Klaus

This is a (fictional) story about how Christmas got started, and it’s on Netflix. How all of the traditions we have today first came to be. The movie is different in that they try for a real down-to-earth approach. There isn’t magic or anything like that going on. Still, that isn’t to say this movie isn’t fantastical because the characters there get put through things that would seriously maim or worse if any realistic physics were in place. It’s a great, heartwarming film, as movies about Christmas are.

Klaus stars Jesper, the son of a mail general or postmaster general or something like that. He’s spoiled, so in order to get him a better work ethic, his father sends him to the hardest, most remote post office available, some little town called Smeerensberg. Note that there is an actual town called Smeerenberg (no second S) that is also really remote as well.

There, Jesper must get 6000 letters sent in order to come home. Unfortunately for him the people of that town don’t use the mail. In fact, the people of the town are mostly divided into two clans that hate each other, so not much mail going on at all. It is a miserable and cold place out in the the middle of nowhere.

Jesper eventually meets the reclusive guy living in the woods, Klaus. Klaus looks like what we think of when we think Santa. White beard, large, only he’s really buff because he lives alone and needs to do all the work himself. He happens to have a toy workshop, and that is when Jesper gets the idea to deliver toys to act as the 6000 mail he needs to send.

Along the way the two slowly becomes friends and since they work at night, the people of Smeerenberg began to tell stories about them. It really is fun seeing how the characteristics we associate with Santa Klaus came to be. The movie gets really inventive with some of them.

Of course, Jesper starts to actually care about the job. And his actions help the town to become a nicer place. Not everyone is happy about that, of course. So there are a few wrenches thrown into his plan to send 6000 mail. The movie also goes a bit into Sami culture, which is great.

The art style of the movie is wonderful. It feels different than any other animated movie I’ve seen. It feels like a really well-done blend of 3D but in a 2D style. The town is vibrant with a great style. The characters all look great.

There probably won’t be too many shocking developments in the story, but the characters are fun to get to know and see them grow. The emotional parts are done well, and the actors bring them to life great. Jesper is just the right amount of jerk that you still want to root for him while wanting him to grow as a person. Klaus is the quiet but lovable guy you want to get to know more of.

Klaus is a more realistic take on the Santa Claus story, and it’s fun because of it. Catch it on Netflix.