Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sarah Smith
Produced by	Steve Pegram
Written by	Peter Baynham Sarah Smith
Starring	James McAvoy Hugh Laurie Bill Nighy Jim Broadbent Imelda Staunton Ashley Jensen
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography	Jericca Cleland
Edited by	John Carnochan James Cooper
Production company	Aardman Animations Sony Pictures Animation
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	11 November 2011 (2011-11-11) (United Kingdom) 23 November 2011 (2011-11-23) (United States)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$147 million

Arthur Christmas is a 2011 British-American 3D computer animated Christmas comedy film, produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation as their first collaborative project. The film was released on 11 November 2011, in the UK, and on 23 November 2011, in the USA.

Directed by Sarah Smith, and co-directed by Barry Cook, it features voices of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, and Ashley Jensen. Set on Christmas night, the film tells a story about Santa Claus's clumsy son Arthur Claus who discovers that the Santa's high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present. In response, he goes on a mission to save her Christmas, accompanied only by his ageing grandfather, a rebellious yet enthusiastic young Christmas Elf obsessed with wrapping gifts for children, and a team of eight strong, magical yet untrained reindeer.

Arthur Christmas was very well received by critics, who praised its animation and humorous, smart and heart-warming story. The film earned $147 million at the box office on a $100 million budget.

On Christmas Eve, hundreds of Christmas elves helm the command centre of Santa Claus' mile-wide, ultra-high-tech sleigh-esque craft, the S-1. The current Santa (Malcolm) and the Christmas elves deliver presents to every child in the world using advanced equipment and military precision. These complex operations are micromanaged by thousands more elves, under the command of Malcolm's militaristic eldest son Steve and his obsequious elfin assistant Peter at mission control underneath the North Pole. Meanwhile, his younger son - the clumsy, fearful yet enthusiastic Arthur - devotedly answers the letters to Santa. During one of the delivery operations in Germany a child wakes up and almost sees Malcolm; in the tense escape operation, a Christmas elf aboard the S-1 inadvertently leans on a button, causing a present to fall from the supply line and go unnoticed.