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Arthur Christmas is a 2011 British-American 3D computer animatedChristmas comedy film, produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation as their first collaborative project. The film was released on 11 November 2011, in the UK, and on 23 November 2011, in the USA.[4]
Directed by Sarah Smith, and co-directed by Barry Cook,[4] it features voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen. Set on Christmas night, the film tells a story about Santa Claus's clumsy son Arthur Claus who discovers that the Santa's high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present. In response, he goes on a mission to save her Christmas, accompanied only by his ageing grandfather, a rebellious yet enthusiastic young Christmas Elf obsessed with wrapping gifts for children, and a team of eight strong, magical yet untrained reindeer.
Arthur Christmas was very well received by critics, who praised its animation and humorous, smart and heart-warming story.[5] The film earned $147 million at the box office on a $100 million budget.
On Christmas Eve, hundreds of Christmas elves helm the command centre of Santa Claus's mile-wide,[6] ultra–high-tech sleigh-esque craft, the S-1. The current Santa (Malcolm) and the Christmas elves deliver presents to every child in the world using advanced equipment and military precision. These complex operations are micromanaged by Malcolm's militaristic eldest son Steve and his obsequious elfin assistant Peter (among thousands of more elves) at mission control underneath the North Pole, while his younger son, the clumsy, fearful yet enthusiastic Arthur devotedly answers the letters to Santa. During one of the delivery operations in Germany a child wakes up and almost sees Malcolm; in the tense escape operation, a Christmas elf aboard the S-1 inadvertently leans on a button, causing a present to fall from the supply line and go unnoticed.
Having completed his 70th mission, Malcolm is portrayed as far past his prime and whose role in field operations now is largely symbolic. Nonetheless, he is held in high esteem, and delivers a congratulatory speech to the enraptured elves. Much to Steve's frustration, who has long anticipated his succeeding the role and prepared for this mission to be the handover, Malcolm announces he looks forward to his 71st. During their family Christmas dinner, Arthur's suggestion for the family to play a board game degenerates into a tense quarrel between Malcolm and Steve, while Malcolm's father and predecessor Grandsanta, bored by retirement, resentfully criticises their over-modernization. After Grandsanta knocks the board off the table, Steve's PDA (a high tech device named a 'HOHO') flashes and he leaves the table in a hurry. Later, their father shares with his wife Margaret his grave doubts about his self-identity should he retire.
Arthur follows Steve, and the two learn that a Christmas elf named Bryony found the missed present — a wrapped bicycle for a little girl in England called Gwen, to whose letter Arthur had personally responded. Arthur alerts his father, who is at a loss as to how to handle the situation; Steve argues that one missed present out of billions is an acceptable error whose correction can wait a few days, citing this year's Christmas as the most successful in history. Grandsanta on the other hand, on learning of the dire situation, proposes delivering the gift using Eve, his old wooden sleigh, and the great-great-grandchildren of the original eight reindeer, forcefully whisking away a reluctant Arthur and a stowaway Bryony. In the process the three get lost in three different continents, lose several of their reindeer, and land in danger several times, ultimately being mistaken for aliens and causing an international military incident. Through all this, Arthur eventually learns, to his compounding disappointment, that Grandsanta's true motive is to fulfill his ego. Steve refuses to help them out of petty resentment and possibility of his brother being made hero overshadowing his work and that his own father has gone to bed, apparently content even though a present was not delivered.
Finally, stranded in Cuba after losing the sleigh and the remaining reindeer, Arthur renews his sense of purpose—that it all comes down to having presents delivered, regardless of how it is done and who did it—and with Grandsanta's and Bryony's help manages to recover the sleigh. Meanwhile, the elves grow increasingly alarmed at rumours of this neglected delivery and the Clauses' unthinkable indifference, sending them into a panic. In response, Malcolm, Margaret, and Steve take the high-tech sleigh-craft to deliver a superior present—albeit to the wrong child.
Arthur and his party manage to reach England, but lose the remaining reindeer; furthermore a US Predator drone scrambled by Chief De Silva of UNFITA intercepts and opens fire on the sleigh believing them to be aliens, leading Arthur and Bryony to parachute to the ground. Ultimately with Margaret and Bryony's help, all the male Clauses arrive at Gwen's house before she awakens, only to have all but Arthur quarrel about who gets to actually place the gift. Noticing that only Arthur truly cares about the girl's feelings, the elder Clauses collectively realize that he is the sole worthy successor. As a result, Malcolm gives Arthur the honour and Steve, upon learning of his own errors, acknowledges that his brother is the worthy Santa instead of him and forfeits his supposed birthright. In a fitting conclusion, Gwen glimpses a snow-bearded Arthur in a wind-buffeted sweater just before he vanishes up into the S-1.
With the crisis resolved, Malcolm goes into a happy retirement with Margaret; he also becomes Grandsanta's much-desired new companion and plays Arthur's board game with him for many happy hours. Meanwhile, Steve finds true contentment as the Chief Operating Officer of the North Pole, while Bryony is promoted to Vice-President of Packing, Pacific Division. In a nod to traditionalism once neglected, the high-tech S-1 is re-christened EVIE in honour of Grandsanta's old sleigh and refitted to be pulled by a team of five thousand reindeer—led by the original eight, all of whom managed to return safely via innate navigational abilities. Finally, Arthur happily guides the entire enterprise in the proper spirit as the new Santa.
| Arthur Christmas | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sarah Smith |
| Produced by | Steve Pegram |
| Written by | Peter Baynham Sarah Smith |
| Story by | Sarah Smith (uncredited) |
| Starring | James McAvoy Hugh Laurie Bill Nighy Jim Broadbent Imelda Staunton Ashley Jensen |
| Music by | Harry Gregson-Williams |
| Cinematography | Jericca Cleland |
| Edited by | John Carnochan James Cooper |
Production
company | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
| 97 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million[2] |
| Box office | $147 million[3] |
