A new Christmas animated movie arrived on Netflix recently entitled That Christmas. While I do not think that this was great, it certainly is a decent Christmas film and beats out a lot of the typical schmaltz that we normally get this time of year.

According to IMDB, “It’s an unforgettable Christmas for the townsfolk of Wellington-on-Sea when the worst snowstorm in history alters everyone’s plans, including Santa’s.“

There were multiple characters and storyline from within this little town of Wellington-on-Sea, and, fact is, I was pretty bored through the first section of the movie. It took me awhile to come to be interested in any of those storylines. However, it must have worked on me eventually because I was feeling very moved by the third act and there were even a few signs of tears from the wonderful ending to this film.

The voice cast is excellent, including several great voices including Bill Nighy, Brian Cox, Jodie Whittaker, Fiona Shaw, Guz Khan, Rhys Darby, Freddie Spry, Zazie Hayhurst and India Brown.

The animation was well done, as one would expect these days. The colors and the brightness made everything better and the amazing work of the snowstorm in the third act helped build some real tension.

The film was mostly about the relationships between parents and their children and how they all fit into Christmas. Brian Cox’s Santa Claus and Guz Khan’s Dasher had a funny interaction through all of their scenes.

Sure, this is not a superb animated movie, but I did eventually enjoy myself with it. It did take some time for me to get into it, but once I did, I was pleased that I chose to watch it.

3.1 stars