I drew this Christmas Day & meant to post it but I’ve been in & out of anxious episodes so never got around to it. I think north came out okay? Considering I didn’t use a pose ref for once.
Today marks ten years since Rise of the Guardians was released. I can and have talked the ear off of anyone who will listen about this movie.
Sometimes, I put it on just to look at all the textures and small details in the character designs. Sometimes, I put it on for comforting background noise. The books are whimsically strange and delightful with such lovely illustrations. I just love the characters, love the story, love that I can visit them for comfort and inspiration.
The Guardians brought magic back into my life, and I’ve been so glad to have them the last ten years. I’m sure these won’t be the last pieces of fan art I ever do (Jack is still one of my favorite characters to draw, you know he’ll be back), but I’m glad I got to finish these portraits to celebrate the film in time for its anniversary.
The Rotgoc fandom is no stranger to misconceptions, like somehow saying Jokul Frosti is Jacks norse counterpart when Jokul n Frosti are two seperate spirits etc. You guys know that I'm sure.
One that nags at me is the notion that Jack Frost and "Father Frost" are the same person or spirit. In my research for the Christmas spirits, I've learned quite a bit about Father Frost, and its very clear that he isn't Jack. Father Frost is North, or related to him.
Father Frost comes from a Russian Folktale that goes as follows;
A stepmother orders her husband to take the stepdaughter out in the wilderness to die. The girl is freezing at the foot of a tree and Father Frost appears. Instead of fearing him she's said to be nice to him despite her circumstances. Touched by the girl, Father Frost dresses her in warm fine linens to keep her warm and gives her a chest full of gems. The Stepmother sends her husband to fetch the girls body to bury and to his surprise the girl is just fine. Stepmother is enraged but curious how the girl got such nice things. So, she sends her own daughter out in the same place the stepdaughter nearly died in, to get the same valuable stuff. Father Frost appears but the girl is rude to him, probably demanding the same things as her stepsister. Insulted, Father Frost punishes her by allowing her to freeze to death.
Moral of the story is don't be greedy ig. So whats the connection to North? Father Frost sounds more like a winter spirit than Santa right? Ehhhh kind of. Father Frost is based off of the Slavic counterpart of Santa, Ded Moroz(This is the Russian spelling of his name.) Ded Moroz is said to be either a winter wizard, snow demon. Back then he was mostly called "Morozoko" or "ded". He was reformed to resemble more of Santa around the time of Soviet occupation.
Now, the early iteration of Ded Moroz could resemble Jack Frost, why the literal translation for his name is Grandfather Frost. However, just because Frost is in his name doesn't mean they're related. Ded Moroz resembles Santa more these days or St.Nicholas...so who's Ded Moroz?
Keep in mind I'm not Russian or Slavic, Eastern European countries have differing versions of Santa/St.Nicholas that could just be aliases for North. A reasonable assumption is Ded Moriz is an alias for North. I suppose if you stretched it maybe Ded Moriz could be seperate from Jack or North but due to the evolution of Ded Moroz's character it makes it hard to split him from Santa.
Regardless, I can kind of see why some would tie him to Jack Frost but if you read more about Father Frost/Ded Moroz, it's pretty clear the two barely have any association.