Art of Arthur Christmas
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Arthur Christmas is an animation movie produced by Aardman Animations and Sony Pictures Animation as their first collaborative project, directed by Sarah Smith and Barry Cook in 2011.
The film is set on Christmas Eve, and centers on Arthur Claus, the clumsy but well-meaning son of Santa Claus, who discovers that his father's high-tech ship has failed to deliver one girl's present. Accompanied only by his free-spirited and reckless grandfather, an enthusiastic young Christmas elf obsessed with wrapping gifts for children, and a team of reindeer, he embarks on a mission to deliver the girl's present personally. Following the underperformance of Flushed Away, DreamWorks Animation did not renew its partnership with Aardman. In April 2007, Aardman signed a three-year deal with Sony. Originally titled Operation Rudolph, the project was first announced in 2007. Aardman spent 18 months on pre-production on the story and design in the UK before relocating to Sony's animation studio in Culver City, California, for another 18 months of production. On 27 April 2009, it was reported that production had begun with Aardman and Sony Pictures Imageworks working together on animation.
The pictures on this page are a collection of artworks created for this movie.
THE STORY
Instead of a single individual, Santa Claus is a hereditary title belonging to gift-givers that has been carried on for many generations. The current Santa, Malcolm Claus, is heading his seventieth mission, but his role has largely been reduced to that of a figurehead. The traditional sleigh and reindeer have been replaced by the S-1, a high-tech vessel operated by hundreds of elves that use advanced equipment and military precision to deliver presents. The complex Christmas operations are micromanaged from a North Pole-based Mission Control by Malcolm's eldest son, Steve, who expects to be handed down the role of Santa following his father's retirement. Meanwhile, Malcolm's younger son, Arthur, answers letters sent from children to Santa.
During one of the delivery operations in Poland, a toy is accidentally activated, waking a child and nearly revealing Santa. A tense escape operation ensues, during which an elf aboard the S-1 leans on a button, causing a present to fall from the supply line and go unnoticed. Another elf named Bryony Shelfley later finds the missed present, a wrapped bicycle for a young girl named Gwen living in Trelew, Cornwall, whose letter Arthur had personally responded to. Arthur is heartbroken to hear a child's been missed and urges his father and brother to use the S-1 and deliver the final present but Steve, overcome with frustration that Malcolm has chosen to stay as Santa longer, argues that one missed present out of billions is an acceptable error, citing this year's Christmas as the most successful in history. Malcolm's cynical elderly father and predecessor, Grandsanta, whisks Arthur away to deliver it in EVE, the original wooden sleigh that is pulled by the descendants of the flying reindeer. Bryony is revealed to have stowed away and joins the pair, but they get lost on three different continents, lose several of their reindeer, and encounter many obstacles, ultimately being mistaken for aliens and causing an international military incident…
