I love Christmas. If you’ve been following this column you may have picked up that I also love animation. Klaus on Netflix has the magic of both.
Netflix’s first animated feature, released in 2019 and nominated for an Oscar, Klaus is a heartwarming Christmas tale about why we send letters to Santa and where the myth of the man in red might have begun.
It won a Bafta and took home seven Annie Awards.
Directed by Sergio Pablos, it blends old-school 2D animation with new digital lighting, giving every snowflake, candle and shadow that nostalgic, hand-painted glow.
The story follows Jesper, a pompous, spoiled nepo-baby from a wealthy postal family who is shipped off to the furthest speck on the map, Smeerensburg, where two clans are sworn enemies.
His father gives him an ultimatum: deliver a specific number of letters or be cut off.
So Jesper trudges through the snow, the townsfolk as icy as the ground, determined not to chicken out.
A string of mishaps and chance encounters with children begins to spark an adventure. He also meets a big, bearded woodsman with a shed of beautifully made but forgotten wooden toys.
It’s a hilarious contrast between spite and kindness, and how imagination can thaw even the coldest place.
The real heroes are the children. Their simple desire for a toy turns into good deeds, transforming the town from a place where chaos is practically a hobby — such as slicing the ice under an old man in a rocking chair and sending him drifting into the ocean — into a community slowly learning generosity.
Everything rests on the film’s core idea: one true act of kindness sparks another.
Together Jasper and Klaus unknowingly begin weaving a myth.
A gift left on a doorstep, a letter in exchange for joy, a town rediscovering goodness because children choose hope over hostility.
There is a lovely side plot with the schoolteacher, Alva. With no pupils, her classroom has turned into a fish-gutting station. Then the children want to learn to write so they can send letters to Mr Klaus, and suddenly the school — and Alva — come back to life.
Klaus is funny, warm and beautifully made. Yes, the story has a bit of capitalism baked in. The children are being good for a toy, after all. But in a town raised on selfishness, the heart still shines through.
This festive season, remember it’s not the price of what’s under the tree that matters, but the joy of genuine human connection. And kindness.
Don’t get a lump of coal in your stocking on the 25th, be lekker.
