Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas is a 2011 animated Christmas comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Aardman Animations, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is Aardman's second mostly computer-animated feature film after 2006's Flushed Away. It was directed by Sarah Smith (in her feature directorial debut), co-directed by Barry Cook, and written by Smith and Peter Baynham. Featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen, the film centres on Arthur Claus, the clumsy but well-meaning son of Santa Claus, who discovers that his father's high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present. Accompanied only by his free-spirited and reckless grandfather, an enthusiastic Christmas elf obsessed with wrapping gifts, and a team of reindeer, he embarks on a mission to deliver the girl's present personally in the early morning hours of Christmas Day before sunrise.

Following the underperformance of Flushed Away, DreamWorks Animation did not renew its partnership with Aardman. In April 2007, Aardman signed a three-year deal with Sony. Originally titled Operation Rudolph, the project was first announced in 2007. Aardman spent 18 months on pre-production on the story and design in the UK before relocating to Sony's animation studio in Culver City, California, for another 18 months of production. On 27 April 2009, it was reported that production had begun with Aardman and Sony Pictures Imageworks working together on animation.

Arthur Christmas was released on 11 November 2011 in the United Kingdom, and on 23 November in the United States, by Sony Pictures Releasing through its Columbia Pictures label. The film received positive reviews from critics, and earned $147 million at the box office.

Plot
Instead of a single individual, Santa Claus is a hereditary title belonging to gift-givers that has been carried on for generations. The current Santa, Malcolm Claus, is heading his seventieth mission, but his role has largely been reduced to that of a figurehead. The traditional sleigh and reindeer have been replaced by the S-1, a high-tech vessel operated by hundreds of elves that use advanced equipment and military precision to deliver presents. The complex Christmas operations are micromanaged from a North Pole-based Mission Control by Malcolm's eldest son, Steve, who expects to inherit the role of Santa following his father's retirement. Malcolm's son in his early-20’s, Arthur, answers letters sent from children to Santa.

One Christmas Eve, during the delivery operation in Poland, a toy is accidentally activated, waking a child and nearly revealing Santa. An escape operation ensues, during which an elf aboard the S-1 leans on a button, causing a present to fall from the supply line and go unnoticed. Another elf, Bryony Shelfley, finds the present—a wrapped bicycle for a girl, Gwen Hines, from Trelew, Cornwall, whose letter Arthur had personally responded to. Arthur is upset that a child's been missed and urges his father and brother to use the S-1 and deliver the present but Steve, frustrated that Malcolm has chosen to stay as Santa longer, argues that one missed present out of billions is an acceptable error, citing this year's Christmas as the most successful in history. Malcolm's elderly father and predecessor, Grandsanta, whisks Arthur away to deliver it in EVE, the original wooden sleigh that is pulled by the descendants of the original eight flying reindeer. Bryony, who actually stowed away, joins the pair, but they get lost on different continents, lose many reindeer and encounter obstacles, ultimately being mistaken for aliens and causing an international military incident. Arthur is hurt to learn that Grandsanta only agreed to go on the trip to boost his own ego, Malcolm is indifferent to the missing present, and Steve refuses to help them because he believes Arthur's efforts could undermine his attempts to become the next Santa.

Eventually stranded on an island in Cuba, Arthur is disillusioned with his family but ultimately realizes that so long as the gift is delivered, the "Santa" Arthur and Gwen look up to exists in the hearts of children. Reinvigorated, Arthur tries to get the trio to England and manages to get the sleigh back. Meanwhile, the elves grow alarmed at rumors of the neglected delivery and the Clauses' indifference, sending them into a panic. In response, Malcolm tricks his wife Margaret into believing Steve gave them permission to use the S-1 to deliver Gwen's gift, only for a furious Steve to confront his father onboard and a dejected Malcolm recognises his inability to properly lead. Steve drives the S-1 and delivers a superior present, only to realise that Malcolm had accidentally set the address to the wrong child, revealing Steve's inability to connect with children.

Arthur's group reach England but lose the remaining reindeer. A Predator drone scrambled by Chief De Silva of UNFITA intercepts and opens fire on the sleigh, believing it to be an alien spacecraft. Grandsanta sacrifices EVE, while Arthur and Bryony parachute to the ground. All paths descend on Gwen's house before she awakens, only to have everyone but Arthur quarrel about who gets to place the gift. Noticing that Arthur was the only one who genuinely cared about Gwen's happiness, the elder Clauses realize that he is the sole worthy successor. Steve recognises his own shortcomings, forfeits his birthright and acknowledges his brother's worthiness to take up the mantle, with Malcolm admitting he is proud of his sons. Gwen glimpses a snow-bearded Arthur in a wind-buffeted sweater before he vanishes up into the S-1, ultimately thinking she imagined "Santa".

Malcolm goes into a happy retirement with Margaret, becomes Grandsanta's much-desired new companion and plays Arthur's board game with him for hours. Steve finds true contentment as the chief operating officer of the North Pole. Bryony is promoted to Vice-President of Wrapping, Pacific Division. The S-1 is rechristened EVIE in honor of Grandsanta's old sleigh and refitted to be pulled by five thousand reindeer led by the original eight, all of whom have returned home safely. At the helm, Arthur guides the enterprise as Santa Claus XXI.

Voice cast
Lead elves are voiced by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Robbie Coltrane, Joan Cusack, Rhys Darby, Jane Horrocks, Iain McKee, Andy Serkis, and Dominic West.
 * James McAvoy as Arthur Claus, the clumsy and eccentric but good-natured younger son of Malcolm and Margaret who works in the mail room.
 * Hugh Laurie as Steven Claus, Malcolm and Margaret's elder son and Arthur's incredibly capable, business oriented, but cynical and joyless older brother who expects to be his father's successor.
 * Bill Nighy as Grandsanta, the 136-year-old free-spirited and reckless grandfather of Steve and Arthur, a staunchly traditional former Santa who dislikes the modern world. He was Malcolm's predecessor and the 19th Santa, serving from 1902 to 1941. A post-retirement joyriding incident during the Cuban Missile Crisis caused the Claus family to ban him from flying. He comes out of retirement to help Arthur, though his unfamiliarity with the modern world leads them into trouble.
 * Jim Broadbent as Malcolm Claus, the affable but ineffective man in charge at the North Pole. He is Grandsanta's son, Margaret's husband, and Steve's and Arthur's father. He has held the title of Santa since 1941 and is the 20th to serve in that role.
 * Imelda Staunton as Margaret Claus, Malcolm's dedicated and talented wife, and mother of Steve and Arthur.
 * Ashley Jensen as Bryony Shelfley, Wrapping Division Grade 3, the Scottish-accented enthusiastic Christmas Elf from the Giftwrap Battalion who ends up tagging along with Arthur and Grandsanta.
 * Marc Wootton as Peter, Steve's obsequious assistant Christmas Elf.
 * Laura Linney as North Pole Computer
 * Eva Longoria as Chief De Silva, the head of UNFITA (United Northern Federal International Treaty Alliance).
 * Ramona Marquez as Gwen Hines, the girl who lives in a Cornish village of Trelew whose present Arthur must deliver.
 * Michael Palin as Ernie Clicker, the elderly elf and former head of Polar communications for 46 missions during Grand-Santa's time as Santa Claus. He is brought out of retirement to help Steven track Grandsanta's old-fashioned sleigh.
 * Jerry Lambert as N.O.R.A.D.
 * Ryan Patrick Donahoe as Pedro

Elves are voiced by Pete Jack, Sarah Smith, Rich Fulcher, Kris Pearn, Kevin Cecil, Stewart Lee, Peter Baynham, Danny John-Jules, Adam Tandy, Bronagh Gallagher, Alan Short, Kevin Eldon, Seamus Malone, Cody Cameron and Emma Kennedy.

Production
Arthur Christmas was first announced in 2007, under the name Operation Rudolph. It was the first film made by Aardman in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment and its subsidiaries (mainly Sony Pictures Animation), after they parted ways with DreamWorks Animation.

Aardman spent 18 months on pre-production on the story and design in the UK before relocating to Sony's Culver City, US, for another 18 months of production. On 27 April 2009, it was reported that production had begun with Aardman and Sony Pictures Imageworks working together on animation.

Music
The film was originally set to be scored by Michael Giacchino and Adam Cohen. But, both were replaced by Harry Gregson-Williams at the last minute, having a short span to score the film. The music was distinguished into two approaches on how the Santa Claus family sees Christmas, especially through details that determine the two distinctive characters. Gregson-Williams described the score as devoid of electronics and led by tunes, melody and themes. He used an ensemble orchestra containing 80 players, to provide a colorful orchestration. The album was released on 14 November 2011 by Sony Classical.

Release
The film was released on 11 November 2011 in the United Kingdom and on 23 November 2011 in the United States. The music video for Justin Bieber's song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", which plays over the end credits, was exclusively shown in theatres before the film.

Home media
Arthur Christmas was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on 6 November 2012, in the US, and 19 November 2012 in the UK.

Critical response
Arthur Christmas holds an approval rating of on Rotten Tomatoes based on  reviews, with an average score of. The consensus reads, "Aardman Animations broadens their humor a bit for Arthur Christmas, a clever and earnest holiday film with surprising emotional strength." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 69 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

John Anderson of Newsday praised the film as "not only funny and fresh, but . . . a new way of tackling the whole yuletide paradigm: Santa as a high-tech hereditary monarchy." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post described it as "unexpectedly fresh, despite the familiar-sounding premise". Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "the plot may be a little too cluttered for the toddler crowd to follow, but the next age group up should be amused, and the script by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith has plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups." Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald stated that "the movie fails utterly at coming up with a story that merits all the eye candy." Empire film critic Olly Richards gave the film four out of five stars, feeling that the "UFO plotline that doesn’t really hold together and, like Santa, the film’s a little flabby around the middle, where it briefly quite literally starts going round in circles and loses a bit of the fun. But it finds an ending that stuffs in all the Christmas jollity and huggy business that is absolutely core to a Christmas movie but without the overdone syrupy nonsense that makes you want to go to the nearest shopping centre and kick over a nativity scene." He concluded that the film "could very well come to be regarded as a Christmas classic". Independent Critic called Arthur Christmas, "a good-hearted, silly and sweet film that it feels like the closest thing we've had in a few years to a minor Christmas classic. The film's mid-section flags a bit as Smith and co-writer Baynham can't quite seem to figure out how to completely flesh it out, but they recover nicely and serve up the holiday season's first salvo of cinematic delight", and praised the voice cast, though felt that Bieber's song was "a disappointingly commercial twist on an otherwise tender-hearted and infectious Christmas film for the entire family." One reviewer, while light in criticism of the animation, called Justin Bieber’s rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" "blatant" and "inexcusable".

Box office
Arthur Christmas earned $46,462,469 in North America, $33,334,089 in the UK, and $67,622,914 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $147,419,472.

In the United Kingdom the film opened in second place with a £2.5 million weekend gross, behind Immortals. It topped the box office in its fourth week, by which time the cumulative gross was £11.5 million. The film returned to the top of the box office on week seven, during Christmas week, grossing £2.05 million and a total of £19.7 million.

In the United States and Canada the film earned $2.4 million on its opening day and $1.8 million on Thanksgiving Day. It would go on to gross $12.1 million over the three-day weekend and $16.3 million over the five-day period. This was on par with studio expectations. The film went on to gross nearly $50 million domestically against a $100 million budget.

Video game
An iOS video game titled Arthur Christmas: Elf Run was released in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2011, on iTunes App Store. On 18 November 2011, the game was released worldwide on the iOS and Android platform. Released as a free and a premium version, the game allows players to play as delivery elves, who must quickly and quietly deliver gifts to children. Another iOS app based on the film is Arthur Christmas Movie Storybook, which was released on 30 November 2011.