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Klaus, 2019
Geez, Klaus, you were supposed to be a little light animated holiday movie, not make me cry under a pile of cats on the couch. (Okay . . . the cats and the couch would have happened anyway, but still!!).
Jesper is the spoiled son of a wealthy postmaster. Given an ultimatum--to prove himself or be cut off financially--Jesper must create a functioning postal system on a small island whose inhabitants are engaged in a centuries-old feud with each other. Jesper eventually befriends a reclusive woodsman, Klaus, and together the two accidentally begin a very familiar holiday tradition. . .
This was an incredibly charming film, and one that I could see little children enjoying and adults. The voice performances are on point, and the animation looks really good.
The heart of the film is a simple message about one kindness leading to another, but it's also about the power that we have to transform our surroundings and create the kind of communities in which we would want to live.
The story does borrow a few beats (and some direct images) from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas), but it manages to cobble together an interesting narrative arc for its main character and the rest of the supporting cast. (Rashida Jones plays the obligatory love interest, a woman who is supposed to be a teacher but has transformed her classroom into a fish shop and is saving her pennies to escape the island).
I found the movie genuinely involving and I thought that the way it ended was very sweet and unexpected.
Klaus, 2019
Geez, Klaus, you were supposed to be a little light animated holiday movie, not make me cry under a pile of cats on the couch. (Okay . . . the cats and the couch would have happened anyway, but still!!).
Jesper is the spoiled son of a wealthy postmaster. Given an ultimatum--to prove himself or be cut off financially--Jesper must create a functioning postal system on a small island whose inhabitants are engaged in a centuries-old feud with each other. Jesper eventually befriends a reclusive woodsman, Klaus, and together the two accidentally begin a very familiar holiday tradition. . .
This was an incredibly charming film, and one that I could see little children enjoying and adults. The voice performances are on point, and the animation looks really good.
The heart of the film is a simple message about one kindness leading to another, but it's also about the power that we have to transform our surroundings and create the kind of communities in which we would want to live.
The story does borrow a few beats (and some direct images) from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas), but it manages to cobble together an interesting narrative arc for its main character and the rest of the supporting cast. (Rashida Jones plays the obligatory love interest, a woman who is supposed to be a teacher but has transformed her classroom into a fish shop and is saving her pennies to escape the island).
I found the movie genuinely involving and I thought that the way it ended was very sweet and unexpected.