KRAMPUS (2015) (CHANNEL 5, 11PM)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23
Max Engel (Emjay Anthony) is a sensitive 12-year-old boy, who cherishes the festive season with his workaholic father David (Adam Scott), longsuffering mother Sarah (Toni Collette) and German grandmother Omi (Krista Stadler). The season of goodwill turns sour with the arrival of Sarah’s sister Linda (Allison Tolman) and her family. After a brawl breaks out over the dinner table, a tearful Max tears up his letter addressed to the North Pole. Storm clouds gather, a blizzard swirls and the cloven-hooved beast Krampus descends on the besieged family home to teach feuding generations a harsh lesson in self-sacrifice. Based on Alpine folklore, Krampus is a tongue-in-cheek horror comedy that provides an entertaining antidote to the sugary sentiment that sloshes over most festive films.
CHRISTMAS EVE ZOOTROPOLIS (2016) (BBC1, 2.55PM)
Creatures great and small live in perfect harmony in Byron Howard and Rich Moore’s anthropomorphic animated feature. Stu Hopps (voiced by Don Lake) and wife Bonnie (Bonnie Hunt) try to dissuade their daughter Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin) from pursuing her dream of becoming the first serving rabbit police officer in Zootropolis. Unperturbed, Judy earns her police badge as part of the Mammal Inclusion Initiative. In order to prove her worth to her sceptical colleagues, the new cop on the block vows to solve the case of a missing resident, and implores a con artist fox called Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) to help her. Zootropolis is a beautifully crafted parable that elegantly combines a noir detective thriller, buddy cop comedy and coming-of-age story with Disney’s trademark visual splendour.
CHRISTMAS DAY THE GOOD DINOSAUR (2015) (BBC1, 1.30PM)
A family of Apatosaurus comprising patriarch Henry (voiced by Jeffrey Wright), wife Ida (Frances Mcdormand) and three children Buck (Marcus Scribner), Libby (Maleah Padilla) and Arlo (Raymond Ochoa) tend a farm and harvest crops for the bitter winter months. A tragic accident robs the siblings of their father and soon after, Arlo tumbles into a raging river and is swept far away. Lost in the wilderness, Arlo meets a feral cave boy called Spot (Jack Bright), who becomes the dinosaur’s protector. The Good Dinosaur is a life-affirming tale of friendship and loyalty, although it lacks the inventiveness of Pixar’s top films.
THE JUNGLE BOOK (2016) (BBC1, 3.10PM)
Man cub Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is raised by wolves Akela (Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (Lupita Nyong’o) as a brother to the other pups. The presence of the boy is an affront to tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba), who demands the child be handed over for slaughter. Akela and Raksha refuse, and Mowgli acknowledges his presence jeopardises the lupine clan so he embarks on a perilous journey back to civilisation in the company of his protector, Bagheera the black panther (Sir Ben Kingsley). The Jungle Book is a technically dazzling romp through the stories of Rudyard Kipling, which retains the wide-eyed charm of the 1967 Disney animation.
BOXING DAY TROLLS (2016) (BBC1, 3.50PM)
Once a year on the Trollstice, a race of disgruntled ogres called Bergens feast on shiny trolls. Thankfully, the tiny creatures’ leader, King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor), orchestrates a daring escape