Looking for family fun during the holidays? How about an animated family movie with lots of snow? Brian Cox as Santa Claus? Plus, the voices of Fiona Shaw, Rhys Darby, Jodie Whittaker and Bill Nighy? Directed by Simon Otto, a former DreamWorks Animation creative who served as Head of Character Animation for “DreamWorks” How to train your dragon Movie? Did we mention this story is based on three children’s books by Richard Curtis, who wrote notting hill and four weddings and a funeral and wrote and directed love actually? Yes, Netflix feels the same way about promotional films that christmasnow streaming from London-based Locksmith Animation (Ron was wrong), and will be shown in select theaters in the United States from November 27th and in the UK from November 29th.
“It’s an unforgettable Christmas for the residents of Wellington-on-Sea, as the worst snowstorm in history changes everyone’s plans – including Santa’s,” reads the synopsis and trailer for the recently debuted film . THRReviews from the film’s premiere at the BFI London Film Festival called it “a delight” and concluded that “it promises to become a new holiday classic.”
One of three interrelated stories about a group of local children three smart womena progressive take on the drama about the Three Kings. Another sees a boy crushing on a girl, but their hopes for love face major challenges as she is anxious and he is shy. The third scene shows two sets of parents leaving town to attend a wedding despite the cold weather, meaning they have to overcome snow and other obstacles if they want to get home in time to celebrate Christmas with their children.
On a visit to Locksmith Animation’s headquarters in north London, the passion and excitement the creatives have for the project and their years-long commitment to making it shine is evident.
“No matter where you are in the world: it’s common for family and close friends to come together to celebrate something,” said Julie Lockhart, co-founder and head of production at Locksmith Animation. THR. “We all know the excitement before a celebration, and the chaos that can ensue during it. So while this story is set in the UK and localized, the idea was to create something that the family can sit back on, no matter who you are. Celebrate something and watch something that you believe will be fun, that’s the fun of creating it.
In a time when war, conflict and disputes regularly dominate global headlines, the drive to create something uplifting, interesting and positive is especially strong.
“In many ways, that christmas It should stand out because the stakes are not very high,” said production designer Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn. “On most projects right now, the stakes always seem to be very high. This is a really good story to put everyone at ease.
Otto also regarded the film as a solace for the soul. “I’ve always thought it’s best to make movies for yourself as an audience and make sure you don’t exclude kids. That way, you get everyone of all ages involved,” he explains. “I see a lot of TV shows made for adults that are based on the idea that something terrible is happening, like a murder or something shocking.”
The story is set in a town fictionalized by the film’s co-writer and executive producer Curtis and the Locksmith team, based on the look and feel of parts of Suffolk in eastern England, where the famous author has a house. Creatives said there could be advantages to setting the film in a specific region of the UK that many global audiences may not yet be familiar with.
“It’s not a fantastic world, but it’s still a world that you dream about, that you want to enter, that you want to experience,” Otto told THR. “Perhaps because of its relatability, there’s an appeal to actually wandering the streets of this small town.”
that christmas The look and feel is based on part of Suffolk in eastern England.
Provided by Locksmith Animation
Actually, that christmas Hutchinson-Chatburn added that the story takes place in a “realizable world”. “I like the authenticity there [in a lot of the design and visual decisions]. What happens to these characters can happen to you. I mean, it’s a bit exaggerated in places, but not so much that you have to suspend disbelief. So, you can be in the experience, you can be in the story, and you can actually be a part of it.
Taking it to a global player like Netflix (which Lockhart calls a “very, very good partner”) means “you can reach so many people, which is really exciting, especially for For such a family movie.
that christmas It’s also the first film Curtis has produced for Netflix (although his films have been licensed to the streaming medium before). “A lot of my friends have gone down this road. But this is my first time,” he told THR.
This is also his first animation project. Curtis quipped that this meant he “had no idea this was going to take up five years of my life.” “Your mind immediately starts spinning because it’s a very different prospect when you have to tie three stories together.”
He learned some parts of the animation process that surprised him. “It’s such a joy. But it’s very different. It also has some drawbacks,” he said. “The fact that you can basically write, direct, edit and shoot at the same time was a new kind of fun for me.”
Animation work allows creatives to add or tweak scenes, which Curtis finds helps get key storylines right. “I seem to remember saying, ‘We just ended a scene with one thing, but we need more shots to make it work.'” Things you can do in animation that you can’t do in live-action It’s really new to me.
But he could rely on the experience and insight of his team of locksmiths, whom he praised for “all of their cooperation from the beginning.”
Otto recalled a time when he, Curtis and the rest of the team were trying to figure out the details of a key scene featuring Danny, voiced by Jack Wisniewski, the new kid in town , the key plot revolves around him. In that scene, Danny is walking home alone, and the story’s narrator, Santa Claus, tells the audience that “Christmas is kind of like a magnifying glass of emotions.” Otto recalled that Curtis wanted to add that “friends are hard to find.” But Otto said he wasn’t sure how helpful the line would be. “Richard said to me: ‘That’s literally the best line I’ve ever written.'”
Otto recalled his response: “Are you sure? It’s as good as ‘I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy and asking him to love her? notting hill. They ended up compromising on different routes: “It’s hard to make friends,” Otto concludes, “and that worked really well in the movie. But it was definitely one of those moments where we had a conversation but ended up getting there.”
Review by THR that christmas Said the film “has the potential to become a new holiday classic.”
Provided by Netflix
The editing capabilities provided by Editor Sim Evan-Jones are another focus of the Locksmith team. “In animation, there are things you can do to improve your writing skills,” he told us THR. “Because we’re trying to tell the story visually and through dialogue.”
Rooms and other animation “sets” filled with items that add character to the scenes and the people who inhabit the spaces are also key to ensuring viewers get a “real” feel and experience, Hutchinson-Chatburn said. “In any film, whether it’s live-action or animated, there’s nothing worse than a set that isn’t dressed up and feels unsatisfying and the audience feels cheated. So we make that an important part of the design process.
An important character presented special challenges during production that christmas: Snow.
“We realized what a huge role snow plays in the environment and how important it is,” recalls producer Nicole Hearon.Moana, freezing). “It’s an important part of our world and can add fun and creativity and so much life and emotion to viewers. But if you change the snowflakes, the amount and intensity of the snowflakes, you get a different type of snowfall. With this Everything, we realized we could change the overall feel so we had to develop a term.
The team designed eight different types of snowfall. But it also means more work. “When I first started filming, my idea was that 30 percent of the film would be [visual] effect,” Herron said. “But then we realized it was 80 percent.”
Of course, this also means the risk of increased costs. “It’s a huge budget challenge,” Otto admitted. “But you have to be more efficient – shortening some shots where you feel like we don’t really need to. I’m proud to say that all the compromises ended up being a better result for the film.
There’s no debate about the casting of Cox, whose popularity continues to grow as he plays the more miserly role of media mogul Logan Roy in “The Movie.” succession. There was a process that landed the team on him though. “We do believe that Santa Claus should come from the north,” Curtis shared. “One place we thought of was Scandinavia, so Stellan Skarsgård came to mind.”
“This is our opportunity to bring in international characters while making sure our cast is local,” explains Otto. “Santa Claus is our opportunity to internationalize it and add a foreign element. [Cox] He’s Scottish, but his accent isn’t too strong. Plus, of course, he brings showmanship.
“He had the ability to be both edgy and very sweet, warm and tender in his storytelling,” Otto said. “Very importantly, he was able to do it in a way that made you feel like you were sitting at the bedside listening to a father tell a story to his child. to tell the story. He blends it with Britishness but also adds an international flair, and in fact his role expands throughout the project because we love his work so much.
Brian Cox voices Santa Claus that christmas.
Provided by Netflix
The creative team unanimously hopes to see that christmas Becoming a new holiday tradition for many. “I’d like to see it become the gift that keeps on giving because it’s coming out next year,” Lockhart said. “So it can become one of the classics. If it happens, our lives will be complete.
Simon added: “It would be our absolute dream if this movie became a timeless thing. People watch it at Christmas and when you rewatch it you see something you didn’t see the first time. .This would be a very, very big dream come true.
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that christmas Now streaming on Netflix.
