Arthur Christmas (2011)

On Christmas night at the North Pole, Santa's youngest son looks to use his father's high-tech operation for an urgent mission.

Directors:

Sarah Smith, Barry Cook

Writers:

Peter Baynham (screenplay), Sarah Smith (screenplay)

Stars:

James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James McAvoy	...	Arthur (voice)
Hugh Laurie	...	Steve (voice)
Bill Nighy	...	Grandsanta (voice)
Jim Broadbent	...	Santa (voice)
Imelda Staunton	...	Mrs. Santa (voice)
Ashley Jensen	...	Bryony (voice)
Marc Wootton	...	Peter (voice)
Laura Linney	...	North Pole Computer / S-1 Computer (voice)
Eva Longoria	...	Chief De Silva (voice)
Ramona Marquez	...	Gwen (voice)
Michael Palin	...	Ernie Clicker (voice)
Sanjeev Bhaskar	...	Lead Elf (voice)
Robbie Coltrane	...	Lead Elf (voice)
Joan Cusack	...	Lead Elf (voice)
Rhys Darby	...	Lead Elf (voice)

Storyline

Arthur Christmas reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child's question: 'So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?' The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the center of the film is a story about a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | north pole | sleigh | elf | reindeer | 

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Taglines:

All elf breaks loose

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some mild rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arthur Christmas in 3D

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$12,068,931 (USA) (18 November 2011)

Gross:

$46,440,491 (USA) (6 January 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aardman Animations, Sony Pictures Animation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Script writer Peter Baynham, born in Cardiff, Wales, included a reference to an obscure bit of Welsh history in his script, with Mimosa Avenue in Trelew. In 1865, about 150 Welsh emigrants sailed on the ship Mimosa to Patagonia, Argentina. They founded a town called Trelew, where there is now a street called Mimosa, after the ship. Baynham postulated an avenue by that name in Trelew, Cornwall, to complete the confusion between the two locations. (The movie's placement of Trelew in Mexico, instead of Argentina, is apparently an error.)

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Goofs

When the seal enters Santa's North Pole Control Center a bird flies overhead and poops on Steve. The continuation of that scene shows no poop on his suit, and then it reappears a short while later.

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Quotes

Steve: [Steve gets a phone call on his Ho-Ho, it wakes him up] Hello? What Elf?
Peter: Bryony, the crazy wrapping elf! Security tagged her to I.T and we think Arthur was there!
Steve: Arthur?
Peter: Who else leaves the door open?
Steve: The old sleigh barn? That was sealed up decades ago. After that terrible night, Grandsanta sneaked out and... Thank goodness he is too old these days to get into trouble

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Crazy Credits

After the end of the credits, there is a seven second scene, all in black silhouette on a blue background. One of the elf-lowering-cables descends, pauses, then lifts up an elf, who proceeds to throw snowballs at the screen until it's all black.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Skyfall (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Silent Night"
Written by Joseph Mohr, Franz Gruber (as Franz Xaver Gruber) and John Freeman Young

User Reviews

The Christmas Heart

Arthur Christmas is one of those animated films that throws too much craziness throughout the adventure and ends with a powerful heartwarming twist. There is an animated film just released this year and last year that is really similar to the storyline of this(Despicable Me and Mars Needs Moms). The plot is too simple but the whole matter goes to the heart and the comedy because it's a family movie. It works well enough but it could have been better if the adventure is quite interesting and less mediocre. It's also good as a Christmas movie. It has the true heart of the holiday. Arthur Christmas might be one of the best holiday films I've seen this year so far.

Arthur Christmas is a futuristic turn to the life's work of Santa Claus. It's a great concept. From sleigh and reindeers to a flying ship. But the whole story belongs to Santa's son, Arthur. His heart really shines the very small plot and makes it bigger. It's disappointing in the second act though. It relies to nothing but throwing all the gags they could give. GrandSanta keeps going to the wrong way and do something crazy all around the world. It feels mediocre and extraneous. But it can be pretty fun though. The third act saves most of the film. Bringing back the true heart and spirit of Christmas.

The characters are fun. No wonder, this is Aardman and they always have great character development. The CGI is really solid. It's not clay animation nor a CGI animation that tries to look like stop motion. It's just solid. The score keeps the spirits up. The performances were great. James McAvoy makes Arthur a one lovable dork. We loved it. Hugh Laurie and Jim Broadbent are both delightful and Bill Nighy nearly steals the show. He has the best gags. Grandsanta's loyalty to his generation and his crazy antics. The rest of the cast are also fun.

Saddest thing about Aardman, most of their movies (besides of Chicken Rush and Wallace and Gromit) ends up being forgettable even though they are pretty good and imaginative. And it looks like Arthur Christmas didn't do well in the box office. Well, I strongly recommend Arthur Christmas this Holiday. It's a perfect Christmas movie to watch this year. The second act may be crazy and mediocre but the film ends beautifully. Then there, I saw this in 3D, it ends giving me a smile in my face, ran away when the song in the end credits started, and is happy.