If you didn’t see Rise of the Guardians over the weekend, and judging by the box office numbers you didn’t, then you should do whatever it takes to see it at some point this Holiday season. If you have a family and children, you should see it for the obvious reasons. If you’re interested in good stories and compelling characters, you should certainly see it as well.

Full disclosure, I work full time for DreamWorks Animation, but I did not work directly on this film, so I’m a little more objective than I might otherwise be if I had worked directly on it. In fact, I do have one large critique of the film in that it takes a long time for it to get going. There is a lot of exposition in the first act, and a lot of the humor early in the film feels forced and somewhat contrived. But once the second act starts, the story, the action, the character development all go into overdrive. All of that creates an incredibly entertaining ride that leads to an emotional and emotionally satisfying ending.

From a storytelling standpoint, this is a strong film. It has solid structure, strong and archetypal characters, and an excellent mix of drama, comedy and action.

The story follows Jack Frost as he struggles with the fact that, unlike the other Guardians, no one can see him and he can’t remember who he was before he became Jack Frost. At the same time, Pitch (aka The Boogy Man) is moving forward with a plan to make the children of the world stop believing in the Guardians  (Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy) in order to plunge the world in to a second Dark Age. The filmmakers did an excellent job of raising the stakes throughout the course of the film. At first, Jack seems like a petulant and selfish character who cares only for his own needs. However as the story progresses, it becomes clear to the audience and to Jack that bigger issues are at play and Jack is going to have to grow and change in order to help save the world from that second Dark Age. The stakes become as high as they possibly could be without feeling forced.

What makes the story so effective is that Jack Frost is going through an internal journey at the same time he’s going through an external journey, and the two journey’s end up in conflict with each other.

At a crucial moment, Jack has to make a choice (he makes the wrong choice), and it looks like the second Dark Age is about to be upon us. It’s those types of moments, along with the raising stakes and increasing tension, that create dramatic storytelling and Rise of the Guardians is a very dramatic story. However, it’s not so dramatic that it would lack appeal for younger kids. It is a dark movie, but my 4-year old had no problems with it at all.

This is a 100% family friendly movie.

It is also a 100% storytellers movie. If you’re interested in good stories, and if you’re interested in crafting good stories with compelling characters, then this is a movie that you should see. It is a film that is entertaining and could be instructive to budding screenwriters.