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Arthur Christmas (2011)

Arthur Christmas (2011)

PG

A hilarious, underseen holiday gem that's sweet and smart enough for adults and kids

8.0

Movie

UK, United Kingdom
English, Spanish
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama
2011
BARRY COOK, FEMALE DIRECTOR
Adam Tandy, Alistair McGowan, Andy Serkis
97 min

8.0

The Staff

imdb
rt
wiki

What it's about

Each Christmas, Santa and his vast army of highly trained elves produce gifts and distribute them around the world in one night. However, when one of 600 million children to receive a gift from Santa on Christmas Eve is missed, it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to all but one—Arthur. Arthur Claus is Santa’s misfit son who executes an unauthorised rookie mission to get the last present half way around the globe before dawn on Christmas morning.

The take

A recent holiday classic you likely haven't seen, Arthur Christmas uses its premise of the North Pole as a massive spy organization to touch on how commercialization tears people apart. It's a surprisingly smart film with a fascinating dynamic among its family of Santas, with an incredibly funny script full of dry, British wit. And while the animation may already look dated at first glance, Arthur Christmas more than makes up for its looks with truly imaginative art direction and director Sarah Smith's fast-paced set pieces. This is that rare Chirstmas movie that doesn't just surrender to schmaltz; the lessons learned by the characters here are unique, complex, and timeless.

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