Klaus is a 2019 animated Christmas comedy film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Sergio Pablos in his directorial debut, produced by his company the SPA Studios and distributed by Netflix. A traditionally animated film, it stars the voices of Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Pablos (in a dual role), Norm Macdonald (in his final film role released in his lifetime), and Joan Cusack. Serving as an origin story of Santa Claus and using a fictionalized 19th-century setting, the plot revolves around a postman stationed in an island town to the Far North who befriends a reclusive toymaker (Klaus).
Klaus was released on 8 November 2019 and received critical acclaim for its animation, story, emotional depth, humor, narrative, and vocal performances. It won seven awards at the 47th Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and also won Best Animated Film at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. The film was also nominated at the 92nd Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, making it the first animated film from Netflix to be nominated for an Academy Award, as well as the first animated film released by a streaming service to be nominated, alongside I Lost My Body (also Netflix), but lost to Toy Story 4, which also starred Cusack.
Contents
Plot
In 19th-century Norway, the Royal Postmaster General has enrolled his lazy, spoiled, and self-centered son Jesper Johansen into the Royal Postal Academy. When Jesper deliberately underperforms in his training for 9 months intending on returning to his privileged lifestyle, his father gives him an ultimatum; he is to be the postman of the distant, northern island town of Smeerensburg, where he must establish a post office there and post 6,000 letters within a year. If Jesper fails to get them, he will be cut off from the family's fortune.
Jesper meets Mogens, the ferryman of Smeerensburg, and finds the town composed almost entirely of two feuding familial clans: the Ellingboes and the Krums. After a week of desperately seeking letters from the townsfolk to no avail, Jesper finds an isolated house far outside of town, filled with handmade toys and he then encounters an elderly, reclusive woodsman named Klaus. Terrified by Klaus' imposing appearance, Jesper flees, leaving behind a drawing from one of Smeerensburg's Krum children. As Jesper attempts to leave Smeerensburg, Klaus forces him to enter the boy’s home to secretly deliver a toy, which delights the child.
Word of the toy delivery spreads to the other children, who go to Jesper the next day believing they will receive a toy if they send Klaus a letter. Jesper capitalizes on the idea to make progress on his goal, and asks Klaus if he can donate his toys. Klaus reluctantly agrees, provided they operate at night and Jesper continues delivering the toys in secret. The Krum boy's toy leads him to play with an Ellingboe girl, much to their clans' outrage. As more children write letters to Klaus, Jesper tells a boy who had earlier ridiculed him that Klaus knows whenever any child misbehaves and only gives toys to good children. This prompts the children to perform acts of kindness, which gradually inspires the rest of the townsfolk to end their dispute. The children ask bitter teacher-turned-fishmonger Alva to teach them to read and write so they can send letters; her faith restored, she uses her escape savings to reopen her school.
Noticing that Klaus's toy supply is running out, Jesper tries persuading Klaus to make more toys in time for Christmas, but Klaus refuses. When Jesper happens upon a keepsake of Klaus's late wife Lydia, Klaus forces him away. Motivated by Márgu, a Sámi girl who can't write or speak in Norwegian, Jesper works with Alva to help Márgu write a letter asking for a sled, which he then attempts to build alone. Seeing Jesper's effort, Klaus reconciles with him and the two finish the sled. Upon delivering it and seeing Márgu's joy, Jesper is genuinely moved. Klaus reveals he had made the toys for the children he and Lydia hoped to have but could not conceive. He agrees to the Christmas plan, and Márgu arrives with the rest of her people to help. As the town and Jesper's relationship with Alva flourish, Jesper finds himself conflicted about whether to leave Smeerensburg.
Voice cast
Jason Schwartzman as Jesper Johansen, a young postman who befriends Klaus and helps bring much-needed happiness to Smeerensburg while getting accustomed to a life outside of his comfort zone.
J. K. Simmons as Klaus (Santa Claus), an initially-reclusive large woodworker who makes toys.
Simmons also voices the Drill Sarge (uncredited), the assistant head of the Johansen family's postal department who works under the Royal Postmaster General.
Rashida Jones as Alva, a teacher turned fishmonger who becomes Jesper's love interest.
Will Sasso as Mr. Aksel Ellingboe, the dimwitted Ellingboe Clan patriarch carrying on an ancient feud of his clan with the Krums.
Neda Margrethe Labba as Márgu, a young Sámi girl who befriends Jesper, despite their language barrier.
Sergio Pablos as:
Olaf Krum, Mrs. Krum's hulking son who does not speak, but communicates with various nonverbal sounds.
Magdelone "Pumpkin" Ellingboe, Mr. Ellingboe's hulking daughter who only speaks the word "mine".
Norm Macdonald as Mogens, the sarcastic ferryman of Smeerensburg who enjoys humor that comes at others' expense.
Joan Cusack as Mrs. Tammy Krum, the cunning Krum Clan matriarch carrying on an ancient feud of her clan with the Ellingboes.
Reiulf Aleksandersen and Sara Margrethe Oksal as adult Sami voices, including Márgu's parents.
Production
After setting up his animation studio in Madrid, Spain, director Sergio Pablos, who had worked on Disney Renaissance films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Tarzan, decided to develop a new traditionally-animated feature film. Pablos wanted to explore how the medium would have evolved had western animation film studios not switched to producing mostly computer animated films since the 1990s. For the film's look, the studio sought to overcome some of the technical limitations that traditional animation had, focusing on organic and volumetric lighting and texturing to give the film a unique look, while maintaining a hand-crafted feel. Proprietary tools from Les films du Poisson Rouge, a French company in Angoulême, were used to allow the team to produce a variety of visual development styles, with the aim of getting away from the standardized style of "characters looking like stickers put on painted backgrounds." Fellow Disney animators James Baxter, known for Beauty and the Beast, and Andrew Chesworth also worked on the film.
The first teaser for the project was released in April 2012; at the time, the studio was seeking investment, co-production, and distribution partners. It was shopped around to various studios, but most studios — including Netflix at first — rejected the movie viewing it as "too risky." In November 2017, Netflix announced that they had acquired the global rights to Klaus; at the same time, the casting of Schwartzman, Jones, Simmons, and Cusack was announced along with a Christmas 2019 release date. In March 2019, it was reported that Netflix was planning an Oscar-qualifying run for Klaus in theaters, and it was listed as one of ten films Netflix was negotiating with chains to give limited releases prior to their online debuts that August.
The film is dedicated to animator and scene checker Mary Lescher who died on 2 June 2019 of cancer. She had worked on Klaus, as well at both Disney Animation and DisneyToon Studios from 1989 to 2006. Pablos said Smeerensburg is a deliberate misspelling of Smeerenburg, a former Dutch and Norwegian whaling station in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
Story development
Pablos said the story was indirectly inspired by the Christopher Nolan film Batman Begins. "What a great storytelling exercise, to take a character that's already well established … and bring it to today's audience". Pablos workshopped origin story retellings for several characters, including real-life figures like Napoleon Bonaparte and magical figures including Dracula before settling on Santa Claus. "He has many origin stories, but in the end I thought that there was not one canon-accepted origin story," according to Pablos, whose travels to Norway inspired much of the direction of the film, including the inclusion of the Sami people. It was this decision that led to Netflix green-lighting the project, as the streaming giant had not been interested in original feature-length animation but made an exception due to an interest in releasing new Christmas stories.
Release
Klaus was released theatrically in select theaters on 8 November 2019, and was released digitally through Netflix on 15 November. It is the first original animated feature film to appear on Netflix. In January 2020, Netflix reported the film was watched by 40 million members over its first four weeks of release.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 95% based on 78 reviews with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critical consensus reads "Beautiful hand-drawn animation and a humorous, heartwarming narrative make Klaus an instant candidate for holiday classic status." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "Sergio Pablos' Klaus invents its own unexpected and very enjoyable origin story for the big guy who gives out toys every Christmas eve. Shaking off most Yuletide cliches in favor of a from-scratch story about how even dubiously-motivated generosity can lead to joy, it contains echoes of other seasonal favorites (especially, in a topsy-turvy way, Dr. Seuss' Grinch) while standing completely on its own."
Peter Debruge of Variety gave the film a mixed review, calling the film over-complicated and saying: "What goodwill the movie does inspire owes more to the splendid visual world than to anything the story supplies."
According to data provided by Netflix to Reuters, the film racked up nearly 30 million views worldwide in its first month. The film beat Toy Story 4 for Best Animated Film of 2019 on Animation Magazine.
Deseret News named Klaus on their list of underrated Christmas movies to watch in 2023.
Soundtrack
"Invisible" by Zara Larsson and "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy are featured in the film. The song "High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco is featured in the trailer.
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