Arthur Christmas (2011)

Directed by: Sarah Smith, Barry Cook | 112 minutes | animation | Original voice cast: James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Will Sasso, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Miggie Donahoe, Ramona Marquez, Ashley Jensen | Dutch voice cast: Pepijn Gunneweg, Gigi Ravelli, Jeremy Baker, Diana Dobbelman, Bart Oomen, Reinder van der Naalt, Henk van der Horst

Very successful Christmas film for young and old with beautiful (3D) animation, well-developed characters, perfect voice cast and quite a few very funny incidents. The hand of the “Aardman Studios”, the makers of ‘Wallace and Gromit’, among others, is clearly recognizable in their typical (British) humour, in which ‘Arthur Christmas’ gives an original twist to the myths surrounding Santa Claus.

How does Santa deliver 2 billion presents on Christmas Eve without being seen by satellites and the air defenses of countless industrialized countries? And how does he manage that with all the different time zones and the enormous distances that have to be covered? With the S-1 of course, the supersonic stealth plane (S stands for “Santa”) and the help of 1 billion elves (who have 18.14 seconds per household to deliver the presents). Reindeer and the horse-drawn sleigh have long since been abolished. This funny and original twist on all the myths surrounding Santa Claus is served eagerly and with great pleasure, making it a pleasure from the start.

Delivering the presents is run like a military mission. Santa Claus (the 20th in the line of the family, who is actually called Malcolm) doesn’t have to do much himself. Voiced by Oscar winner Jim Broadbent, Santa hasn’t quite kept up with modern times. It’s his 70th year as Santa and he finds all the technical gadgets confusing. Behind the scenes, he is assisted by his wife, Mrs. Santa (Imelda Staunton). Their oldest son Steve (voice: Hugh Laurie) is eager to take over the family business. Dressed in a red and green camouflage suit – although his Versace Santa outfit is already hanging out – and a stylized goatee in the shape of a Christmas tree, Steve manages the entire operation as efficiently as possible. But does he have the real “Christmas spirit”? It seems more reserved for his clumsy younger brother Arthur (voice: James McAvoy), who works in the mail department and has all kinds of allergies (snow, reindeer) and phobias (especially heights).

Of course Arthur has to take action when one child is forgotten and Santa and Steve no longer find it worthwhile to deliver the present (a pink glitter bike). Unable to use the S-1, Gransanta (Bill Nighy) takes Arthur and the stubborn fairy Bryony (Ashley Jensen) out in the old-fashioned sleigh pulled by the original reindeer. What follows is a crazy adventure with a capital A, which takes Arthur and his minions across continents, full of funny incidents and inventive jokes. The beautiful animation is there to support the action and humor and that was a smart move. So no distraction from the story to show what is possible in terms of animation, but inventively integrated into the plot. A small minus is that in the middle part the film collapses a bit, when all characters fall into a kind of repetition of moves. But just when you as a viewer think: does it get even more fun?, it gets even more fun towards a very funny finale, where the perfect Christmas message inevitably comes forward.

The film is told with a lot of warmth and love, in which the inner goodness of the human being is central and there will be few people who do not have a big smile on their face when the credits start. ‘Arthur Christmas’ can easily be added to the list of favorite Christmas films.