Arthur Christmas
The creators decided to approach the character design with the idea to make them feel British and quirky, not air-brushed or appealing.,Scandinavia celebrates Christmas on the eve of the 24th. So even though Denmark is apparently Santa's first stop on Christmas night, the children would have long since unwrapped their presents when he got there.,Grandsanta: You were right, Arthur. It doesn't matter how Santa's gift gets there. Doesn't even matter if it's Mr. Postman in his spaceship.
Arthur: As long as it gets there.
Grandsanta: You made it happen, lad! No one got left out.,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.,Also shown in 3D version.,Featured in The Big Picture: November 2011 (2011),Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie
Published by EMI Music Publishing Ltd. and Larry Spier Music LLC o/b/o Haven Gillespie Music Publishing
Produced by Christopher Stewart (as C. "Tricky" Stewart) and Aaron Pearce
Vocals produced by Kuk Harrell
Background vocals by and Bryan Jackson,"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.,