Christopher's Christmas Mission (1975 TV Movie) User Reviews

A delightful animated comedy about the Christmas spirit

[stefan-144 · 8/10 · 13 January 2003]

In English: 'The Christmas Eve of Karl-Bertil Jonsson'. This little story, by comedy writer Tage Danielsson and artist Per Ahlin, is a jewel.

With equal portions of affection and humor, the story of the young boy Karl-Bertil, and how he spends Christmas, is told. He takes the Christmas spirit far, when working at the post office and deciding to re-address Christmas gifts, so that they end up with poor people. His father finds it out, but what happens next is not what daddy had surmised.

The style of animation is original and charming, with a well-found sort of antique air to it, and the story unfolds very pleasantly - still not ignorant of the injustices in the society portrayed. A social message is presented, but in a very sweet and enjoyable way.

Tage Danielsson had a very personal way of combining pathos with comic ease, and this is one of the best examples of it.

A both funny, intelligent and warm film!

[Zaphod Beeblebrox · 8/10 · 24 November 2001]

"Sagan om Karl Bertil Jonssons julafton" might be the cutest Swedish movie of all times. It's about Karl Bertil, the son of a very rich man, who steals Christmas presents from the rich and give them to the poor.

The movie is both funny, intelligent and warm. And even though it´s quite simple, it really touches my heart.

The film is sent on Swedish television every Christmas Eve, and Christmas would not be the same without it.

Big-Hearted Humour

[UACW · 22 November 2005]

Shown mostly every Xmas in Sweden, this 'short' is typical of the output of Tage Danielsson, one of the greatest and brightest figures of Swedish entertainment and even political thought.

Ever incisive, Tage could cut to the quick with skits that had you rolling in the aisles - and feeling good at the same time (which is no mean feat).

And he always had a message with all that he did. And this Xmas story is no exception.

It's brilliant, it's brilliantly narrated (by Tage himself of course) and no Xmas at home in Sweden would be really complete without it.

Let's all play homage to a great man and thank him for what he gave us all those years - Tage tragically died in skin cancer at an early age. I was fortunate enough to meet him privately, and he was every bit the same person the public knew him as.

A truly great man - and here is yet another gem he gave us. Enjoy. It's a lot of laughter, but it's extremely big hearted. It will make your Xmas all the more full of warmth.

The best of swedish christmas.

[Make_me_bad · 10/10 · 25 December 2002]

When it comes to christmas, we have some stupid traditions in sweden. One is the one-hour mix of seriously downsized disney movie-cuts. It´s one of the seeeeerious traditions here. I don´t like it, but it takes the attention of about 50 percent of the swedish population for one hour, so I guess it haves some kind of value. I always wonder what the other 4 million does between 3 and 4 in the afternoon... Anyway, the story about Karl-Bertil Jonsson is really what christmas is about. A young man who works at the post-office takes all the gifts that are adressed to the rich people, and then gives them to the less fortunate. When he have to admit this to his very capitalistic father what he has done, all hell breaks loose. His father forces him to go to everyone he has "stolen" from, and admit his crime, but to everyones surprise, all the rich people are just delighted whit Karl-Bertils little christmas-scam... It may sound silly, but the comments (impossible to give to you in english in their right value of entertainment, but trust me, I cry in my laughter every christmas), and the nice story, makes it impossible to not love this story. I pity the fools that not are

given the possibility to see this.

Swedish Christmas

[pleinelune · 10/10 · 15 September 2005]

This lovely little story really represents Christmas as I know it... in Sweden most people spend a good part of Christmas Eve watching TV and this is one of the shows that has come to be a celebrated tradition, broad-casted every Christmas Eve for the last couple of decades. It is the tale of a modern day Robin-Hood whose generosity at first is met with suspicion but finally he manages to remind everyone he meets what Christmas is all about - giving and loving not greed for all the right presents.

The animations are funny and well done and the warm and comforting voice of Tage Danielsson guides us through the film, leaving us with a warm fuzzy beautiful Christmas feeling deep within.

The morality booster of the year!

[sarah-81 · 10/10 · 25 December 2001]

This short animated film is shown once a year on Christmas eve in Sweden and it can´t be missed. Karl Bertils sweet mind helps us common mortals to behave for another year. The tale is narrated by the lovely voice of Tage Danielsson, a wonderful comedian, now past away.

A perfect, sparkling little gem of a film

[magnuskennedal · 10/10 · 21 October 2020]

Beautiful and charming imagery with a wonderful story about the true spirit of Christmas. This is to me, the ultimate Christmas film. The voice actors, the writing, the humour and the warm atmosphere but still with a streak of darkness. It is absolute perfection. There is not a single thing that could have been done better. It's probably the best animated film ever made in Sweden. Those are some of the resons I watch this film almost every Christmas.

Hasn't aged too well

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 1 September 2015]

The international title of this 23-minute animated short film "Christopher's Christmas Mission" is fairly different to the Swedish "Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons julafton". Even the title character's name is different. Per Åhlin directed this movie fairly early in his career, even if he was already over 40. It is based on the story by Tage Danielsson, who also voices one of the main characters. It is a classic holiday film in Sweden and I cannot say that this is very much in favor of Swedish television. This short movie has a couple decent moments, but as a whole it's not a great success either in emotional warmth or in terms of comedy. The animation is okay for the 1970s and if you have seen some other Scandinavian animated films, you can see that it's a similar style they use. Sometimes, it also reminded me of the German "Werner Beinhart" movies. All in all, not a must-see by any means.

Traditional Xmas rerun...

[Wildman-10 · 28 September 1999]

I really love this little TV-film. It's just about 25 minutes long but truly a masterpiece; the tone, the humour, the message and perhaps most of all - the soundtrack.

Per Åhlins art work is superb.

Swedish Television has shown this on Xmas Eve every year since 1975. Bless it.