Netflix’s Klaus is a hand drawn animated Christmas film depicting the origins of Santa Claus. The man behind it, Sergio Pablos, comes at the story from an incredibly fresh and original perspective. The film follows a young postman, Jesper Johansson, who is forced to establish a post office that handles 6,000 years in the remote island town of Smeerensburg.

The residents of the town are divided between two families that detest one another, and refuse to mix. Whilst there he encounters a reclusive woodsman, Klaus, whose toys enamour the local children, giving Jesper the idea to have them all write a letter to Klaus requesting a toy. Throughout the film we see more and more of the Santa mythology unfold and grow until it becomes something akin to what we recognise today. The way that Pablos manages to weave this mythology with a beautiful story of the power of small deeds and how they can help bring people together, even those who had been warring together for generations.

On top of an incredibly touching story that is perfect for a christmas movie, the animation is stunning as well. Computer animated films look incredible, and the details that the animators are able to draw out using that technology is constantly getting better, but there is something so magical and special about hand drawn animation, and the different visual styles it unlocks that I always love, so I’m glad to see it hasn’t disappeared completely.

If you’re looking for a great new Christmas movie, then you don’t have to look past Klaus, which is comfortably the best Christmas film I’ve seen in years.

9/10