For animation vet Simon Otto (the “How to Train Your Dragon” franchise), directing Netflix’s “That Christmas” was like making the ultimate Richard Curtis film — with Richard Curtis. The fact that it was animated was a breakthrough for both; Otto had never directed a feature before and Curtis was new to the medium. Their collaboration resulted in a whimsical holiday treat.
“That Christmas” explores how a blizzard turns the holiday upside down in the hamlet of Wellington-on-Sea, with Brian Cox’s Santa as narrator. Curtis adapted his YA novels with Peter Souter, but worked closely with Otto in getting the most out of his story for animation. It was produced by Locksmith Animation, with DNEG doing the animation.
“It was a journey for both of us,” Otto told IndieWire. “The idea of ‘Love Actually’ for kids was thrown around. It has flavors of it, but it’s not ‘Love Actually.’ So, instead of a group of people in love and dealing with relationships, it’s about families together at Christmas and separating the kids and the adults. And the idea is that they all have expectations for Christmas and they don’t turn out the way they hope, which resonated immediately because that was my Christmas growing up in Switzerland.
“We had a very specific timeline of how Christmas Eve and Christmas Day would play out,” Otto continued about his childhood. “And it never turned out that way. There was always some drama about being on time or not coming on time and the dinner is delayed or somebody’s emotional about a gift that they got and didn’t want. Eventually, after the singing and the gifts are open, you sit there. It could be unpredictable, and things happen, and yet somehow it all works out. That’s the movie.”
First, Otto set out to understand the DNA of a Curtis film. His research led to the common thread of wish fulfillment. The most important thing, though, was taking small moments and finding ways to make them big. “And I find that quite beautiful,” Otto said. “He wants to know who these people are and how they live and to be specific about it and truthful.”
The other important Curtis trait was a facility with sketch comedy that he honed on the sitcoms “Black Adder,” “Mr. Bean,” and “The Vicar of Dibley.” Otto marveled at the emotional payoff that accompanied physical gags: “The best example that opened my eyes was when Hugh Grant finally goes on a date with Julie Roberts in ‘Notting Hill’ and he loses his glasses and the camera pans to him in the movie theater watching the film and eating popcorn with corrected swim goggles,” added Otto.
In terms of the animation, Otto emphasized an illustrative animation aesthetic to Wellington and a character design similar to “How to Train Your Dragon.”
“For me, I wanted to feel the cold exteriors in contrast to the warm and cozy interiors,” said Otto. “That to me is Christmas. Going outside, being really cold in the snow. I want to feel the snow, I want to feel the texture of the clothing. So, in my mind, you gotta have something that feels like stop-motion in terms of its textural quality. You can feel how the wood feels real and how the elements feel real. But have the quality of an illustration as well as being able to go pretty big and cinematic.”
In turning Christmas upside down, it was an opportunity to reflect on preserving and reinventing tradition. The chaotic opening school Christmas play, “The Three Wisewomen,” introduces this theme, in which the kids want to make the holiday more relevant but the parents don’t understand. “My favorite joke in the movie is that ‘Jesus is a cool dude,” Otto said.
And then, at the midpoint, when everyone realizes that Christmas is not going to happen the way they expected, Curtis suggested inserting an original Christmas song to tighten a dragging montage. He approached Ed Sheeran, who composed and sang “Under the Tree.”
“We basically told the plot of each of those characters,” Otto said. “It was an eight-minute sequence and Richard said, ‘Put a song in it.’ That brought it down to four-and-a-half minutes. And all of a sudden, now you’re thinking about the emotional plot, not the actual factual events. It was a great way of getting the experience of a filmmaker who’s gone through these struggles.”
“That Christmas” streams on Netflix December 4.
