6. GrandSanta (Bill Nighy) - Arthur Christmas
To misquote Theo from Die Hard, 'it was the night before Christmas, and all through the city, not a creature was stirring, except for the hundreds of little elves bungee jumping through fireplaces and windows, packed with Christmas gifts'. They are so fast and stealthy, they are already gone before you can catch them. Nor can you actually see the huge ultra-high-tech aircraft roaming above the sleeping city, where the elves return once their mission is accomplished. If you've ever wondered how the big bearded man could deliver all those presents in one night to the children all around the globe, therein lies the answer: the elves circle the perimeter around the ship and go commando-style through each house, taking care of not waking up the owners, while Santa Claus is leading the complex operations from his command center. Yet, to be Santa is not a one-man job. Instead, it's a family matter and the honor is passed from one generation to another. Although he is still held in high esteem by his enthusiastic little helpers, Santa's role is now largely symbolic. He may be swelling with pride when he delivers his traditional congratulatory speech but the whole success is in fact due to the work of his two sons, Steve and Arthur. While the former mans the ship like a real officer and has earned the respect of the whole family, a goofy and clumsy Arthur only answers the children' letters that his father has received all year long. Arthur knows he will never be as proficient and cool looking as his brother, but he loves his job. The Clauses manage Christmas like a perfectly elaborated delivery routine from their NASA launching mission control room look-alike where children are only statistics on a big screen. On the other hand, Arthur still naively believes in the gift-giving spirit of the Christmas season. When the news are heard that one little girl will not get her present due to an unfortunate mistake, Steve dismisses it as an acceptable error whereas Arthur goes on his own journey to save the day. He finds in his cranky, short-tempered grandfather GrandSanta an unexpected ally and the two unlikely heroes fly off on a dusty, old-fashioned wooden sleigh. But the lighthearted Arthur is totally unaware that the Christmas veteran only sees the dire situation as the eagerly awaited opportunity to be pulled out from his boring retirement and to fulfill his ego by proving that he is still capable of being Santa. The voice casting is spot-on and every actor delivers a delightful performance, but Bill Nighy as the scrappy GrandSanta has the time of his life. The relationship between this ineffective old timer and his featherbrained grandson is enormous fun. But more importantly, the rollicking adventure they embark on to make things right will become their chance to understand their own wrongdoing. Developed by the Oscar-winning English studios Aardman (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run), Arthur Christmas may not be as sharp looking as the latest Dreamworks or Pixar release but it still has quite a few surprises in store. The story is genuinely heartfelt and takes time to define well-rounded flawed characters. Likewise, the script boasts the kind of sly jokes you would not expect in a Christmas family movie Grab some popcorn, gather the kids and switch off the light; Operation Santa Claus is coming to town!