Film
Bristol Film Festival: Arthur Christmas
- Director
- Sarah Smith
- Certificate
- U
- Running Time
- 97 mins
A step up from the unhappy experience that was Aardman’s previous foray into CGI, Flushed Away, Arthur Christmas was the first fruit of the great Bristol animation studio’s alliance with Sony back in 2011. There are only traces here of what one might describe as the distinctive Aardmanesque style pioneered by Peter Lord and Nick Park. But astonishing as it might seem, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit wasn’t a huge success internationally and the Aardfolk knew they needed the broadest possible appeal to secure a global hit. The good news is that (a) it’s one of the least mawkish Christmas movies ever made, and (b) it’s genuinely funny and inventive with a great voice cast.
The story kicks off with a precocious little girl from Cornwall writing to Santa at the North Pole fretting that she can’t find his grotto on Google Earth and that exponential global population growth means he couldn’t possibly visit every child on Christmas Eve. Except, of course, that he can, thanks to an army of elves and a giant high-tech craft called the S1, which helps them reach one household every 18.14 seconds. The military-style operation is overseen by bumbling Santa’s (Jim Broadbent) son and heir Steve (Hugh Laurie): a soulless, preening management type who contends that “Christmas isn’t a time for emotion” and dismisses his father as no more than “a fatty in a suit”. Steve craves his inheritance, but it’s his brother, geeky Christmas nerd Arthur (James McAvoy), who has to save the day when a child is missed out. In this, he’s assisted by perky elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen) and the film’s real star, crotchety old Grandsanta (Bill Nighy), who never tires of pointing out that things were better in his day.
Although the film labours in the shadow of Pixar, which isn’t helped by the fact that vainglorious Steve looks a little like Mr. Incredible while Arthur resembles Linguini from Ratatouille, its depiction of the dysfunctional Santa clan means we’re spared most of the family values guff that lesser animations trade in. The globe-trotting story zips along with plenty of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it funny business in the margins (watch out for the giant tube of ‘Chimney Lube’ in the corner of Grandsanta’s lair), including several nods in the direction of Wallace and Gromit. It’s also the first children’s animation to namecheck the Cuban Missile Crisis.
is needed now More than ever
This Bristol Film Festival screening is part of the Hype Pop-Up Cinema season at the Passenger Shed. Go here for ticket information.
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