Making a Christmas classic is surprisingly harder to do than you’d imagine. While there have been several great Christmas films throughout the years, the ability to make something come across as wholesome and meaningful while remaining timeless and entertaining for all ages isn’t something that every project can do, which makes it all the more impressive when one does pull it off. On the surface, the 2011 CG animated film, Arthur Christmas doesn’t seem like anything special. With horrible advertising, characters that look like toy story rejects, and a premise that seems to lack possibilities, it wasn’t surprising that the film failed to connect with the general public when it was released, failed to make a profit at the box office and was quickly forgotten about soon after. But beneath all that is an extremely funny, clever, imaginative, colorful, and relevant Christmas movie that can easily be considered a Christmas classic for how it said so much with so little. In a world where Santa not only exists but is also a title that is pasted down between generations, Arthur Christmas (voiced by James McAvoy) is the youngest son of the current Santa Clause (voiced by Jim Broadbent) and he loves his simple job of looking over the Christmas letters of the world while his older brother, Steve (voiced by Hugh Laurie) handles the deliveries from a computer mainframe at the North Pole. While hoping to become next in line, his plans are cut short when Santa decides to hold off retirement, not wishing to lose purpose once he stops being Santa Clause. Despite delivering what looked like a perfect Christmas, that is quickly dashed when it’s discovered that they missed a child on their present, leaving her as the only child in the world without a gift. Although most of his family seems to believe that it’s impossible to get the present to her on time, Arthur isn’t willing to let it slide and convinces his grandfather, also known as Grandsanta (voiced by Bill Nighy) to take him out on the old family sleigh in order to deliver the present. After discovering an overly ambitious wrapping elf named Bryony (voiced by Ashley Jensen) has stowed away with them and that their antics across the globe are causing a global military incident that eventually gets the attention of the rest of the Clause family, the three still have their mission set to deliver the present to this single child before the sun comes up. Not only does the film have great writing, enjoyable characters, fast-paced humor and very appealing visuals, but it also tackles the idea of retro vs current and comes to a very adult and poignant conclusion that is very relevant to Christmas, but has never been discussed in such a honest and clever manner. Even if it didn’t connect originally, this is a special film.

The story, while seemingly being very cut and dry as well as almost lazily simple, surprisingly offers a lot of humor and a lot of sentimentality. While the idea of a relative of Santa delivering a present to a single left-out child has a cuteness factor that could maybe function as a simple kid’s books, the manner in which this film tells its story is very mature and very memorable. It’s able to elevate itself by being a film that both embraces a modern and a timeless quality at the same time, which not only leans into the film’s overall message but also makes it a film that can be appreciated by all ages at all times. The film is paced really well, never dragging out scenes that don’t need to be and balances some truly great comedic bits with a wonderfully sense of heart and emotionally maturity. The films brilliance comes down to how well it tackles the old vs new argument, which is a discussion that isn’t only relevant to Christmas, but relevant to various factors of life in modern day. This is overall a very solid script by first-time director, Sarah Smith and Peter Baynham, who had previously worked on projects like Borat!, Brüno and the 2011 remake of Arthur, but also helped write Hotel Transylvania (so that and this film help drown the others out)  It showcases elements of the past, present, and future and how each has something positive and negative to bring to the table, but never goes to the point of making either completely good or evil. For a story and a message that could so easily be painted in broad strokes and stick to a conclusion that is clean-cut, this movie makes it clear that compromise is needed when dealing with this argument, and at the end of the day, the manner of execution is what matters rather than how it is done. It’s told in a way that kids can understand and relate with when they grow up, but it also speaks to adults that could be going through this debate themselves, and tying it back to the spirit of a holiday all about giving, it makes it all the more impactful, emotionally resonate and instantly memorable. The movie does have a rushed conclusion as well as a sloppy epilogue, but outside of that, this is a very well told story, especially for first time director Sarah Smith.

The characters, though very basic, are very easy to identify with. This cast is packed with exceptional talents like James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Bill Nighy, etc and they bring so much life and personality to these roles. All the voice acting for the characters in pitch perfect and mixes the humor and emotion effortlessly. James McAvoy continues to barely ever miss a mark and brings a lot of heart and innocence to Arthur, and for a character that could become annoying very easily, his honest simple desire to give this one child a present despite facing constant fears and dangers, is a very likeable trait and he makes for a very strong lead.  Ashley Jensen is also really good as Bryony, providing a character that is almost too obsessed with her wrapping capabilities, but uses it to the fullest potential which makes for a lot of fun scenes. In a story like this, especially where three different kinds of Santa exist and kind of halt the process of the story, it would so easy to make any of them bad guys, but each one has a relatable reason behind their selfish actions and it shows their point of view and gives them enough screen time so that no one feels like a wasted role. Each main character perfectly serves the message they’re telling, Steven believes in technology and advancing the future of present delivery which is effective also a little heartless, Grandsanta wants to return to the old days of going down chimneys but it is outdated and his mind set is more self-serving at first, and the current Santa just wants to keep doing the job himself which is single-minded and keeping his child from progressing, but he does it because of how much he loves it. It never picks a side; painting all with selfish tendencies but also a sympathetic side that can be related with, which means there is never really one villain, rather a bunch of viewpoints clashing with each other. At the centre is Arthur, who couldn’t care less about how it’s done and just the delivery to be complete, which leads to a resolution between all of them at the end which just feels very fulfilling.

This film provides some fast-paced, random, and largely entertaining levels of verbal and physical humor. This is a very good comedy in many ways not just through how fast and effective a good chunk of these jokes is, but because of the speed at which it delivers it humor, it might lead to someone missing a joke which would force them to watch it again just to see what they missed. Like most British comedies, they feel like they must be watched more than once to get every joke, and because it’s so fast-paced, if one doesn’t work, they can move on to the next one. While the designs on a lot of the characters do look very bizarre with odd features and structures, they are still made to be very expressive and likeable through their designs, even the creators told the animators to focus on making them feel British and quirky rather than appealing, so it did work out in that regard. This was a film that was co-produced between Sony Pictures Animation and Aardman Animation (who had only worked on a single feature film prior to this with DreamWorks in Flushed Away), and that combo not only explains the unique designs and wordy humor, but also the colorful and creative environments. The north pole is very high tech and industrialized, but still has a lot of color and creativity to it and the new gadget on display gives the film its own style and unique properties, but still captures the nostalgic magical feeling of Christmas. The winter skies and Christmas lights provide a nice comforting environment that just screams the Christmas season, and it never feels washed out or lazy. Even if the North pole is mainly covered in ice, the outside world is covered in reds, greens, and many other colors that juxtaposes the environments very well. This also works in the flying scenes in the sleigh. They capture the rush and energy of being on a roller coaster as well as the great visuals seen along with it. The film was co-directed by Barry Cook, who was an effects animator and visual effects supervisor on Disney projects like The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and even helped direct Mulan, so he knows how to work with animation and how to make it look really strong.

Arthur Christmas has so many elements that make it work brilliantly as a family film for all ages, and despite not working for people when it came out, people did eventually come to see it as not only a great film, but one that was smarter than people initially expected it to be. It’s very funny, the characters are all likeable, the cast is fantastic, the message is strong and smartly put together, it has heart and passion as well as intelligence, it has elements for kids and adults, and it can be seen at any time and still work on all those previous levels. Despite looking like it has nothing to draw people in, Arthur Christmas defies all those expectations and provides a great Christmas film that proves more than it realized to not pre-judge and think more openly about simple ideas. For Christmas time or just an anytime viewing, it’s a great gift that keeps on giving something charming with every re-watch.

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