When it comes to animated features on the ever so popular streaming service Netflix, they usually fall into one of the three categories. They can either be animated films that are from other well known hollywood animated studios such as Sony Pictures Animation or they can be cheap and badly written animated features that you’d most likely see in the bargain bin of your typical store that sells Dvd’s. Then there are the rare films that evolve the art form of animation while telling a unique story with unique visuals. This is the case with the potential Christmas classic called Klaus. Directed by Sergio Pablos who co-directed Despicable Me for Illumation entertainment, this fun but also heartwarming movie brings a unique take on the origins of Santa Claus while also being a unique feature compared to the majority of CG animated features that you see these days
A selfish and lazy postman named Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) is forced by his father to set up a postal office in a small town on an abandoned island called Smeerensburg. When arriving, he realizes the town is full of crazy people including two clans who constantly have wars with each other. Jesper has a hard time adjusting to life in Smeerensburg and has not got a single letter posted. That is until he comes across a woodsman named Klaus (J.K. Simmons) who asks Jesper to deliver a toy for a kid. Word spreads of the toy being delivered which gives Jesper the idea to use this to his advantage. The postal service starts booming and Jesper often accompines Klaus into delivering toys. As that happens Jesper starts to see the town start to change and starts to realize what is truly important in his life.
The movie has a unique take on the origins of Santa Claus. Just like Aardman animation’s Arthur Christmas, the movie paints a new picture of how the big man got his start, but it isn’t without a boat load of charm and a lot of humor. The story about a selfish man coming to a run down place and learning lessons along the way is nothing new but the movie tells its story in a way that is fresh and meaningful which is perfect for a christmas like movie with so many heartwarming moments. If there was anything I would nitpick about it would be the third act liar revealed. If that kind of plot point hadn’t been done in so many other family movies it would have worked fine here. I will admit though that the moping and doping is cut short thankfully and the movie does get back on track very quickly which is a huge blessing.
The characters have surprisingly a lot of charm and likabillity. Jesper is selfish but likabillty selfish and a lot of the film’s comedy comes from him acting random over the top absurd situations which is a delight. As expected though, he eventually grows on you as he starts to realize more and more what truly matters in his life. Klaus himself is played amazingly by J.K Simmons as he is portrayed as mysterious but also caring and selfless. Alva is the romantic interest to Jesper, but I like how their relationship is very natural and not at all forced becuase a studio demaned them to be toghter. It’s actually very refreshing and i really did feel both Alva and Jespers growth through the movie actually ment something. The only characters I felt like were pointless where the clan rulers of Smeerensburg as the barley make an impact and there are even points I forgeot they were even in the movie until near the end.
Ok, i’ve gone through this review long enough, lets talk about the unique and even grooundbreaking animation style this movie presents itself with. The movie emulates a 2D animated style that is unique and unlike anything you’d see in a traditionally animated feature from Disney. The movie almost reminds me of the Disney short Paperman which is a short that combined 2D and 3D animation into one. I still don’t know how they did it, but the style is beautiful and expressive. The backgrounds are such a delight with a cool wintery atmosphere while also showing the weird and musty look of Smeerensburg. The characters are made to look more cartoony and very expressive and a lot of libertys were taken to over exaggerate features such as size of different body parts. It’s unlike most animated features these days and I hope that there can be more movies just like this one in the future.
The Music is done by Alfonso G. Aguilar who brings a very cartoonish but also atmospheric score. There are even times when there will be inserted copyrighted songs that get thrown into the mix. While i’m not really one for putting random copyrighted music into animated films, I will say that they are not distracting and they don’t take away from the main story of the movie. I would have preferred to either have timeless copyrighted songs or no songs at all, but i can give it a pass seeing that almost everything else in this movie is mostly on point.
This so far is the gold standard for animation on Netflix and it’s all thanks to a wonderful story that brings a fresh take on the origins of Santa Claus, characters that are funny and very likable, animation that is unique and groundbreaking, and music that is fun and delightful at the same time. I do have some nitpicks with the movie but they aren’t big enough to say that they bring the entire film down. This proves the Director Sergio Pablos has actual talent at telling unique and refreshing stories that can live on for generations to come. I have no problem in saying that this is an instant Christmas classic and it looks like that remark won’t be changing for me anytime soon.
(Final Grade: A-)