By Esther Lee–

So how does Santa deliver presents to all the children in one night? Well, Santa uses advanced technology and state of the art military strategies with the help of his highly-trained elves. He travels in a high-tech sleigh called the S-1 which is mostly operated by his oldest son, Steve, at mission control underneath the North Pole. More than you bargained for, eh?

“Arthur Christmas” was released in the US last year, Nov. 23 and was recently released on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on Nov. 9 of this year. It was produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Picture Animation, their first collaboration. The movie was directed by Sarah Smith and James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie and Bill Nighy, and much more lended their voices to the cast.

“Arthur Christmas” is an animated feature that revolves around Santa’s youngest and very clumsy son, Arthur, who sets out to deliver a present with grand-Santa, the previous Santa, and a stowaway elf named Bryony. Arthur embarks on this journey because Santa and Steve states that “it’s just one child.” This leads to an inevitable magical Christmas adventure, the reestablishment of a family who was torn away by competition and disagreement and the restoration of the belief in Santa and Christmas magic.

There was a heartwarming Christmas cheer that only holiday movies can provide. The movie emphasized on a overused cliché of the magic of Christmas, but the modern twist made the movie unexpectedly entertaining to watch.

The details and colors of the animation were spectacular. The characters had their own quirks and flaws but were relatable and lovable. The soundtrack contained familiar holiday tunes.

“Arthur Christmas” is a family friendly movie that can satisfy a wide audience, which leads me to the reason why I watched this movie in the first place: the humor. In the trailer, there was a scene in which grand-Santa calls out for his retired reindeer one by one. He starts with “Dasher,” “Dancer,” “Prancer,” and then forgets their names and eventually calls them “Bambi,” “The One with the White Ears,” “You,” and “You.”

Although the movie catered towards younger audiences with a familiar Christmas theme with flying reindeer, elves and colorful presents, I would say it’s a little complicated for children. Simply put, there were a lot of things going on at the same time which might have been slightly confusing to the younger audience. But the script was very clever and contained jokes that only an older audience could truly appreciate. Anyone could enjoy this movie and get themselves into a pre-holiday mood.

“Arthur Christmas” is just one of those feel-good movies in which you root for the unlikely hero to save the day. You know everything’s going to be all right at the end but still can’t wait to see the underdog finally receive appreciation for their merits. “Arthur Christmas” is a quirky but smart movie that consists of a balance of the old and the new.

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Photo courtesy IMDB