Klaus (2019) – Rewatch

I didn’t expect much when I first checked this out on Netflix two years ago, but I was incredibly surprised. Another take on the myths surrounding Santa Claus, here we have a lazy, spoiled Postal Academy graduate whose Postmaster father assigns him to a post in a remote village located above the Arctic Circle, inhabited by a pair of families bent on continuing a centuries-long feud. Desperate to succeed in his job so he can be reassigned, the former student befriends a lonely toymaker and begins a cycle of delivering toys and letters for the town’s children. The traditional animation is gorgeous, done in a unique style. Even though I always confuse the main character with David Spade’s Kuzco, the voice work, including the talents of Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, Norm McDonald, and JK Simmons, is well done and perfectly assigned to each character. It’s very heart-warming and I now watch it every year. I only wish they’d release it on DVD so I can have a hard copy to enjoy whenever I want. 

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film