Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Zack Snyder
Produced by	Zareh Nalbandian
Screenplay by	John Orloff Emil Stern
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 by	David Hirschfelder
Editing by	David Burrows
Studio	Village Roadshow Pictures Animal Logic Cruel and Unusual Films GOG Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures (United States) Roadshow Entertainment (Australia/New Zealand)
Release date(s)	September 24, 2010 (2010-09-24) (North America)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States Australia
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Money made	$140.1 million

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a 2010 3D computer-animated fantasy-adventure family film directed by Zack Snyder. Based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series by Kathryn Lasky, the film was written John Orloff and Emil Stern and features the voices of 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 film was produced and developed by Village Roadshow Pictures and Animal Logic, following their success with the 2006 film Happy Feet.

Legend of the Guardians was theatrically 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 cartoon entitled Fur of Flying. It grossed $140 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its voice performances and visual effects but criticized its story and characters.

Plot

Soren, a young barn owl, lives in the Tyto Forest with his family. Soren enjoys listening to his father's stories of the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole," valiant warrior owls who fight against the evil Pure Ones, but not his older brother Kludd. When their father teaches them how to fly, Kludd becomes jealous of Soren and pushes him off a branch while their parents are out hunting, causing them both to fall to the ground. They are attacked by a Tasmanian devil, but are saved (and subsequently kidnapped) by Jatt and Jutt, two owls who work for the Pure Ones.

At a facility called the St. Aegolius Home for Orphaned Owls, the Pure Ones' queen Nyra greets the brothers and several other owls who have been kidnapped who says that they will become either soldiers or pickers (owls who pick through owl pellets and find lttle bits of metal called "flecks" that are used to build a superweapon). Kludd becomes a soldier while Soren and a young elf owl Gylfie become pickers and are forced to be "moon-blinked," but they resist. They are spotted by Grimble, a boreal owl, who only works for the Pure Ones to keep his family safe. He teaches them to fly, but Nyra finds out, so she engages in a battle with Grimble and kills him. Following his instructions to find the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole, Soren and Gylfie escape and soon meet Twilight, a great grey owl, and Digger, a burrowing owl. While resting in their hollow, Soren is reunited with Mrs. P, his family's nest maid, who was captured by Twilight while searching for Soren and Kludd. She agrees to go with them and find the Guardians.

The owls fly towards the sea of Hoolemere where some crows guide them to the legendary shrine of the Guardians, guarded by an oracular echidna who sends the owls out to sea to find the Island of Ga'Hoole. While flying, the band encounters a fierce storm and Digger's wings freeze, causing him to fall into the sea and nearly drown, but they are saved by Boron and Barran, a pair of snowy owls who are the king and queen of the Guardians. They lead the party to the Great Tree of Ga'Hoole where Soren tells the Guardians about the Pure Ones' plans. The Guardians are skeptical, but an elderly screech owl named Ezylryb is convinced and Boron sends a great grey owl called Allomere out with two scouts to investigate St. Aegolius.

The owls stay in the Tree of Ga'Hoole for a long time and are looked after by a young Guardian-in-training named Otulissa, a short-eared owl whom Soren develops a crush on. During a flying lesson in the middle of a rainstorm, Soren grasps a brief hold on gizzard-flying (flying purely with instinct), but loses control and falls towards the sea. Ezylryb rescues him and orders Soren back to his hollow, where he learns that Ezylryb is really the famous hero Lyze of Kiel, the legendary leader of the Guardians who fought and defeated Metal Beak, Nyra's mate. Ezylryb explains to Soren that battle isn’t about glory or heroism, but doing what is right. Allomere returns from his scouting mission with news that his two wingmen were killed in an ambush. He brings back two moon-blinked owlets, one of which is Soren's younger sister Eglantine. The Guardians prepare for battle and fly out towards St. Aegolius; before leaving, Ezylryb instructs Soren to tend to his sister. When she finally snaps out of her trance, Eglantine tells Soren that it was Kludd who moon-blinked her and gave her to Allomere, confirming that Allomere is a traitor and that the Guardians are actually flying into a trap. The owls fly back to St. Aegolius where they find Metal Beak holding the Guardians captive in a machine powered by "flecks" guarded by bats.

Twilight, Gylfie and Digger fend off the bats sent by Metal Beak to kill the Guardians, and Metal Beak has Allomere taken away by several bats. Meanwhile, Soren navigates his way through a forest fire by successfully gizzard-flying and manages to disable the fleck trap by burning the wooden winch holding the lids of the fleck containers up, slamming them shut and nullifying the effects. The Guardians and Twilight fly into battle and Ezylryb goes straight for Metal Beak and Nyra, who nearly overpower him. Soren joins the battle after he sees Kludd, but Kludd attacks him; they engage in a fight that culminates in Kludd falling into the fire below, presumably killing him. Furious at his brother's apparent death and betrayal, Soren grabs a flaming branch and stabs Metal Beak to death, saving Ezlyryb. Nyra, shocked at her mate's death, retreats with the remaining Pure Ones, vowing revenge on the Guardians.

When they return to the tree, Soren and the others are initiated as new Guardians by Boron and Barran. Some time later, Soren tells the story to a group of owlets, revealing that Nyra is still out there with a contingent of Pure Ones and Kludd's body was never retrieved. Meanwhile, back in the smoking remains of the canyons, a shadowy figure with glowing red eyes is seen looking at Metal Beak's body and mask. The film ends with Ezylryb and the owls flying off into another storm.

Voice cast

Possible sequel

There hasn't been anything specific around a second Legend of the Guardians at this stage. We have discussions with Warner Bros. across a range of projects; we have projects in development with them, as well as projects in development outside of Warner Bros. Legend ... lines up alongside all the projects we have, in terms of what's the most attractive, commercial proposition to do next.

—Zareh Nalbandian in an enterview with Encore

According to Animal Logic's CEO, Zareh Nalbandian, there were discussions for a sequel to Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole as of 2011, but nothing solid as to when production would begin, as such a sequel would come in behind several other films Animal Logic will be producing or already is producing with Warner Bros.

Jim Sturgess and Ryan Kwanten have both said in a 2010 interview that they would reprise their roles as Soren and Kludd if a sequel ever entered production.

Soundtrack

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by David Hirschfelder
Released	September 21, 2010
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	64:12
Label	WaterTower Music
Producer	Hugh Jackman

WaterTower Music released the film's official soundtrack on September 21, 2010. The album includes thirteen score tracks composed by David Hirschfelder. The soundtrack also includes the song "To the Sky", Owl City exclusively for the film.

In popular culture

In the 30 Rock episode "Double-Edged Sword", Legend of the Guardians is the in-flight movie on the aircraft piloted by Carol (Matt Damon), who claims his passengers "... think that $300 and a photo ID gives them the right to fly through the air like the guardian owls of legend!" In a 2014 episode of The Simpsons, "Specs and the City", Bart considers giving Nelson an "Owls of Ga'Hoole"-themed Valentine, finding it fitting that Nelson should get a Valentine referencing what Bart considers a bad movie.

See also

In Spanish: Ga'Hoole: la leyenda de los guardianes para niños