I had seen the previews for Arthur Christmas and my husband and I actually talked about surprising the kids and taking them to see it. (With five kids, we don’t make it to the movie theater that often!) So, when I was asked to attend a special theatrical screening of Arthur Christmas for review purposes, I {of course} agreed!
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The 3D, CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas, an Aardman production for Sony Pictures Animation, at last reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child’s question: ‘So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?’ The answer: Santa’s exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the heart of the film is a story with the ingredients of a Christmas classic – a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns. — (C) Sony Pictures |
My thoughts: My kids are well aware of the fact that Santa is not real and that Jesus is the real reason for the Christmas season. However, we still enjoy watching many of the secular Christmas shows and movies that come on during this time of the year. Although many of these such shows are not faith-based, they often have Biblical truths embedded within them. And this was definitely the case with the movie Arthur Christmas! After the movie we discussed and related the movie to the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15. Much like the shepherd left his flock to search for the one missing sheep, the selfless Arthur, one of Santa’s sons, was determined to deliver a Christmas gift to the one child who was overlooked! Even through adversity, Arthur continued on his quest to make sure that the little girl had a gift from Santa on Christmas morning! One of my boys emphatically announced that the movie taught him to never ever give up and that with God anything is possible!
While we were able to find little nuggets of truth throughout the movie, there were a few other things that stood out to me that I would want to make parents aware of. The movie starts out with Arthur announcing that Santa is the greatest man ever! Now, my kids and I, of course, disagree with that! The movie is rated PG for mild rude humor. Such humor is mostly from the mouth of the 136 year old Grand-Santa. One of his comments is about wives and the “stuff” that they do while their husbands are at work. I felt that the implication was a bit derogatory towards stay-at-home-moms. Grand-Santa also made a comment about how it was once said that it was impossible to teach women to read. The implication is that if women can learn to read then delivering a gift to the one missed child is not impossible either. The comment seemed a bit demeaning to me. Aside from the “rude humor” there was also a point in the movie where Arthur pretends to be an alien and the sleigh is mistaken for a UFO.
Overall, my kids and I REALLY enjoyed the movie! I found that the mild rude humor was easily overlooked. In fact, it went right over my kids heads! I would definitely let me kids watch Arthur Christmas again!
Take a peek at the movie trailer:
Arthur Christmas opens in theaters on Wednesday, November 23rd!
For more information be sure to visit the official Arthur Christmas site or check them out Arthur Christmas on Facebook!
My family and I received free admittance to see the Arthur Christmas movie screening in exchange for my frank, unbiased review.
Apple Print Wreath
download ost – http://download-soundtracks.com/movie_soundtracks/arthur-christmas-soundtrack-by-harry-gregson-williams/
Thanks for doing this review! I was considering the movie, but couldn’t quite decide. My husband and I are increasingly dissatisfied with the way Hollywood misrepresents Christmas every year so we’re probably going to nix it – movies are too expensive to have to come home and and reframe the content for kids. Thanks for saving me some $$$!
Glad to read this review. My kids are interested in seeing this movie, and one has already asked, “Can we go??” LOL