Alien Xmas

Alien Xmas is a 2020 American stop-motion animated Christmas film directed by Stephen Chiodo. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Chiodo and Jim Strain,[1] the film features the voices of Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo, Michelle Deco, and Barbara Goodson. The film's plot centers on X, an extraterrestrial belonging to a race of thieving aliens known as Klepts, who is sent to the North Pole on a mission to eliminate Earth's gravity.

Alien Xmas
Promotional release poster
Directed byStephen Chiodo
Produced byJohn Bartnicki
Written by
  • Kealan O'Rourke
  • Dan Clark
  • Noah Kloor
Based onAlien Xmas
by Stephen Chiodo and Jim Strain
Starring
Music byAdam Schiff
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20)
Running time
42 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Alien Xmas was executive produced by Jon Favreau and released on Netflix on November 20, 2020.

Plot

Long ago, a race of colorful extraterrestrials known as Klepts[lower-alpha 1] became greedy and plundered their home planet of its resources. Their color faded away, and they set off into outer space, moving from galaxy to galaxy and stealing whatever they could. The leader of the Klepts, known as Supreme Leader Z, decides to steal all of the "stuff" on the planet Earth. Her plan involves building a device dubbed "the Gyrotron", which will eliminate Earth's gravity, on the North Magnetic Pole; objects on the planet will be sent into orbit, where the Klepts' spaceships can collect them. Z sends X, a small Klept, to carry out the mission with a helper robot known as a Semi-Automatic Multi-Tasking Unit (or SAMTU).

X and SAMTU arrive on Earth shortly before Christmas Eve. They land in Christmas Town, where Santa Claus and his elves live. That night, Santa unveils a technologically advanced sleigh meant to help him deliver Christmas presents all around the world more quickly. However, the sleigh malfunctions, and Santa instructs Obie, his lead elf mechanic, to fix it. Obie's time spent working on the sleigh has kept him from spending time with his daughter Holly and her mother Noelle, much to Holly's disappointment.

In an ice cave, X directs SAMTU to build the Gyrotron. Driven by an urge to steal, X ventures into Christmas Town, where he encounters Obie. X plays dead, leading Obie to believe him to be an inanimate doll. Obie gives X to Holly as a gift. The next day, Holly keeps X with her as she decorates with her mother, goes caroling, and attends a Christmas dinner, causing X to witness the elves' kindness and generosity towards one another. At night, X tries to escape Holly's home with a bag of stolen items, but Holly sees him attempting to do so. She gives X a puppy as a companion; the act of being given something fills X with feelings of compassion and warmth, and causes him to regain his blue color.

X decides not to follow through with Supreme Leader Z's plan, and instead reprograms SAMTU to fix Santa's sleigh. However, Z orders the other Klepts to invade Christmas Town. The Klepts activate the Gyrotron, but SAMTU manages to destroy the machine, electrocuting itself in the process. Nonetheless, the Klepts triumph over the residents of Christmas Town. Z, believing that X gained the Earthlings' trust in order to lead the Klepts to their "stuff", promotes him to Vice Supreme Leader. Feeling distraught, X hands the puppy to Z as a gift, causing her to regain her pink color. The residents of Christmas Town give presents to the other Klepts, restoring them to their colorful selves.

At the break of dawn on Christmas morning, Santa laments that there is not enough time left to deliver Christmas gifts to all the children of the world. X takes to the sky with a number of other Klepts in spaceships, traveling around the planet and delivering the presents as Santa wished.

Voice cast

Production

Alien Xmas is based on the 2006 book of the same name by director Stephen Chiodo and Jim Strain.[1] The Chiodo Brothers initially pitched an animated adaptation of the book to executive producer Jon Favreau, whom they had previously worked with on the 2003 live-action film Elf, for which the Chiodos created a sequence featuring stop-motion animated characters.[4]

Though Alien Xmas utilized computer-generated imagery in scenes featuring spaceships, the majority of the film was produced using stop-motion animation.[4] Stephen Chiodo stated that "We animated mostly on twos while maintaining the hand-made quality of Rankin & Bass, but we gave it a 21st century value. It was achieved through a lack of detail. But we had to find that balance where we gave it enough detail in the art direction to make it look good by today's standards."[4] Bleeding Fingers Music worked on the music with Adam Schiff as composer.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10.[5]

Polygon's Tasha Robinson compared Alien Xmas to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Invader Zim, and the stop-motion works of Rankin/Bass, and called the film "a harmless holiday distraction, short and cute and speedbump-free. But it's lacking any real verve or signature of its own."[1]

Cheryl Eddy of io9 wrote that "Alien Xmas' message about consumerism may be simple, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable", and noted that "There are clever moments throughout that keep the movie from feeling too saccharine."[6] John Squires of Bloody Disgusting concluded: "Imaginative and heartfelt, Alien Xmas is far from the first Christmas special to highlight the importance of holiday togetherness versus a consumeristic obsession with stuff, but it's a timeless message the Chiodos deliver with the genuine earnestness of filmmakers who are bringing a passion project to life rather than churning out a lifeless product."[2]

Notes
  1. As in kleptomania,[2] derived from the Greek word κλέπτω (klepto) "to steal".

References
  1. Robinson, Tasha (November 24, 2020). "Netflix's Alien Xmas is a reskinned Grinch movie for stop-motion nostalgists". Polygon. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  2. Squires, John (November 25, 2020). "[Review] 'Killer Klowns' Creators Deliver Stop-Motion Holiday Magic With Netflix's 'Alien Xmas'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  3. "What to watch with your kids: 'Alien Xmas,' 'The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special' and more". The Washington Post. November 20, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  4. Desowitz, Bill (November 20, 2020). "'Alien Xmas': Netflix Gets a Retro Holiday Special from Jon Favreau and the Chiodo Brothers". IndieWire. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  5. "Alien Xmas (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  6. Eddy, Cheryl (November 23, 2020). "Netflix's Adorable Alien Xmas Is Basically The Grinch From Outer Space". IndieWire. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
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