Rise of the Guardians Fan Anthology Project

Hello, this blog is to organize an a Rise of the Guardian Fan Anthology Project. I know that there has already been one amazing fan anthology done, but I felt the need for a second one. Some people missed submitting to the original, and some others discovered Rise of the Guardians later. So this anthology is about second chances and love for the Guardians.

[rotgfananthology]

Hello just wondering if we heard anything from the recipients of the Anthology? I've not seen anything at all! Thank you and have a great Christmas!

Sadly I have not heard back from any of the recipients. I’m trying not to feel too anxious or disappointed as I know they’re all busy and working on new projects.

[rotgfananthology]

Happy Anniversary Rise of the Guardians Fans!!!

Has it really been three years since this movie came into our lives?

It seemed fitting to release the Fan Anthology to everyone today. This wonderful collection contains artworks, letters, and a video submitted by ROTG fans from around the world.

https://www.mediafire.com/?d14728f224n4uuc

Please share and spread the link, but do not upload any of the contents elsewhere without the original creators’ permission.

Thank to everyone who contributed. You’re all awesome!

[rotgfananthology]

I mailed out all the disks today. Here's hoping everyone enjoys them. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the project and encouraged me along the way.

[rotgfananthology]

Progress update:

I’m putting the final tweaks onto the pdf file and it’s looking good. Sadly I won’t quite be able to make my goal of having the disks burned and mailed out by Oct 31st. Family member needs a minor surgery and I’m staying with them for a day or so while they recover. Which means I’m away from my computer with all the files and dvd burner. I’ll make another announcement when the disks have been mailed out.  I still plan on releasing the files one Nov’s 22nd.

I want to thank everyone who have joined in and encourage me in this project. It means so much to me.

[rotgfananthology]

My sister wanted to participate in the Rise of the Guardians Anthology, but she was too shy to post her contribution. So, I’m doing it for her!

Here’s a picture of Sandy on his little cloud, playing with his dream sand. Hope you guys like it!

[rotgfananthology]

My sister wanted to participate in the Rise of the Guardians Anthology, but she was too shy to post her contribution. So, I’m doing it for her!

Here’s a picture of Sandy on his little cloud, playing with his dream sand. Hope you guys like it!

[rotgfananthology]

Tiny Update and Deadline Submission Extension

I’ve started putting together the book portion of the anthology and so far it’s going pretty smoothly.  I’ve also gotten a few messages from people who had just missed the deadline and others who just needed a little more time to finish up. Because one of the ideas behind this project is second chances I am re-opening submissions for an additional two weeks, until Oct 23rd 11:59 cst.

Beyond that I plan on having the book done, the disks burned, and mailed out by Oct 31st. The on Nov 22nd do a public release of the project.

[rotgfananthology]

reminder of new submission deadline.

[rotgfananthology]

Tiny Update and Deadline Submission Extension

I’ve started putting together the book portion of the anthology and so far it’s going pretty smoothly.  I’ve also gotten a few messages from people who had just missed the deadline and others who just needed a little more time to finish up. Because one of the ideas behind this project is second chances I am re-opening submissions for an additional two weeks, until Oct 23rd 11:59 cst.

Beyond that I plan on having the book done, the disks burned, and mailed out by Oct 31st. The on Nov 22nd do a public release of the project.

[rotgfananthology]

reminder of new submission deadline.

[rotgfananthology]

One week left for the new deadline.

[rotgfananthology]

Tiny Update and Deadline Submission Extension

I’ve started putting together the book portion of the anthology and so far it’s going pretty smoothly.  I’ve also gotten a few messages from people who had just missed the deadline and others who just needed a little more time to finish up. Because one of the ideas behind this project is second chances I am re-opening submissions for an additional two weeks, until Oct 23rd 11:59 cst.

Beyond that I plan on having the book done, the disks burned, and mailed out by Oct 31st. The on Nov 22nd do a public release of the project.

[rotgfananthology]

reminder of new submission deadline.

[rotgfananthology]

This started out as a gift to for a friend’s newborn, but I think it serves very well as a submission and thank you for the creators of this wonderful movie. One bonus I wasn’t able to show, the fabric glows in the dark. So it’ll get to act as a subtle nightlight for my friend’s little one.

[rotgfananthology]

Tiny Update and Deadline Submission Extension

I’ve started putting together the book portion of the anthology and so far it’s going pretty smoothly.  I’ve also gotten a few messages from people who had just missed the deadline and others who just needed a little more time to finish up. Because one of the ideas behind this project is second chances I am re-opening submissions for an additional two weeks, until Oct 23rd 11:59 cst.

Beyond that I plan on having the book done, the disks burned, and mailed out by Oct 31st. The on Nov 22nd do a public release of the project.

[rotgfananthology]

reminder of new submission deadline.

[zuzuhe]

Hope for ROTG

I’m here to express the history and my thoughts concerning Rise of the Guardians and Dreamworks Animation.  

First off, we know how badly ROTG did in theaters. $145 million budget, and only $306.9 million in box office money. ROTG was blamed for the start of many lay offs and failed quarterly income. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dreamworks-animation-takes-87-million-424648

I don’t know whether or not Dreamworks pays attention to their competitors or not, but considering what ROTG was up against in November of 2012, ROTG actually did really well.

Wreck it Ralph came out November 2nd, with $165 million in budget and $471.2 million in box office money. This kids movie had a more complex plot and was very modern and relatable to kids because of video games. Not to mention Wreck It Ralph has the privilege of the Disney logo plastered onto it, deeming it stereotypically a good movie for kids and family members (which can automatically make a Disney movie now a days do well no matter what kind of story it is)

Skyfall came out the 9th of november and earned $1,108 billion in box office money.

Twilight Breaking Dawn part 2 came out november 16th, with an earning of $829.7 million.

Life of Pi came out the SAME DAY as ROTG (november 21st) and got $609 million in box office money.

There were many other movies that came out in November as well besides these few. But considering all this competition in november and a rotten tomatoes critic of 74% (3 and a half stars), I’m surprised ROTG got past $200 million.

There are many articles with “ROTG FAILURE” written all over them.

HOWEVER.

The fandom got together and started a “campaign” in a way. We tried to make up for the bad income of the box office money in dvd sales. AND WE DID. We were at the top of the dvd /blu-ray sales for a while! http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/25/entertainment/la-et-ct-rise-of-the-guardians-rises-to-top-of-dvd-sales-chart-20130325 http://variety.com/2013/biz/news/dreamworks-animation-toons-up-earnings-with-the-croods-1200428525/

“The animated family film “Rise of the Guardians” has risen — and landed at the top of the DVD and Blu-ray sales chart, a surprise second chance for the DreamWorks box-office disappointment.” - “The animated film, which earned just $304 million worldwide in the fall, has sold around 3.2 million units on disc and as digital downloads since March, contributing $9.6 million in revenue to DWA’s first quarter results, which were announced Tuesday.” - “ “Rise of the Guardians’” homevid performance helped lift DWA’s first quarter results, besting analysts’ expectations for the three-month period that wrapped March 31, during which it posted $134.6 million in revenue and profits of $5.6 million (down from $9 million for the same year-ago period). Wall Street had expected revenue to come in at around $99 million. “ - “It really is a showstopper,” DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told Variety. “There’s no other way of categorizing it. The performance of ‘Guardians’ was significantly above the distributor’s projects, significantly above our internal projections and above the purchase intent.”

Even when the ROTG normal holiday edition dvd came out months after the blue-ray version, people who already owned a copy of ROTG still bought a second dvd and gave it to friends and family! (there used to be a blog called “mission of wonder” that allowed people to submit a post saying they had bought the holiday release. I am one of those people that participated with that.)

-

Hope still seemed to be slipping, but with the help of The-Guardian-of-fun, and a list of others: http://guardiansoftheguardians.tumblr.com/post/78043059567/book-of-belief-team They started creating “The book of belief.” These people knew they wouldn’t get paid for their work in assembling this book. A lot of them were professionals who had jobs and such, yet they still took the time out of their lives to help put this book together. They have my total respect. The Book of Belief had over a hundred submissions and letters sent in by the fans. They could barely fit everything into the book! It was incredible how many participated and helped donate and assemble it!

http://guardiansoftheguardians.tumblr.com/post/114237959476/the-guardian-of-fun-thank-you-for-downloading-the The book of belief PDF had over 6 K downloads, and two or three hard cover copies were made of the book and one was given to William Joyce, and one was sent off to Dreamworks!

There were countless ROTG role-play and fan blogs back in the day. Everyone was super active and inspiring. Lately a lot of those blogs have disappeared or have become inactive sadly. But some still hang around. So this fandom despite after 3 years still hangs around, with their fingers crossed. They’ve been amazing and very creative.

~~ I would like to address Dreamworks’ other movies and how ‘pampered’ they have been compared to ROTG. HTTYD : Budget: $165 million Box Office: $495 million Result: a tv special(Gift of the night fury), a short film(Dawn of the Dragon Racers), 2 sequels, and a two or three season tv show

Monsters Vs. Aliens: Budget: $175 million Box Office: $382 million Result: got a tv series in 2013 (4 YEARS LATER.)

The Croods: Budget:  $137 million Box Office: $587 million Result: a sequel and a future tv series

Turbo: Budget: $127 million Box Office: $283 million Result: Still got their own tv series on Netflix ! (tv series was put into production A YEAR before the film was even released!)

Mr. Peabody and Sherman Budget: $145 million Box Office: $273 million result: still got a remake tv show!

(extras: Penguins of Madagascar - budget $132 million, box office $373 million Home-  budget $137 million , box office $388 million )

Megamind: Budget: $130 million Box Office: $322 million Result: got a 16 minute short!

ROTG : Budget: $145 million Box Office: $306 million

Each of these comparisons have significance compared to ROTG. HTTYD got around 200 million more in box office money, and Dreamworks saw potential in it, and that flared up like crazy. Monsters vs. Aliens got around 70 to 80 million more in box office money compared to ROTG, but still got a tv series 4 years later! Peabody and Sherman did worse in Box Office money than ROTG, around 30 to 40 million in difference! Yet they’re still getting a tv series. Turbo got 10 million more above Peabody and Sherman, but they had a tv series planned a year before the movie came out, and apparently ROTG has had 3 shorts planned around the time of movie production as well yet we haven’t gotten anything yet.

Some people wonder if ratings have to do with box office popularity, but the Croods got a 70% on Rotten Tomatoes while ROTG got a 74%, and yet the Croods got around $287 million more than ROTG! Same goes for Home, which got a 46% compared to the 74% and they still got $80 million more than ROTG. Penguins of Madagascar got a 71% and they still got around 60 to 70 million more in box office money as well.

The most notable comparison to me, is Megamind vs. ROTG. I’m sure we all loved Megamind. Cute movie, really dorky and fun. It got around 16 million more in box office money than ROTG. That is the closest box office comparison yet. And Megamind (despite it only being 16 min) still got their own short.

What does that say about ROTG?

We thought there was nothing else but the Guardians of Childhood books to cling to. But from recent information posted on William Joyce’s twitter, tells us otherwise.

“There are several shorts they won’t release. 2 that I directed, and a 3rd by the art director. It breaks my heart.” William Joyce goes on to say one was about man in the moon, one was about Pitch, and the other was about the single egg that survived during the nightmare attack on the warren.

Peter Ramsey (the director of ROTG) says ROTG shorts make sense to him, but thats somewhat out of his control. 

What needs to be answered, is what stage these three shorts were in. Were they only planned? Were they half way completed? Or are they entirely complete?

*If they were only planned, then we would all try and keep up our support and push Dreamworks into making just even one of those. It also begs the question as to why planning material for the shorts wasn’t released yet…. (is this a hint that maybe Dreamworks isn’t sure whether they’ll continue with ROTG in the future? This means there’s a possibility if they haven’t released all the previs or concept art yet.)

*If they were half way done, that gives us a better stretch. This makes the odds in our favor since Dreamworks might eventually be pushed to finally just complete them since they’ve already come so far with it. Especially if shorts are under 20 minutes, that work should take less than a year with their production team.

*If they’re complete? …. then what in the name of pickled double crispy broccoli pancake waffles is Dreamworks doing over there. I have a hard time believing these shorts would be complete, because why would you wait so long to release them??? Its been 3 years! The fans have shown tons of support for ROTG, especially with the DVD sales, that should have wavered Dreamworks’ decision making at least a year ago.

—— Now to talk about Dreamworks Contact information.. We’ve all heard the endless “write letters to dreamworks” or “sign petitions” ….But honestly? Petitions aren’t really going to do much. This isn’t some political significance, we’re only showing how many people support a sequel or further ROTG franchise. Its not like we can shove that in their face and expect them to make a sequel based off that. Its all up to them.

“Keep writing to Dreamworks.” I’ve done some research lately, and I’ve found that its nearly impossible to write Dreamworks. They have legal issues about it too. They have their home base address that you could attempt to write to, but they don’t specify who looks at or receives those letters. Who would you write it to? Who is in charge of authorization of further franchise? There are a lot of questions that don’t have specific answers.

Sure, they have a youtube, twitter, tumblr, Facebook, ect.. you could attempt to contact them through those sites, but sometimes there are only site managers. They probably get spam all the time. The odds are low that the site manager would even care about your message let alone send it to their higher ups.

The only out-front contact information Dreamworks gives you is concerning their financial shares and stock information, only for people who wish to invest and support Dreamworks financially. We can’t go using that address to send fan letters to since they might not read them. I doubt the person that would pick up the Dreamworks phone would want to sit their listening to thousands of fans ramble on about some random movie their company did, they can’t do anything about that either.

Dreamworks specifically says they do not want unsolicited mail either. There may be ways to get around it so it won’t be considered illegal, but here are some examples: 1. Illegal material they will not read: “Hi! PLEASE MAKE A ROTG SEQUEL WE LOVE IT LOTS! Maybe you could have Jack Frost in it with a new guardian and Sandy could have a new outfit or Pitch could show up and suddenly plot twists, ect…” - They do not want to take the risk of being sued if they make a movie that coincidentally uses your idea. They don’t want to get into such a mess, so your letter will most likely be thrown out without a second thought. It will be considered junk mail. They do this for any movie idea.

2. A questionable but reasonable letter that has potential: “Hello, my name is ******, and I would like to thank you so much for all the magical times you’ve all given the fans. The movies are incredible. I especially loved Rise of the Guardians, that was my favorite. I heard recently there were planned but unreleased shorts for the franchise? I understand consideration of a sequel is asking a lot and considering the box office results the production team would be highly weary, but honestly with all the support and excitement of the fans and accounting the success of the dvd sales, I was wondering if you would consider going through with the ROTG shorts? Is there a problem as to why you won’t release them? Is it money or something else? Is there anything the fans can do? Or do you plan on not continuing ROTG? We would really like to show our support for ROTG no matter what, so if there’s anyway you could somehow get back to us, we would highly appreciate it. Sincerely, *******”

That is a lot more professional, and has no story suggestions because we’ve already been alerted that these shorts were already planned or in production. We are just showing support and interest for something that already exists, so this wouldn’t be considered illegal. Whether or not they would still read it, is still questionable.

-

So at this point, all we can really do is cross our fingers and contribute. Its been nearly 3 years, and William Joyce is still hanging on and this month and next month are going to be big ROTG support months because of the ROTG Inktober challenge and the release date anniversary month of November.

So even if petitions or sending letters/emailing Dreamworks seems questionable, still attempt to do things based off my guidelines. Keep tweeting producers, directors, or Dreamworks employees and let them know your love for ROTG is still going strong. (don’t annoy them with constant comments though! Make them sincere and meaningful.) Sign all the petitions you can find, continue to tweet Dreamworks your excitement or support for ROTG, keep up the great work. Perhaps if another few years go by down the line we could create a second Book Of Belief or something equivalent? Maybe a video style support? Who knows?

What matters is that we stick together, stay active, and stay hopeful. I’ve been here since the beginning, since the trailer release in 2012. I’ve watched this fandom for 3 years now, and its been very fun. Whether you’re a veteran fan or a new fan, I hope you continue your support and love for ROTG and create more wonders. Thank you.

[zuzuhe]

More information to add to the shorts: 

The one that is complete is the one about Man in the Moon (Which I’m assuming seems to be completed by a different studio than Dreamworks?) 

Man in the Moon (it was posted a year ago) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uvHslK35sM&feature=youtu.be

But the other two shorts are a little more than half way done, which gives us a good stretch to support ROTG more! 

[miss-evening]

Don’t give up the hope, people! We still believe!

@fearking @cianethedevil @ab-memoria @guardian-of-da-gay​ @mira-eyeteeth​ @department-of-fagriculture​ @only-1-a​ @50shadesofpitchblack​ @ask-the-jack-frost​ @livori

(Tagging some fellow RotG fans to spread the word! <3)

And thank you so much for writing this, @zuzuhe​. This gave a lot of information regarding the issue, and I’m glad there’s still so much positivity and hope going around in this fandom. And it’s obvious William Joyce would LOVE for these shorts to one day get finished, as well seeing more RotG content being made in the future.

[only-1-a]

Wouldn’t this be nice? 

Please Dreamworks?

[rotgfananthology]

Tiny Update and Deadline Submission Extension

I’ve started putting together the book portion of the anthology and so far it’s going pretty smoothly.  I’ve also gotten a few messages from people who had just missed the deadline and others who just needed a little more time to finish up. Because one of the ideas behind this project is second chances I am re-opening submissions for an addition two weeks, until Oct 23rd 11:59 cst.

Beyond that I plan on having the book done, the disks burned, and mailed out by Oct 31st. The on Nov 22nd do a public release of the project.

[rotgfananthology]

Today’s the day!

Hey everyone. Today’s the last day for submissions, ending at 11:59pm CST. Be sure to email submissions and thank you notes/comments to [email protected]. Reminder of the submission guidelines below,

Fanart:

All characters from the movie are welcome. No shipping or romance please. This is intended for the creators and isn’t the best place for fans to depict their preferences.

No crossovers with other fandoms please.

Keep the pictures PG rated. So no blood and gore, or nudity. Again think about the intended audience here.

For inclusion into the book the file needs to be at least 300dpi and 3x3 inches in size.

Letters:

I know it’s easy to gush and babble on when talking about this movie, but keep the letters to around 500 words.

Videos:

Accepted videos can be cosplay skits, or you performing songs from the soundtrack. I prefer not to have videos of the movie set to song from other performers due to copyright concerns.

Deadline: TODAY!!

[rotgfananthology]

My submission just in the nick of time!

[rotgfananthology]

Hello! I hope it’s not too late, but here’s my submission for the project!

I had so much fun doing this since it was the first time that I tried to ink my drawings. It didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would be, but I think I overdid the curlicues a bit. (But they were so much fun to do!) I also realized that I can’t draw Bunny or Pitch to save my life. I ended up drawing little Bunny instead. The egg that Bunny is painting is a tribute (I guess?) to the short about the only egg that survived Pitch’s attack. Sadly, it will might never see the light of day.

I hope the format is alright and that there’s no other problems with the file! I can’t wait to see what everyone else makes!

[rotgfananthology]

Hello! Heads up, the post you reblogged a month ago calling out for fan video appreciation thing is no longer relevant. The blog is deleted and I'm unsure what became of it. It just disappeared.

Aww that’s really disappointing. It sounded like an awesome project(although I admit the deadline they were giving themselves seemed really hard to meet.) Thanks for the heads up.