Klaus Dvd

Klaus is a 2019 English-language Spanish traditionally animated Christmas adventure comedy film written and directed by Sergio Pablos in his directorial debut, produced by his company Sergio Pablos Animation Studios and distributed by Netflix. Co-written by Zach Lewis and Jim Mahoney, the film stars the voices of Jason Schwartzman, J. K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Sergio Pablos, Norm Macdonald, and Joan Cusack. Serving as an alternate origin story of Santa Claus different from the historical take of Saint Nicholas of Myra, with a fictional 19th-century setting, the plot revolves around a postman stationed in an island town to the Far North who befriends a reclusive toymaker (Klaus).

Klaus was released on 8 November 2019 and received positive reviews for its animation, story, and vocal performances. It won seven awards at the 47th Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and also won Best Animated Film at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. The film was also nominated at the 92nd Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, making it the first animated film from Netflix to be nominated for an Academy Award, alongside I Lost My Body, but lost to Toy Story 4.

Plot

Jesper Johansson, the lazy, spoiled son of the Royal Postmaster General, has been trying flunk out of the postman academy, but his father sends him to the distant town of Smeerensburg; if Jesper fails to post 6,000 letters within a year, he will be cut off from his family’s fortune. Arriving in the bleak, snowy town, Jesper meets ferryman Mogens and teacher-turned-fishmonger Alva, who explain that Smeerensburg is home to the perpetually warring Ellingboe and Krum families.

Desperate for letters, Jesper attempts to mail a young Krum boy’s drawing. He later visits the reclusive woodsman Klaus and discovers his house is filled with handmade toys, but flees from the imposing woodsman, leaving behind the sad drawing. Klaus forces Jesper to take him to the boy’s house and secretly deliver one of his toys. Word spreads to other children, who hope to receive toys by sending Klaus letters. Jesper, eager to collect letters, convinces Klaus to let him deliver more toys. The Krum boy’s toy leads him to play with an Ellingboe girl, much to their families’ outrage.

The myth of Klaus grows among the town’s children as Jesper delivers toys through their chimneys at night, prompting more and more children to write letters to Klaus. Jesper sends those who cannot write to be taught by Alva, who reopens her school with the money she was saving to leave Smeerensburg, and Klaus and Jesper tame a team of reindeer to pull their cart of toys. After Jesper leaves coal in the stocking of a young bully, the boy confronts Jesper, who declares Klaus only gives toys to good children and tracks all of their misbehaviors with a ‘Naughty List’. This leads the children to perform acts of kindness throughout the town, inspiring the townsfolk to end their ancient disputes.

Unwilling to end the feud, family elders Tammy Krum and Aksel Ellingboe attempt to sabotage Jesper and Klaus, resulting in the postal cart losing its wheels and sailing over the town; this leads the children to believe that Klaus has “a flying sleigh pulled by magic reindeer”. With Jesper’s deadline approaching and Klaus beginning to run out of toys, Jesper tries persuading him to make more in time for Christmas, but Klaus pushes him away. They reconcile while building a sled for a Sámi girl named Márgu, and Klaus tells Jesper about his late wife Lydia, explaining he made the toys for the children they never had. He agrees to help Jesper with his Christmas plan, joined by Márgu and the people from her settlement, who give Klaus a traditional red suit. Alva shows Jesper how the town has flourished, making him consider staying in Smeerensburg.

The Krum and Ellingboe elders form a temporary truce and discover Jesper’s deadline, and post 14,000 letters to rid themselves of the postman. On Christmas Eve, Jesper’s father arrives to congratulate his son, inadvertently revealing Jesper’s initially selfish intentions and turning his friends against him. Before they leave town, Jesper’s father notices his son’s remorse; Jesper reveals everything, and his father declares he is finally proud of him and allows him to stay in Smeerensburg. The elders arrive to destroy the Christmas toys, and Jesper tries to stop them. In the ensuing chase, Mr. Ellingboe’s daughter and Mrs. Krum’s son fall in love, while all the gifts in Klaus’ bag are sent over a cliff. Alva and Klaus reveal the town’s children informed them of the elders’ plot, and they replaced the bag of toys with decoys. A redeemed Jesper delivers the presents with Klaus, and the marriage of the Krum and Ellingboe children forces the family elders to grudgingly end their feud.

Jesper marries Alva and raises two children, and for the next eleven years he and Klaus deliver presents on Christmas in Smeerensburg and beyond. On the twelfth year, Klaus follows wisps of wind – which had guided him when he first met Jesper – and disappears, seemingly joining his departed wife. Jesper explains his Christmas tradition: waiting by the fireplace to see Klaus, whose spirit delivers toys to children around the world as the legend of “Santa Claus”.

Background
Pablos said Smeerensburg is a deliberate misspelling of Smeerenburg, a former Dutch and Danish whaling station in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

Voice cast

Jason Schwartzman as Jesper Johansson, a postman who befriends Klaus and helps bring a good Christmas to Smeerensburg, while getting accustomed to a life outside of his self-centred comfort zone.
J. K. Simmons as Klaus (Santa Claus), a initially-reclusive woodsman who makes toys.
Simmons also voices Drill Sarge, the assistant head of the Johansson family’s postal department (uncredited).
Rashida Jones as Alva, a schoolteacher turned fishmonger who becomes Jesper’s love interest.
Will Sasso as Mr. Aksel Ellingboe, the family patriarch carrying on an ancient feud of his family with the Krums.
Norm Macdonald as Mogens, the sarcastic ferryman of Smeerensburg who enjoys humor that comes at others’ expanse.
Neda Margrethe Labba as Márgu, a little Sami girl who befriends Jesper.
Sergio Pablos as:
Pumpkin, Mr. Ellingboe’s daughter whose only word is “mine”.
Olaf, Mrs. Krum’s son who just makes sounds.
Joan Cusack as Mrs. Tammy Krum, the family matriarch carrying on an ancient feud of her family with the Ellingboes.
Reiulf Aleksandersen and Sara Margrethe Oksal as adult Sami voices.
Additional children voices by Evan Agos, Sky Alexis, Jaeden Bettencourt, Teddy Blum, Mila Brener, Sydney Brower, Finn Carr, Kendall Joy Hall, Hayley Hermida, Lexie Holland, Brooke Huckeba, Matthew McCann, Tucker Meek, Leo Miller, Joaquin Obradors, Víctor Pablos, Lucian Perez, Bailey Rae Fenderson, Maximus Riegel, Emma Shannon, Ayden Soria, Sunday Sturz, Hudson West, Gordon Wilcox, Emma Yarovinskiy, and Julian Zane.

Additional adult voices by Brad Abrell, Catherine Cavadini, Bill Chott, Daniel Crook, Brian Finney, Stephen Hughes, Neil Kaplan, Sam McMurray, Amanda Philipson, Alyson Reed, Dee Dee Rescher, Dwight Schultz, Lloyd Sherr, Helen Slayton-Hughes, and Travis Willingham.