''Arthur Christmas'' is a 2011 animated

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Sarah Smith who co-wrote the screenplay with

Peter Baynham Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter, stand-up comedian and performer. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Wales ...

, and starring the voices of

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. Fry and Laurie act ...

, Bill Nighy,

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...

Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...

, and

Ashley Jensen Ashley Jensen (born 11 August 1969) is a Scottish actress and narrator. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in '' Extras'' (2005–2007, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award), Christina McKinney in ''Ugly Betty'' (2006� ...

. Produced by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. (also referred to as Sony Animation Studios and abbreviated to SPA) is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and found ...

, and Aardman Features and distributed by

Sony Pictures Releasing Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group (formerly known as the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group until 2013, and abbreviated as SPMPG) is a division of Sony Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment to manage its motion picture operatio ...

, the film is Aardman's second computer-animated feature film after 2006's ''

Flushed Away ''Flushed Away'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features. The film was directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, from a screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keen ...

''. The film tells the story of Santa Claus' family as one of his sons works to deliver an overlooked bicycle to a little girl in Trelew, Cornwall, England before Christmas morning. Following the under-performance of ''Flushed Away'',

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

did not renew its partnership with Aardman. In April 2007, Aardman signed a three-year deal with

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

. Originally titled ''Operation Rudolph'', the project was first announced in 2007. Aardman spent 18 months on pre-production on the story and design in the UK before relocating to Sony's animation studio in Culver City, California, for another 18 months of production. On 27 April 2009, it was reported that production had begun with Aardman and Sony Pictures Imageworks working together on animation. ''Arthur Christmas'' was released on 11 November 2011 in the United Kingdom, and on 23 November in the United States. The film received positive reviews from critics, and was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

earning $147 million at the box office.

Plot

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

is a title belonging to gift-givers that has been carried on for 20 generations. The 20th Santa Claus named Malcolm Claus is heading his 70th mission, but his role has been reduced to that of a figurehead. The traditional sleigh and reindeer have been replaced by a high-tech vessel called the S-1 that is operated by hundreds of elves who use advanced equipment and military precision to deliver presents. These operations are micromanaged by Malcolm's son Steve underneath the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. Steve's clumsy and panophobic younger brother Arthur answers letters from kids. During a delivery operation, a child wakes up and almost sees Malcolm. An elf in the S-1 inadvertently presses a button, causing a present to fall off of a conveyor. After returning to the North Pole, Malcolm gives a congratulatory speech to the elves. He announces that he has decided to be Santa for another year, much to Steve's frustration; he had been anticipating becoming the next Santa. During the Clauses' Christmas dinner, Arthur's suggestion to play a board game degenerates into a petty argument while Malcolm's father, Grandsanta, criticizes the modernization of the present delivering. Distraught, the family members leave the dinner table. An elf named Bryony finds the missed present and alerts Steve. Arthur is horrified when he recognizes the present is a bicycle for a little girl named Gwen Hines who lives in Trelew, Cornwall, England. Arthur alerts his father who is at a loss as to how to handle the situation. Steve argues that one missed present is an acceptable error. Grandsanta on the other hand, proposes delivering the present using his old sleigh called Eve (mispronounced as Evie) and the great-great-grandchildren of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara (Lycia), Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya ...

' reindeer, forcefully whisking away Arthur and a stowaway Bryony. They get lost in three different continents, lose several reindeer, and land in danger several times, ultimately being mistaken for aliens and causing an international military incident. Through all of this, Arthur eventually learns that Grandsanta did not come for Gwen but to fulfill his ego. After losing the sleigh and the remaining reindeer, Grandsanta tells Arthur that the night that he last took the sleigh out, Malcolm and Steve decided to have the sleigh scrapped. Arthur realizes that it all comes down to having presents delivered, regardless of how it is done and who did it. With Grandsanta's and Bryony's help, he manages to recover the sleigh. After the elves start to panic about the neglected delivery, Steve, Malcolm and Mrs Claus take the S-1 to deliver a bike to Gwen. However, they end up in a Trelew in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

where Arthur, Grandsanta and Bryony were. Steve gives the bike to a little boy named Pedro but he tries to take it back after realizing that he is not in England. Arthur, Grandsanta and Bryony lose the remaining reindeer. A

General Atomics MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the Predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...

opens fire, causing them to bail out of the sleigh. All of the male Clauses arrive at Gwen's house before she wakes up only for all of them except Arthur to argue about who gets to place the present. Noticing that only Arthur truly cares about Gwen, they let him place the present. Steve, acknowledging that Arthur is the worthy Santa, forfeits his birthright to Arthur. One year later, a

postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language and dynamically typed, stack-based programming language. It is most commonly used in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm, but as a Turing complete programming language, it c ...

mentions that Malcolm retires and becomes Grand-Santa's new companion, Steve finds contentment as Chief Operating Officer, Bryony is promoted to Vice-President of Packing, Pacific Division, and the S-1 is renamed EVIE in honor of Grandsanta's sleigh and refitted to be pulled by five thousand reindeer led by the original eight who have managed to return safely.

Cast

Claus family

as Arthur Claus, Malcolm and Margaret's clumsy, eccentric, panophobic, and good-natured younger son who works in the mailroom. He is also Steve's younger brother and Grandsanta's younger grandson. *

as Steve Claus, Malcolm and Margaret's older son, Arthur's older brother and Grandsanta's older grandson who is cynical, joyless and incredibly capable of orienting businesses. * Bill Nighy as Grandsanta, the 136-year-old free-spirited and reckless grandfather of Steve and Arthur. He's a staunchly traditional former Santa (as well as Malcolm's father) who dislikes the modern world. A post-retirement joyriding incident during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

caused the Claus family to ban him from flying. He comes out of retirement to help Arthur, but his unfamiliarity with the modern world leads them into trouble. *

as Malcolm Claus / Santa Claus, the affable and ineffective man in charge at the North Pole. He is Grandsanta's son, Margaret's husband and Steve and Arthur's father. Broadbent also played the same character of Santa Claus in '' Get Santa'' (2014). *

as Margaret Claus / Mrs. Claus, Malcolm's wife and Steve and Arthur's mother.

Christmas elves

as Bryony Shelfley, a

Christmas elf In English-speaking world, English-speaking cultures, Christmas elves are diminutive elves that live with Santa Claus at the North Pole and act as his helpers. Christmas elves are usually depicted as green- or red-clad, with large, pointy ears and ...

with a Scottish accent who ends up tagging along with Arthur and Grandsanta on a mission to deliver the present for Gwen Hines. *

Marc Wootton Marc James Wootton (born 8 February 1975) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his role as Mr Poppy in the '' Nativity!'' film series. He also starred in the television series '' High Spirits with Shirley Ghostman'', ...

as Peter, a Christmas elf and Steve's obsequious assistant. *

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

as Ernie Clicker, a Christmas elf and the former head of the Polar communications. He is brought out of retirement to help Steve find Grandsanta's old-fashioned sleigh. The lead Christmas elves are voiced by

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two sketch comedy series ''Goodness Gracious Me (TV series), Goodness Gracious Me'' and as t ...

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He was appointe ...

Joan Cusack Joan Mary Cusack ( ; born October 11, 1962) is an American actress and comedian. She received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the comedy-drama '' Working Girl'' (1988) and the romantic comedy '' In ...

Rhys Darby Rhys Montague Darby (born 21 March 1974) is a New Zealand actor and comedian. He is known for his energetic physical comedy routines, telling stories accompanied with mime, and sound effects of things such as machinery and animals. He was nomin ...

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in the stage pl ...

, Iain McKee,

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his motion capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in ''The Lo ...

, and Dominic West. The other Christmas elves are voiced by

, Kevin Cecil, Cody Cameron, Kevin Eldon, Rich Fulcher, Bronagh Gallagher, Pete Jack, Danny John-Jules, Emma Kennedy, Stewart Lee, Seamus Malone, Kris Pearn, Alan Short, Sarah Smith, and Adam Tandy.

Other characters

* Ramona Marquez as Gwen Hines, a little girl who lives in Trelew, Cornwall, England. She wants a bicycle for Christmas that Arthur must deliver to. *

Laura Linney Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including two Golden Globe Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards and five Tony Awards. ...

as the voice of the North Pole computer *

Eva Longoria Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...

as Chief De Silva, the head of UNFITA (which stands for "United Northern Federal International Treaty Alliance"). * Jerry Lambert as N.O.R.A.D. * Miggie Donahoe as Pedro, a boy who Steve unknowingly tries to give a bicycle to after Malcolm entered the wrong Trelew into the S-1. * Finlay Duff as French Boy * Rich Hall as Idaho Man * Clint Dyer and Donnie Long as the two reporters * Deborah Findlay and David Schneider as the two generals * Ian Ashpitel,

Julia Davis Julia Davis (born August 1966) is an English actress, comedian, director and writer. She is known for writing and starring in the comedies Human Remains (TV series), ''Human Remains'' (2000) and ''Nighty Night'' (2004–2005). She later worke ...

and

Kerry Shale Kerry Shale (born 4 June 1952) is a Canadian actor based in London, England. His BBC Radio 4 comedy-drama ''The Kubrick Test'' was broadcast in 2020. He is the co-host of ''Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan'', a podcast about Bob Dylan ...

as the three UNFITA employees Additional voices by

Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is a British actress. She is known for both dramatic and comedic roles. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green W ...

and

Alistair McGowan Alistair Charles McGowan (born 24 November 1964) is an English impressionist, BAFTAaward winning comic, actor, pianist, poet, and writer. He starred in '' The Big Impression'' (formerly '' Alistair McGowan's Big Impression''). He has also wor ...

Production

''Arthur Christmas'' was first announced in 2007, under the name ''Operation Rudolph''. It was the first film made by

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited, known simply as Aardman, is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England, United Kingdom. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those fe ...

in partnership with

Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

and its subsidiaries (mainly

), after they parted ways with

. Aardman spent 18 months on pre-production on the story and design in the UK before relocating to Sony's Culver City, US, for another 18 months of production. On 27 April 2009, it was reported that production had begun with Aardman and Sony Pictures Imageworks working together on animation.

Music

The film was originally set to be scored by

Michael Giacchino Michael Giacchino ( , ; born October 10, 1967) is an American film, television, and video game score composer. He has received many accolades for his work, including an Academy Award for ''Up (2009 film), Up'' (2009), an Emmy Award, Emmy for Lo ...

and Adam Cohen. But, both were replaced by

Harry Gregson-Williams Harry Gregson-Williams (born 13 December 1961) is a British composer, conductor, orchestrator, and record producer. He has composed music for video games, television and films including the ''Metal Gear'' series, '' Spy Game'', '' Phone Booth' ...

at the last minute, having a short span to score the film. The music was distinguished into two approaches on how the Santa Claus family sees Christmas, especially through details that determine the two distinctive characters. Gregson-Williams described the score as devoid of electronics and led by tunes, melody and themes. He used an ensemble orchestra containing 80 players, to provide a colourful orchestration. The album was released on 14 November 2011 by

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired ...

Release

''Arthur Christmas'' was released on 11 November 2011 in the United Kingdom and on 23 November 2011 in the United States. The music video for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

's rendition of "

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas music, Christmas song written by John Frederick Coots, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show ...

", which plays over the end credits, was exclusively shown in theatres before the film.

Home media

''Arthur Christmas'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and Blu-ray 3D on 6 November 2012, in the US, and 19 November 2012 in the UK.

Reception

Critical response

''Arthur Christmas'' holds an approval rating of on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on reviews, with an average score of . The consensus reads, "Aardman Animations broadens their humor a bit for ''Arthur Christmas'', a clever and earnest holiday film with surprising emotional strength." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. John Anderson of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

'' praised the film as "not only funny and fresh, but . . . a new way of tackling the whole yuletide paradigm: Santa as a high-tech

hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is ...

." Michael O'Sullivan of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' described it as "unexpectedly fresh, despite the familiar-sounding premise". Neil Genzlinger of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote that "the plot may be a little too cluttered for the toddler crowd to follow, but the next age group up should be amused, and the script by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith has plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups." Rene Rodriguez of the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

'' stated that "the movie fails utterly at coming up with a story that merits all the eye candy." ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' film critic Olly Richards gave the film four out of five stars, feeling that the "UFO plotline doesn’t really hold together and, like Santa, the film’s a little flabby around the middle, where it briefly quite literally starts going round in circles and loses a bit of the fun. But it finds an ending that stuffs in all the Christmas jollity and huggy business that is absolutely core to a Christmas movie but without the overdone syrupy nonsense that makes you want to go to the nearest shopping centre and kick over a nativity scene." He concluded that the film "could very well come to be regarded as a Christmas classic". Independent Critic called ''Arthur Christmas'', "a good-hearted, silly and sweet film that it feels like the closest thing we've had in a few years to a minor Christmas classic. The film's mid-section flags a bit as Smith and co-writer Baynham can't quite seem to figure out how to completely flesh it out, but they recover nicely and serve up the holiday season's first salvo of cinematic delight", and praised the voice cast, though felt that Bieber's song was "a disappointingly commercial twist on an otherwise tender-hearted and infectious Christmas film for the entire family." One reviewer, while light in criticism of the animation, called Justin Bieber’s rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" "blatant" and "inexcusable".

Box office

''Arthur Christmas'' earned $46,462,469 in North America, $33,334,089 in the UK, and $67,622,914 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $147,419,472. In the United Kingdom the film opened in second place with a £2.5 million weekend gross, behind '' Immortals''. It topped the box office in its fourth week, by which time the cumulative gross was £11.5 million. The film returned to the top of the box office on week seven, during Christmas week, grossing £2.05 million and a total of £19.7 million. In the United States and Canada the film earned $2.4 million on its opening day and $1.8 million on Thanksgiving Day. It would go on to gross $12.1 million over the three-day weekend and $16.3 million over the five-day period. This was on par with studio expectations. The film went on to gross nearly $50 million domestically against a $100 million budget.

Accolades

Video game

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

video game titled ''Arthur Christmas: Elf Run'' was released in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2011, on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

. On 18 November 2011, the game was released worldwide on the iOS and Android platform. Released as a free and a premium version, the game allows players to play as delivery elves, who must quickly and quietly deliver gifts to children. Another iOS app based on the film is ''Arthur Christmas Movie Storybook'', which was released on 30 November 2011.

References

External links