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10 Dec 2018

CHRISTMAS MOVIES - Arthur Christmas (2011)

 Film genres have formulas and rules, but how well do Christmas films follow their formula?
Arthur Christmas (2011), is an animated Christmas Film.


The following may contain spoilers for

"Arthur Christmas" (2011)

RULE #1

CHARACTERS


"You were right, Arthur! It doesn't matter how Santa's gift gets there! It doesn't matter if it is Mr Postman in his Spaceship!" ~ Grandsanta.
"Just as long as it gets there!" ~ Arthur.
"You made it happen, Lad! No-one got left out!" ~ Grandsanta.
  • 1a.  Someone Who Hates Christmas - Grandsanta hates modern Christmas.
  • 1b.  Someone Who Inflicts Christmas Cheer on Others - Arthur is gung-ho about Christmas.
  • 1c.  Precocious Kids - Gwen Hines.
  • 1d.  A Bullied Kid - None.
  • 1e.  Silver-haired jovial old person - Margaret (Mrs Claus)
  • 1f.  Someone with a secret - Grandsanta's Cuban Missle Crisis incident.
  • 1g.  Stressed Young Female - Byrony, maybe.
  • 1h.  The Single - A.
  • 1i.  Someone Career Obsessed - Steve.
  • 1j.  Grumpy Old (usually) Man - Grandsanta.
  • 1k.  Sassy Old (usually) Woman - Margaret.
  • 1l.  An Inappropriate Santa Impersonator - None.

RULE #2

SEX & NUDITY

"He loves these slippers even more than you do." ~ Byrony.
  • 2a.  Nudity - None, obviously.
  • 2b.  Sex - Arthur's Christmas slipper and a Chihuahua.

RULE #3

PLOTS

"In two hours, she is going to wake up, tear downstairs, search under the tree and... The look on her face! When she finds that there is nothing there, she won't understand! She will think that she is the only one kid in the whole world that Santa does not care about! She will feel so left out!" ~ Arthur.

  • 3a.  Home for the holidays - N/A.
  • 3b.  Santa may be real - Santa is real, this is a help Santa deliver gifts (or in this case gift) film.
  • 3c.  Classic Christmas stories may be homaged - N/A.

RULE #4

GENRE


 "...surrounded by kids on new bikes, pointing:
'That's the girl that Santa hates!'
She runs away, alcoholic by the age of 9. Dead before she's even...! She may never build
a snowman again!" ~ Byrony.

A variety of genres:
  • 4a.  Straight comedy - Yes, as a animated film.
  • 4b.  Bitter-sweet family drama-comedy - A little.
  • 4c.  Animated fantasy (or puppets/muppets) - Animated CGI film.
  • 4d.  Bible retelling - No.



RULE #5

EXPECTED EVENTS

"He likes these slippers even more than you do!" ~ Byrony.

One or more of the following will occur:
  • 5a.  Ugly Christmas sweaters - Arthur wears one constantly.
  • 5b.  Pulling Santa's beard - Doesn't happen.
  • 5c.  Carolers are annoying - Actually OK.
  • 5d.  Some kind of competition - Grandsanta is in an undeclared competition with the modern systerm.
  • 5e.  Mistletoe - Doesn't happen.


RULE #6

UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES


"This one's for me, dear." ~ Margaret.
"Happy Christmas, Margaret." ~ Santa.
"Oh, thank you." ~ Margaret.
"I'm still very much up to the job, you know." ~ Santa.

The following simple things are difficult, often comically so:
  • 6a.  Putting Up Christmas lights - Not an issue.
  • 6b.  Not walking out after a fight with family - Steve does.
  • 6c.  Last minute gift purchasing - Last minute gift delivering
  • 6d. Assembling Christmas gifts - Not really a problem, though Byrony did last minute wrapping.
  • 6e.  Cooking - Not an issue.
  • 6f.  Attempts to get home for Christmas - The opposite.
  • 6g.  Even a getting and putting up a Christmas tree can lead to disaster - Not an issue.
  • 6h.  Other - Delivering gifs.

RULE #7

RELIGION

"Are you Saint Nicholas? Because you'd be incredibly old." ~ Gwen.
  • 7a.  Nativity/Little religion - None.
  • 7b.  Accept non-Christians into the celebration - None.
  • 7c.  An annoying overly religious person - None.
  • 7d.  Angels - None.

RULE #8

ENDING

"You were right, Arthur. lt doesn't matter how Santa's gift gets there. Doesn't even matter if it's Mr. Postman in his spaceship. As long as it gets there." ~ Grandsanta.

At least one of the following will happen:
  • 8a. Snow - At the North Pole always.
  • 8b. Grump-No-More - Grandsanta. Steve.  Even Santa to a degree.
  • 8c. Santa is Real - True throughout the film.
  • 8d. The Unexpected Extra Guest - No.
  • 8e. Wisdom From an Unexpected Source - A little from many characters.
  • 8f. The Single Will Find Love - No.


RULE #9

HAPPY ENDING

"And may 100 percent of your Christmases be white." ~ North Pole Computer.

Will have a sickly sweet ending with a "The True Meaning of Christmas" message - especially:
  • 9a.  Family is the most important thing - Vaguely.
  • 9b.  Miracles are real - No, but Santa is.
  • 9c.  It's the thought that counts - Not covered.
  • 9d.  Other - A joy in Christmas is important.


RULE #10

SEQUELS

"Well, here's to me doing an even better job next year." ~ Santa.
  • 10a.  No sequels - No sequel.
  • 10b.  May be a sequel - Not part of a series.
  • 10c.  Remake - Not a remake.
  • 10d.  Adaptation - Not an adaptation.


RESULTS

"You'll have to focus. The sleigh'll be coming at you at 45,000 miles an hour." ~ Byrony.

  • Followed in this film:  1; 2; 4; 9; 10.
  • Partially followed in this film:  3; 5; 6; 8.
  • Not followed in this film:  7.


~ DUG.
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1 comment:

  1. Unknown18 December 2018 at 06:59

    Thank you . I like the cartoon characters and the memories. Your kindness is appreciated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year !!! Hope you and your love or Seasoning Greetings!!! Hope you and your love ones have loads of fun and much prosperity . Best Wishes to you !!! Be Safe !:-):-) :-)
    Thank you for keeping up with me . Take care .

    ReplyDelete

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