It’s Christmas Eve. I’m sure you have already had your share of holiday movie marathons throughout the past month. From AMC’s “Best Christmas Ever” and Freeform’s “25 Days of Christmas” to the upcoming Christmas Day marathon of The Christmas Story on TBS and TNT, holiday classics are blanketing basic television. Additionally, with the Disney+ train at full steam, franchises like The Santa Clause, Home Alone, and animated classics like Mickey’s Christmas Carol and Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas are just a click of the app away.

Yet, with all those options I am grateful to have, my favorite original holiday production came from Netflix this year. A film I had not planned on viewing until my brother-in-law Joe and his wife Kayla told me I needed to see it. “It’s soooo good,” Kayla said, as she and Joe urged my wife and I to watch it as soon as possible. End result: we are very happy they did.

Klaus, Netflix’s first original animated film to be released on their platform, is easily one of my all-time favorite animated films, let alone Christmas movies. Directed by Sergio Pablos (Despicable Me), based on a screenplay by Pablos, Jim Mahoney, and Zach Lewis, Klaus tells a reimagined tale of how the act of delivering presents on Christmas came to be. This joy of a film features the vocal talents of Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, Will Sasso, and Norm MacDonald, with animation that jumps out of the screen with its brilliant colors and motion. Instead of opting for computer animation, Pablos and company used CGI lighting techniques with hand-drawn animation to create a unique animation style for the story.

While the film boasts of its unique animation technique, the heart of this film is its narrative. When Jesper (Schwartzman) is assigned as the new postman for the town of Smeerensburg, he meets toymaker Klaus (Simmons), and the two began a friendship that fuels a partnership and attempts to end an age-old feud within the town. Schwartzman and Simmons are well casted as Jesper and Klaus, capturing the essence of each character. Simmons especially does a wonderful job, giving a voice worthy of the legendary character he is portraying. What starts as a fish-out-of-water buddy comedy takes a dramatic and emotional turn, building a deep connection between the story’s protagonists, leading to an ending that will tug at the strings of your Yuletide heart.

Klaus was released on Netflix back on November 8th, so if you haven’t seen it yet, it is currently waiting patiently for you to give it the attention it so rightfully deserves.

Have you seen Klaus? What did you think? Leave your comments below!

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