Chiharu's Creative Corner

This question was asked by North AKA Santa Claus to the mischievous Jack Frost in Rise of the Guardians. According to North, a person’s center is what makes them eligible as a guardian of children. He demonstrates to Jack what his own center is. He grabs a Matryoshka (nesting) doll and Jack opens it to reveal all the different facets that make up the man, North.

In the last tiny doll, we see a tiny baby with huge blue eyes. This, according to North, is Wonder. "Big eyes, very big, because they are full of wonder. That is my center. It's what I was born with, eyes that have only seen the wonder in everything! Eyes that see lights in the trees and magic in the air. This wonder is what I put into the world, and what I protect in children. It is what makes me a guardian. It is my center, what is yours?" 




Throughout the movie we watch as Jack discovers himself. He starts out as a mischievous winter spirit who thinks a snow day is the best thing ever, and is jealous that children believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy — even the evil Boogie Man — but not in him. They look and walk right through him; he's invisible to them because they don't believe let alone know that he even exists.

His journey is to find out who he is. Through a memory of his tooth box, he then realizes he was a human boy once. He loved his family, particularly his little sister. One day when they were skating on the ice, they hit a thin patch that began to crack and crumble under her feet. She was petrified with fear. Jack encouraged his sister by telling her that getting off the ice would be just like playing hop scotch. This helped her to move and he was able to reach out with the long branch he’d been playing with and flung her to safety. However, his selfless act put him in danger and he fell through the ice.

Fast-forward through the rest of the movie where Pitch, the Boogie Man, is turning all the children’s dreams into nightmares and snuffing out their belief in the guardians. We come to the scene where it finally dawns on Jack what his center is. Pitch has him, the guardians, and Jamie, the last boy on earth to believe in the guardians, boxed into a dark alley way. As Pitch advances to finish off his mission, Jack assures Jamie that everything was going be okay. Then he remembers how he had used a game for his sister to save her from falling through the ice. He creates a snowball in the clutch of his hand and threw it in Pitch’s face mid-threat. This shocked Pitch and made everyone start to laugh. Jack knew now that he is the guardian of Fun. He rallied the other children and they defeat Pitch with a good, old-fashioned snowball fight. Even the Boogie Man is no match for a child intent on having fun.



How can we find the center of our characters? If you search out the center, you will find who they are at the core of their very being, and this in turn will help them discover what their own strengths are. You might argue that Jack’s center is heroism, but all of the guardians have that — yet each one has their own unique center.

The center of a character’s being can help you determine who they are. This their essence. To determine their essence, you must also determine their identity. "How can I know who I am... until I find out who I was?"

Jack’s identity is his mischievousness. He’s been having "fun" for three hundred years, often at other’s expense. This is what he uses to protect his true essence.

In the end, we see Jack’s essence is his ability to protect the children by removing their fears through fun and games. This is who Jack Frost is. The guardian of Fun. Once he embraces his true center, the children can see him now, and he is no longer alone.




"You are something else altogether! Your center is Imagination! This is a result that is very rare and difficult to have because it's a balance of all the other centers: Fun, Memories, Wonder, Hope, and Dreams. You can't have Imagination without these combined! Full of life, laughter, and ideas! You love nothing more than a good laugh, adventure, and games. You are strange and mysterious. No matter what, in light or darkness, you tend to see beauty in everything, and you believe it's the little things that matter. You're very loyal to those important to you and you're often looked to for given wisdom, strength and advice.  Others don't always understand you or your motives, but in the end, you are usually right. You're calm, relaxed, fun-loving, and kind at heart, but when you're fighting for something, you're always determined for a cause. While others may back down, or be afraid, you stand firm and strong until the battle is won. You defend the imaginations of children.