Arthur Christmas (Two Discs: Blu-ray / DVD)

Our kids like this Christmas movie so much, they even ask to watch it when it's not Christmas time. There is a lot of humor, and it's a relief to find a movie these days that I can add to our Family Favorites because it is not trying to be politically correct or carrying a hidden message. Just plain FUN. Thank you!

Santa is real! You knew it in your heart. He lives at the North Pole in an underground complex, the position of Santa being passed down from father to son. In the hallway is a long line of portraits, starting with "Santa Claus the First 295-369 AD", through a line including "Santa Claus the Thirteenth 1549-1634" and so on. The last portrait is of "Santa Claus the Twentieth 1941- _". It has no end date because he still holds the position.But this may be his last year. It's traditional to retire and pass the baton after 70 years. This Santa has two sons. The younger, Arthur, is adorable, happy and enthusiastic, but too bumbling to be trusted with anything other than answering Letters to Santa.The elder brother, Steve, has totally upgraded the Christmas Eve procedure. The sleigh and reindeer have been retired in favor of a giant airship with a cloaking device (whoo hoo!) and well-trained Field Elf Battalions. It is a wonderful imagining of how Santa delivers toys to every child in the world on a single night.But this Christmas Eve, after everyone is back to Mission Control and Operation Toy is "Mission Accomplished", an elf named Briony finds that one toy was missed. There's a child in Cornwall who will not have a gift from Santa! Arthur is beside himself, but Steve is firm. It's 5:10 am, and there's no way to get the toy in place before sunrise: "Arthur. Christmas is not a time for emotion. We will get 4 double 7 85BXK a present... in the window of Christmas. We'll messenger the item - it will be there in 5 days."This isn't good enough for Arthur. With his cantakerous GrandSanta (retired) they pull the sleigh out of mothballs and make sure Christmas comes true for every last child.This is a great Christmas story with your usual feel-good vibe and ending. Steve is not an evil bad guy, he is merely focused on his military-like procedures and his 99.999999% success rate for the year.There is so much humor in this movie. Such as when GrandSanta is not impressed with Steve's smugness: "Christmas 1941, WWII, I did the whole thing with six reindeer and a drunken elf."Meanwhile, Steve is checking his messages on his HO-HO (like a phone) such as this one:"You looked great today.Siri""Arthur Christmas" premiered in 2011, 97 minutes of animated fun. The voice acting is top of the line, with Hugh Laurie ("House") as Steve, James McAvoy as Arthur, Jim Broadbent as Santa and a cackling Bill Nighy as GrandSanta.The DVD is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 Dolby Digital. You can listen to the movie, or watch with subtitles, in three languages: English, French or Spanish.The DVD also has 3 Special Features which are fun to watch.1. "Un-Wrapping Arthur Christmas" (13 minutes) Just about everyone involved as cast or crew has a say in this making-of featurette. Bill Nighy says, "It was one of the best scripts I've read for a long time."2. "Progressive Reels" (15 minutes total) This is a look at five different aspects of the movie. I particularly enjoyed the animation people taking us through the initial "Invasion Sequence", where we follow a troop of elves delivering toys. "The camera style in this sequence was heavily from the Cinéma Vérité, a run and gun style of filmmaking." What is was was just like an action movie.3. "Elf Recruitment Video" (1 minute) A cute trailer."They are the world's most elite team.On the SingleLargestCovert MissionEVER."Very recommended family Christmas movie!Happy Reader

"Operation: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"... Is beautifully directed by Sarah Smith. She spins out a whole new animated theme of the Christmas scene, headed-up at and coming out of the North Pole. What's first asked is: Just who is actually in charge up there? It would be either the current Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent), who comes down through the generations with each Claus portrait hung on the wall, or the up-and-coming, heir-apparent, eldest son, Steve (Hugh Laurie).While the current Santa (usually awaiting a nap) is more of a position-holder up-north, Steve is in complete control with a militarily disciplined style. With the elves, and everything that needs doing, he's hyped for "efficiency and productivity". The younger and kinder son, Arthur (James McAvoy), obviously operates from the heart. He's in charge of receiving all the letters to Santa and making sure the children are getting what they need; he believes that Santa is the "Greatest Man Ever".In a quaint town in England, little apple-cheeked Gwen slips her annual letter to Santa Claus into the post box with the highest of hopes. She begins an opening monologue asking a whole lot of questions about, and of, Santa Claus: "Why?"-this and "Why?"-that, including her doubts of whether or not he is even real. Her friend told her otherwise while Gwen... Still Believes!We see an entirely orchestrated Christmas Eve night enfold... Steve is at the helm and in the complete direction of all 'operations'. His father is Santa, and he's delivering the toys along with the new, high-tech elves ('1st. Field Elves Battalion'). Steve is choreographing everything behind the scenes, to the most minute of detail. Upon Santa's return to the North Pole, following so much action, the counts are tallied and everything stands as... "Mission Accomplished".This is with the one exception. We soon discover, after Santa's family finishes their Christmas meal around the table, that a child was forgotten. That child just happens to be Gwen. She didn't receive her toy and she is still fast asleep. Arthur is deeply disturbed by this, as he is the one who read her letter, and Santa's own father is also as upset with this situation. Wisecracking Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) is old-school and came before this new, ultra-controlled way of handling Christmas and handling the children. He may be a lot of things, although he genuinely cares and also for Arthur's position as the 'Number Two Son' in the family. He misses the old ways and traditions held throughout his own generation of being the Head Claus.Arthur and Grandsanta join forces and switch back to the old sleigh (endeared "Evie") and reindeer team in favor of this new, high-flying, techno-ride that Santa is using now. The two of them, along with an elf friend, take off to find the sleeping, and still believing, Gwen. The race is on...There is plenty to see in this film with the animation and picture quality vividly done. The Christmas Eve scene at the very beginning is Hyperactive; with the elves in unison performing their tasks, jumping off of suspended ropes that seemingly hang from the sky, skiing all over, and viewing through green-glowing, night vision goggles. The North Pole is so well represented by color, light and hustling and bustling everywhere. Even the dark blue night skies are blanketed in grand style, with a gorgeous mantle of shimmering stars. A truly happy Christmas movie that we enjoyed immensely! Merry Arthur Christmas...

This was a great movie! How nice to find a well-written, beautifully animated Christmas tale with heart! It is quite fast moving - thats my only mini-complaint - but its very funny and very well done. We were laughing out loud - very rare for us. My 10 year old son and his 50 year old dad both loved it!

Such a sweet story, cute animation. My husband and I watch this every Dec as part of our Xmas movie rotation. Full of recognizable voices, funny, sweet and a new take on Santa's Xmas Eve excursions.

The movie was cute and I really enjoyed it. I didn't want to teach on the last full day of school so my class watched this movie. They loved it. The line about a drunk kid was not great but I haven't gotten any parent complains so it's all good.

Arthur Christmas is one of those rare computer generated films which is lucky enough to have things in common with such greats as Toy Story and Shrek, i.e. it can be watched on many levels and therefore enjoyed by both adults and children.It tells the (very British) story of Father Christmas' operation and how he, and his family, plus an army of highly-trained elves, delivers presents to all the boys and girls on one night. However, his family-run business hits a rocky patch when one little girl is accidentally missed out, threatening to ruin Father Christmas' good name in the process. Step up Arthur (youngest son of Father) Christmas, who with the help of an elf with an obsession of wrapping things in pretty paper and bows, plus his aging (and slightly senile) Grandfather (aka `Grand Santa') set about making the one last drop on Christmas Eve in which to get the present to the girl before she wakes up and thinks Father Christmas has forgotten about her.It's not a particularly complicated story and, on hearing about it, I first wondered how much mileage could be made out of it. The trailer looks impressive, but sometimes they squeeze all the best gags into the ninety second trailer and there's nothing left for the film itself. Luckily, this is not the case. The story is truly charming. It highlights the best of British (vocal) acting talent and weaves it into a heartfelt story about family at Christmas with jokes that will make children chuckle, while others will go straight over their heads for `parents only' to enjoy.I'm no fan of Christmas. I think it's overhyped, expensive and too commercial. Many a Christmas ever I've locked out the three well-meaning ghosts, but Arthur Christmas even managed to make me feel almost festive - an emotion that Dudley Moore couldn't even manage in his Father Christmas movie. That's how good Arthur Christmas really is (unless I'm experiencing a mid life crisis a few years early).

It has been Aardman's test into non-clay animation, compared to what made their work so different to other animation companies. I just felt that this film was under appreciated, as for me, it still has the Aardman magic and story. I really enjoy watching this film and it one the whole family can enjoy and it is a film I always watch at least once as soon as December arrives! I would highly recommend this film to every one.

Arrived quickly and in good condition, we love this film as a family and is a firm favourite within our family, this film is about Arthur Christmas who is the son of Santa, who is overlooked by his father due to his overbearing older brother, however as the film goes on you see that Arthur has more christmas spirit than his whole family put together, he is the one who answers all the letters that are sent to santa, when he realises that a child is overlooked and not going to get her wished for christmas present of a bike, him and his grandad (retired santa) go off on the old sleigh and have a comedy of errors trying to get the bike to her, i wont ruin it by telling you if he manages to get the bike to her all i will say is watch the film, great for any age and definitely brings the christmas spirit into you, will make you believe in Santa regardless of your age!

Fantastic movie that never gets old. Ready and prepared to enjoy Christmas this year. Perfect for all the family. Dvd movie plays well great picture quality.

This is another great addition to the Aardman body of work. The story of the Christmas family and the power struggle for succession to the throne of Father Christmas, it gives a wonderful vision of how technology might be used nowadays to deliver presents - a sleight designed like the Enterprise and a mission control manned by thousands of elves.The story focusses on how Arthur is left to deliver a missing present with his grandfather (the previous Santa) using only the old low-tech sleigh and how this causes the frictions in his family power politics to fracture. But the voices, animation and most importantly script and visual jokes more than carry the day. It's not quite up to the standard of  Chicken Run [DVD] [2000 ], but if a great film that will entertain you and kids from 7 upwards, working visually and dialogue-wise on both levels. Chicken Run [DVD] [2000