I think it’s safe to say that pretty much the last thing anyone expected from Zack Snyder, the mind behind some of the most notoriously R-rated movies in recent memory, was an animated kids movie. And while eventually he’ll get back to the world of hardcore violence, with Sucker Punch in 2011, it’s a movie based on a kids book called Legend of the Guardians that he went to as his Watchmen follow-up.

Unfortunately the trailers haven’t been quite as interesting as the idea of his involvement. At least they haven’t quite worked for me. I’ve never really gotten a feel for what it’s supposed to be. Owls? Really? It seems like an odd movie making decision. It didn’t make much sense, until now.

Below we have seven clips from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, and more than anything else I’ve seen from the film, they do a great job of establishing a real tone. Mostly they remind me of classic Disney, back in the days when the animators worked on Bambi by spending hours watching live deer at play, in order to create animated characters which mimicked their characteristics exactly. In these clips, at least, Legend of the Guardians feels not so much like Happy Feet with owls as it does vintage Disney storytelling done with a high-tech, computer animated touch.

Watch all 8 Legend of the Guardians clips below, and let me know whether you get the same vibe from them that I do.