‘Klaus’ brings in some holiday cheer in 2019
Film follows Jesper, the spoiled son of a postmaster who is sent to an Arctic island
What if everything great about Santa Claus came about because of the actions of the most selfish character imaginable?
That’s the origin story director Sergio Pablos explores in Klaus, Netflix’s first original animated feature.
The film follows Jesper (voiced by Jason Schwartzman), the spoiled and lazy son of a postmaster who is sent to open a post office on a remote Arctic island with the threat of being cut off from the family fortune. Unfortunately for Jesper, the town’s feuding locals have no intention of sending one another any mail.
Jesper eventually befriends a reclusive carpenter named Klaus (JK Simmons), whose handmade toys become a part of the postman’s plan to get back home to his life of luxury.
But a fresh take on Santa’s origin story is not the only thing that makes Klaus unique: it’s also in 2D. At a time when most studios would run from the old-school animation format, Netflix ran towards it — enthused about the material’s holiday appeal.
“What we found was that the fact that it was 2D and the fact that it was a Christmas movie was a deterrent for a lot of companies that said they didn’t want to compete around Christmas with all the other films,” said Pablos. “Netflix was the absolute exception to that. Not only were they OK with it, they were actually looking for Christmas content at the time.”
Netflix’s vice president of original animation, Melissa Cobb, affirmed that “the idea of a Christmas classic that people could enjoy year after year on Netflix” was part of the project’s appeal.
“As we look at the animated feature space in general, we’re looking for stories that are timeless that have strong universal themes [and] really strong emotions,” said Cobb. “I think about it from the standpoint of really wanting to build out a library of content that people can enjoy over and over again.”
Cobb said Pablos’ passion for the film’s story was an important factor for Netflix. Klaus marks the directorial debut for the Spanish animator, who is perhaps best known for creating Despicable Me. And it’s a movie that’s been close to 10 years in the making.
Inspired by the spate of cinematic origin stories at the time, including Batman Begins and Hannibal Rising, Pablos sought out an established character whose background he could expand on. Although he initially dismissed Santa as a subject, the filmmaker said he kept coming back to him. He realised that despite various historical and religious back stories, “there’s no widely accepted canon origin story for Santa.”
Pablos eventually considered a story in which Santa wasn’t even the main character, which led him to wonder: “What if Santa is a symbol for altruism and generosity, and [there is] a character who needs to learn that lesson?” Part of the charm of Klaus is an artistic style that resembles a handdrawn storybook in motion. This was a feat made possible by Pablos and his team, who worked to develop new tools that resolved some of traditional animation’s technical problems.
For Cobb, the animated features space is exciting due to the craft of animation as well as the idea of introducing timeless classics that maintain audience appeal over decades. She points out the global reach and accessibility that appears unique to animation — important factors as Netflix serves a worldwide customer base.
“Audiences are willing to kind of step into worlds and things that might not be their day-to-day lives when they’re animated, whether that’s a different culture that you’re being immersed in, or a different reality,” said Cobb. “Audiences — not just kids, but kids and adults — are willing to engage the fantasy side of their brain really quickly when you’re in animation, and that’s a lot of fun.”