So you've heard of "that owl movie" but don't know much about it?
No worries! We've got you covered with the five things you've got to know about Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole—including which True Blood star voices a cuddly creature and what the intense avian battle scenes have to do with Gerard Butler's abs:
1. You'll recognize the birds: "That owl movie" stars not one, but two young actors you might recognize from your/our/everyone's dreams—Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe). What's more, they play brothers. Well, owl brothers, who wind up on opposite sides of an epic battle between the evil Pure Ones and the fabled benevolent Guardians of Ga'Hoole. Helen Mirren, Sam Neill, Joel Edgarton, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush and Hugo Weaving round out the cast.
2. Kludd the owl can kick Jason Stackhouse's ass: Asked to compare his character Kludd to his better known alter ego, True Blood's Jason Stackhouse, Kwanten gave more credit to the rage-fueled teenaged owlet than to Bon Temps' resident wannabe cop. "I think there's a vulnerability and an innocence to them both," Kwanten said, "but I think Kludd has more willpower and perhaps more mental capacity."
3. It's like 300, except with more owls: With its talking animal protagonists and sometimes intense action scenes (parental advisory: death and dismemberment are implied), Legend of the Guardians evokes one of the great scary children's films of all time—which happens to be a childhood favorite of British-born Sturgess: "I was in love with a film called Watership Down, which was a huge part of my life as a kid when I grew up."
But is director Zack Snyder, whose previous films Dawn of the Dead, 300, and Watchmen featured R-rated violence or gore, concerned about traumatizing young viewers?
"I wanted to take what [author] Kathryn Lasky wrote in the books and treat it seriously, because I knew this was going to be a kid's fantasy film and the last thing I wanted to do...was smirk at their fantasy that they believe is 100 percent real and they take 100 percent seriously," explained Snyder. "So the byproduct of that [is] that the battles are intense or that the reality of the consequences are real."
Along with wife/producer Debbie, Snyder tested intense scenes on his own six children, who range in age from 10 to 17 years old, to ensure the film wasn't too frightening for young viewers.
"You don't want the kids to be afraid," said Debbie Snyder. "I think sometimes parents are more protective and the kids really seem to like it. We'd be like 'OK, what's your favorite part?' 'We like all the battles. Can you add more?'"
4. Ryan Kwanten was almost an evil owl, too: Kwanten whose character Kludd grows jealous of his younger brother's talents, admits to experiencing his own sibling envy growing up in his native Australia as an older brother among three boys. "I too, like Kludd, suffer from what I have diagnosed as OSS—Older Sibling Syndrome—where you feel the need to set an example, a fine example, and you don't necessarily possess the natural gifts of your younger brothers," Kwanten said. "I know I didn't, and Kludd certainly doesn't."
Sturgess had a cheekier recollection of real life sibling rivalry. "I have an older brother and a younger sister so I'm the middle child," he explained with a smile. "Like Kludd and Soren, I am far more courageous than my older brother. I'm better looking and a better flyer."
5. Helen Mirren can flap: Animators partially based character movement on the gesticulations of cast members in the recording booth—regal and dignified if you're Dame Helen Mirren voicing an icy owl queen, but not as cool for folks like Sturgess and Kwanten, who were captured on tape huffing and puffing and flapping their arms as their owlet characters learned to fly.
Will we see those behind-the-scenes clips on the DVD? Not if Kwanten has any say in the matter: "I never want to see those tapes!"