speculation and rumor.
Based on a series of children’s books by William Joyce, “Guardians” was directed by longtime storyboard artist Peter Ramsey, who’s worked on films like “Men In Black,” “Fight Club,” and “Minority Report.”
Epic is the new 3D animated movie from Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age), and is loosely based on the children’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs” by award-winning filmmaker and author William Joyce (he also wrote the novel that inspired Rise of the Guardians ).
His work and designs were also behind last year’s animated film Rise of the Guardians, which, too, overzealously synthesized well-worn children’s themes and folk archetypes into a movie-friendly action tale.
The film even has faint echoes of the far superior "Rise of the Guardians," with its unseen heroes fighting for light over the darkness.
Inspired by William Joyce's children's book "The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs," "Epic" joins "Rise of the Guardians" and "Meet the Robinsons" in failing to quite capture the magic of the author's books, though a team of writers that included James V. Hart, Dan Shere, Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember joined Joyce in trying.
Which is probably why no one cared when prolific animator/illustrator William Joyce ("Robots," "Rise of the Guardians") developed an extremely similar plot for his children's book "The Leaf Men," the basis of 20th Century Fox's new film "Epic."
Following on from the successes of How To Train Your Dragon and the Kung Fu Panda s, ROTG warps traditional fairytales as childhood ‘Guardians’ North (ie Santa, voiced by Alec Baldwin), E. Aster Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman) and Tooth (Isla Fisher) unite against nightmare-spreading boogeyman Pitch (Jude Law).