I guess Warner Bros. decided it's time to get "The Legend Of The Guardians" onto everyone's radar.

And based on the reaction in my own house to the trailer, it may have worked.

USA Today kicked things off yesterday with a "first look" article yesterday featuring five new stills from the film, and the accompanying article did a nice job laying out what to expect from this animated adaptation of the Guardians of Ga'hoole novels by Kathryn Lasky.  I didn't realize there are fifteen books in the series so far, but that would suggest that there is a big audience out there just waiting to see these stories brought to life.  Just because I didn't know about them doesn't mean they're not well known to the exact audience that Warner Bros. is trying to reach with this film.

The trailer itself is stunningly beautiful, something that was only hinted at in the footage I saw while I was in Vancouver in December.  I'm taken aback at how strong the work by Animal Logic appears to be.  It's realistic, but it also has a lush, rich style that suggests they're treating the material seriously, and not just making a "kiddie film."  That's exactly the approach I would expect from Snyder, and it looks like it's paid off.

The voice cast includes Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess, Deborrah-Lee Furness, Hugo Weaving, Abbie Cornish, and a fistful of other Australian talent, and I like how they didn't try to turn everyone American or sand the edges off those accents.  Makes it stand out.

When we finished playing the trailer (Toshi and his little brother Allen, whose second birthday party is about to kick off here at the house), they both yelled the same thing, probably because of the BluRay we watched over the weekend:  "BUBO!"

Okay, maybe that's not exactly the reaction Warner Bros. was looking for, but there was definitely a lot of excitement about what they saw.  Check it out for yourself:

 

 

You can also see an HD version of the trailer at Yahoo! Movies right here, and you can see it in theaters this weekend in front of "Alice In Wonderland."

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You can e-mail me at drew@hitfix.com or follow me on Twitter, where I'm DrewAtHitFix.