And this is how legends are born. Well, not exactly born, more like adjusted. Klaus retells the origin story of Santa in a manner charming enough to be a suitable replacement for the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation classic “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.” (Not that anybody outside of my country my generation my neighborhood myself watches the latter anymore.) As Christmas classics go, however, you’re still not replacing It’s a Wonderful Life, so don’t try.
“Slow out of the gate” is a term I ran across recently, and little could be truer of Klaus, which spends the entirety of Act I setting up eventual joy while creating very little. Our hero Jesper (voice of Jason Schwartzman) is essentially a northern European iteration of Kuzko from The Emperor’s New Groove (so much so that in my mind I hear David Spade voicing this role rather than Jason Schwartzman). Jesper, like Kuzko, is spoiled child of privilege, and thus an acquired taste … which you will not acquire until the film is at least a half-hour in.
Somehow, Jesper is in the field of postal delivery, but this Veruca Salt can’t be bothered to care about it. Having had quite enough, Jesper’s father banishes him to the remote Arctic Island of Smeerensburg where the reluctant slacker is tasked with setting up a postal station and processing 6,000 letters over the course of one year … or he will be cut off forever.
Smeerensburg isn’t just cold and grim, it is a place dominated by feud. Upon a lackluster arrival, Jesper is tricked into sounding the town’s “Battle Bell,” a signal for all citizens to drop their passive unpleasantness and come make war on one another. Most of the entire settlement is either a member of the rival tribes Ellingboes or Krums, both of whom relish the town traditions of lurking, spying, and public fist-fighting. Suddenly, 6,000 letters seems quite a chore.
Jesper discovers a child’s errant drawing and tries to con the child into making it into a letter. Doesn’t take. A few dead-ends later, Jesper finds himself at the remote home of the town recluse, Klaus (J.K. Simmons), the enormous, taciturn, and gruff owner of a house replete with hand-made toys. Upon finding the child’s drawing, Klaus forces Jesper into some b&e, launching the much thinner man down a chimney late at night to return the child’s drawing along with a present. Word spreads … and the following day, a handful of children set up shop at Jesper’s door believing that if they write a letter, they, too, might receive a toy.
You can see where this is going, right?
While Klaus lacks the musical stylings I loved from the Rankin/Bass collection, it compensates in other ways, always more subtle than the stop-motion cartooning of my youth. The film does attack several aspects we know of Santa Claus mythology beyond chimneys and dead-of-night delivery including stockings, coal, red suit, flying reindeer, magic sleighs, and the toys themselves. All of these are handled without commentary or superfluous narrative; the Santa story here will remain true to your child’s vision without beating the point home.
On top of that, Klaus also introduced a few new welcome pieces to the legend. One involves an unintelligible Sámi child from which we derive the lesson that all true selflessness leads to more selflessness, which is a marvelous lesson for children to learn, especially greedy Christmas system-gaming trolls. The best side-effect, however, is Jasper’s relationship with Alva (Rashida Jones), a burned-out school-teacher-turned-fishmonger who, like Jasper, longs only to depart this stinking rock.
I’d have no problem calling Klaus the best animated film of 2019. It isn’t, but I’d have no problem with the assessment. Unlike so many animated films, it has true hero arc. Jasper begins as a selfish jerk, and retains his selfishness for a long, long period. However, instead of a frustrating disconnect from the audience, we see that his otherwise off-putting selfish motivation has instead created a trove of positives. It’s kinda like when your favorite sports team makes an awful move that turns out being a godsend; perhaps he doesn’t deserve adulation, but even Jasper can recognize the positive effects he’s had on the town, however unintentional. Klaus is a hidden gem and one that I hope will become part of the regular Christmas stable of acceptable films. If there’s any justice, this will prevail as the go-to origin story for Kris Kringle.
♪This month on Netflix just because
Noel is as Noel does
First there is Jasper, little runt
Reminds of New Groove’s Kuzco c***
Uh uh oh, thought this would blow
Uh uh oh, whaddayaknow?
Scrolling through Netflix
In my house
May as well check out
Spanish Klaus♫
Rated PG, 96 Minutes
Director: Sergio Pablos, Carlos Martínez López
Writer: Sergio Pablos & Jim Mahoney & Zach Lewis
Genre: Secret Santa
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Santa-worshipping Children
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The impatient
♪ Parody Inspired by “Up on the Housetop”
