Rating (3.5 out of 5)

Summary: Kudos for coming up with a new Santa Claus origin story. Once the main characters are fully introduced, you will guess 90% of the storyline, but the ride is fun. This was a fun and enjoyable movie to watch for the holidays.

The artwork was slightly different from the typical Pixar/digital image movies, which was refreshing. Then the contrast of the visual images as the tiny hamlet turns from a battleground of two feuding families to a lively wee town was great. Loved the little girl with the carrot for the snowman and how they maintained her original creepiness.

The key of this movie is the constant pace of development from one phase to the next. The pace was steady and always forward. The characters progress in a highly authentic and natural way. Each character faces their own little conflict/challenge, with Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) facing multiple, including his decision to stay or not.

My daughter had to leave halfway through, but she resumed ” Klaus” as soon as returned home. This is a solid indicator of how engaging the story is.

A cute story with an ending that provides a great way to transition to our mythical Santa Claus for the kids. “Klaus” might be another Christmas movie to watch again in the future.

Plot: Jesper is sent to a remote village to manage the local post office. The only way he can return to his cushy life is to convince all the kids in the town to send cards to Klaus asking for presents.