Man am I excited to talk to you guys about Arthur Christmas today. This was the second collaboration between Sony Pictures Animation and Aardman Animations and I think it is the best work they did together. It is a true gem of a Christmas movie and one that is essential to view each December in my house.
How to Stream or Download Arthur Christmas
You can stream it or you can download the film from a digital store, click on the Download button at the end of this review. If you like animated movies with a Christmas theme, check out also The Polar Express, and Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch.
The Movie Review
As well as being the second collaboration between the two animation studios, Arthur Christmas is also the second movie from Aardman Animations to be computer-generated instead of stop motion. While I love his stop motion work, I think that the computer-generated approach worked in this movie’s favor.
The plot of the movie revolves around Arthur Claus who is the son of the big man himself, Santa. Arthur learns that there was a mishap this year and a little girl has been missed off the list and is not going to get any gifts! Arthur who still believes in the true spirit of Christmas takes it upon himself to make sure this one little girl gets the happy Christmas she deserves.
Arthur is not alone in his quest, he is joined by Bryony, a feisty elf, and his grandfather, Grandsanta. Grandsanta is absolutely hilarious and probably my favorite part of the movie in all honesty. With the likes of James McAvoy, Bill Nighy, Hugh Laurie, Ashley Jensen, and Jim Broadbent, Arthur Christmas has a fantastic voice cast bringing this animated tale to life.
When you think of Aardman Animations, stop motion comes to mind, but the work they did here with Sony Pictures Animation is amazing stuff. This is one fantastic-looking movie and what I like best about the way it looks is the facial animations of the characters, it really does add a great deal to the movie.
One of the best aspects of this movie is its heart. It points a finger at how commercialized Christmas has become and it is fantastic stuff. Santa does not even deliver presents anymore, it is all the elves that do it and he is just the head of the company. Santa is your typical jerk kind of boss that takes all of the credit when things are going well, but will never take any of the flak when they are not.
I think the message of the movie is one that we can all relate to. Yes, this is a fun-filled family movie that is great to watch in the run-up to Christmas. However, it also does a great job of reminding us just how much many of us have lost what the true meaning of Christmas is about. Reminding people that Christmas is about family is a great message for younger kids to pick up on.
In my house, we have a list of movies that we always work our way through each Christmas. Ever since we first watched Arthur Christmas, it has been featured on our Christmas watch list each year. This is just a great family movie and a movie that is going to make you laugh, but it also has a lot of heart that will make you think about things as well.
