If you’re like me, you’re probably disappointed with kids films these days. They’re generally cliche, cheesy, and not very well thought out, which I don’t think is fair. Kids deserve good, truthful stories that both bless and challenge them. In the past few decades the film department has been pretty lacking in this area, so when last Christmas I sat down to watch the animated film Arthur Christmas with my siblings, I wasn’t expecting much. I thought it would have a poor plot and be full of the not-very-funny kids comedy we’ve grown used to seeing.
However, I was more than pleasantly surprised.
Arthur Christmas was none of the negative things I was expecting. It not only has a good story. It’s clever, sweet, and has a wonderful message, not to mention that the soundtrack was written by Harry Gregson-Williams, the composer of the 2005 Narnia soundtrack!
Arthur Christmas highlights how Christmas is a time to slow down and focus on others, particularly your family. More than that, it also centers around how each and every person is important, and that what matters is not the shine and the sparkle of a gift, but simply that the gift is given. Arthur, the main character and the youngest son of Santa Claus, sacrifices everything just to deliver one gift to a child on Christmas eve, and while watching the movie I was struck by how almost-allegorical the story was. It clearly reminded me of the parable of the one stray sheep, and how Jesus says,
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than the ninety-nine that never went astray.
Matthew 18: 12-13
I’m kind of surprised Arthur Christmas isn’t better known than it is, because it certainly deserves to be. Everyone I’ve watched it with has enjoyed it, and the comments I’ve gotten from more than one person were specifically how good the message of the film is.
All in all, you can’t go wrong with this movie. It’s lots of fun for the whole family and might really bless you like it blessed me. It’s a film with a message, story, and characters that deserve to be loved and looked up to by children.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
You can find her on her blog at https://emmathebard.wixsite.com/egrunyan where she posts twice a week on Christianity and creativity.
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- Review: Arthur Christmas - December 20, 2023
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YES! My family just discovered this one last year and we all love it. It’s so surprisingly deep, well-crafted, and genuinely hilarious in a “laughter is good medicine” way. Thanks for highlighting this!
So glad to find another fan! It’s definitely a great movie, and definitely a family favorite of ours, too!
My pastor actually old a story about how this movie game his son nightmares because he was always afraid that “Santa claus was under his bed” XD
This is a great movie, though! Much better than other movies I’ve seen.
We really enjoyed seeing this as a family once I read this post. I think it’ll be a repeat movie each year. We watched it with our: 6,8, and 12yo.