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:

Operation Santa Claus is coming to town!

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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 Arthur saves Gwens drawing from the fire the top left corner is burnt away. When he reaches Trelew he looks at the drawing and it is whole again.

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Quotes

Santa: [Santa drops from the S-1 and lands on a roof] Ho-Ho-Ho!

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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 The Big Picture: Arthur Christmas (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Ding Dong Merrily On High"
Written by Thoinot Arbeau and George Ratcliffe Woodward

User Reviews

A new take on an old Santa story

"A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together." Garrison Keillor

Where I live, too many Christmas Carol adaptations take the place of imaginative theater productions that could celebrate the holidays without the requisite Scrooge redemption. Arthur Christmas is a refreshing new take on the countless Santa stories, notwithstanding my favorite: Bad Santa, which satisfies my need for the new and irreverent.

Arthur (James McAvoy) is one of Santa's two sons, a bungler with a big heart. He takes it on his own to bring a present to the one girl in all the land whose present was not delivered. His technocrat brother, Steve (Hugh Laurie), has been responsible for the mis-delivery, although his array of laptops for elves and computerized delivery system is impressive. The head versus the heart forms the central conflict, providing laughs and groans but never in a mean way as in Bad Santa.

Aardman CG works its animation magic to create big-nosed, elongated-faced characters like GrandSanta (Bill Nighy), Santa (Jim Broadbent), and Mrs. Santa (Imelda Staunton), all of whom are fleshed out as loving characters with quirks just right for their roles.

In regard to developing character, Aardman goes nose to nose with Pixar. The use of 3-D is unobtrusive as it is in Martin Scorsese's Hugo with the process useful to give flights of the sleighs a grand feel, swooping in and out of perspective. Yet, in the end, regardless of the jazzy visuals, it's a lovely and exciting story for the holidays. As soon as the younger audience adjusts to the Brit accents, and that doesn't take long, they will enjoy the high spirits, good will, dry humor, and imagination they deserve and should expect from the masters of unique animation.

It's wonderful filmmaking that touches the heart with affectionate Brit humor.