Arthur, King Of Christmas

The latest offering from Wallace and Gromit studio Aardman is Arthur Christmas which follows the exploits of the Santa family on a particularly hectic Christmas Eve. As with similar films like Fred Claus and Santa Claus The Movie we get to see a contemporary imagining of how the Father Christmas lore operates in the 20^th/21^st century whilst getting an understanding of how things of changed by getting to know the three generations of the clan.

This is a rather splendid Christmas family movie that performs a fantastic balancing act on many different levels. You’ve got modern CGI animation mixed with Aardman’s traditional character designs, there’s a high tech North Pole balanced with the timeless magic of old, there’s a perfect balance between family drama and broad sharp comedy and the unexpected balance of a quirky British story with a more sentimental American appeal. This is well written stuff with a great race-against-time plot and some wonderfully timed visual gags.

The voice cast is exceptional with McAvoy almost unrecognizable as the naïve and enthusiastic title character, Hugh Laurie as his authoritive older brother expecting to inherita the Santa Claus title, bumbling Jim Broadbent as the leader (in title only) of the Santa clan and the scene stealing Bill Nighy as the irrepressible Grandsanta. Witty, clever, warm and charming this is exactly the sort of thing I want to watch post-Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day afternoon.