Klaus Creator Sergio Pablos On Everyone's 'New Favourite' Christmas Film
Netflix’s first ever original animated feature, Klaus serves as an alternate origin story of Santa Claus
We've all got our favourites when it comes to Christmas movies - that solid bank of trusty, nostalgic gems that act as tried-and-tested shortcuts for getting into the festive spirit.
They'll vary from person to person, but generally speaking the same titles crop up each year, from old school hits such as It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street through to more modern favourites like Elf and A Muppet Christmas Carol. Maybe even Die Hard, if you sit on that side of the fence.
But with so many timeless classics vying for our attention, just how easy is it to create a new kid on the block, one that stands a chance against the elite class of yesteryear?
Many people reckon that animator Sergio Pablos has managed to do exactly that with Klaus, which is not only Netflix's first ever original animated feature, but also what some viewers have dubbed their 'new favourite Christmas film'.
The movie serves as an alternate origin story of Santa Claus, immortalised as a reclusive toymaker called Klaus (J.K. Simmons).
When reluctant postman Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) is stationed on a faraway island above the Arctic Circle, he's tasked with a near-impossible challenge - soon realising he must team up with the mysterious Klaus to not only see the job through, but also bring the feuding locals of Smeerensburg back together.
The original concept was a bold move from Sergio Pablos - who is also the creator of the Despicable Me franchise and has worked an an animator on the likes of Hercules, Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame - but it's this that helps the film stand out from all the other usual suspects.
"When we started, I didn't want to make a Christmas film and then find a story to tell," Pablos told LADbible.
"We started with the realisation that the pairing of this Santa Claus character and this selfish postman was an interesting idea, and then we were like 'Oh, we're making a Christmas film'."
Pablos and his team knew they wanted to avoid all the usual tropes, which he felt were 'a bit overused'.
"We said, 'Let's not make it about saving Christmas'. There's enough of that," the filmmaker explained.
"We said, 'Let's not make it about magic'. It needed to have a presence, but I was far more interested in seeing how much we could hold off the magic and tell a human story.
"It just needed to feel like it has a voice of its own; it needed to find something to tell."
Narrative aside, a large portion of the film's charm also derives from the fact it is a 2D-animated film, something that's fairly unusual on today's screens.
Madrid-born Pablos, who has an extensive background in both 2D and 3D films, said: "My first love always was animation.
"I got into animation because I loved to draw since I was a kid, and I just loved this magic trick of making your drawings come to life there was just something to it.
"Then when CGI came along I embraced it, but I never really bought into the reasons that I was given for why we should consider 3D an evolution of 2D, and therefore do away with traditional animation.
"To me there's more of a split; we found a new way of doing animation, which is great, but it doesn't mean we have to do away with 2D.
"I have nothing against CGI, but if the work is to engage the audience, how does it matter how you accomplish it?"
Along with around 35 animators and 40 clean-up artists working on Klaus, Pablos explained there was also a dedicated team of around 30 'lighters', who developed layers of light and shadow to help make the 2D animation almost look more 3D.
He continued: "When we set off, we thought, 'What are these limitations of 2D animation that we traditionally could never work on?'.
"The use of light on characters was always something I could never craft, but so many tools have been developed since we last worked with it, and that's how we came across a way.
"But it had to also be in line with the philosophy of 2D animation, because 2D animation is charming because it's imperfect.
"Artists would have to make decisions as they created this lighting on top of the characters by hand, and a different artist would make different choices so that same level of imperfection permeated all the way through the final look of this film."
While Pablos likes to champion many different approaches to filmmaking, it's safe to say he's not overly thrilled with the influx of live-action remakes taking over cinemas.
"Oh I'm not happy about it," Pablos laughed, assuring he was only semi-serious.
"But it has nothing to do with the pride of my own work, it's more about the lack of originality.
"I just think as a filmmaker in Hollywood that I can't wait for all the original source materials to just run out so we have no choice but to do something new - that's what I'm waiting for."
He added: "I do not take offence personally if someone chooses to remake a film that I worked on. To me it's more about the fact that we could be creating something.
"I grew up in the 80s where a normal year would have 10 incredible films that are today being remade into franchises, and it was normal that that level of creativity was happening in a single year. Now there's just nothing.
"So it's actually such a breath of fresh air to see something created from scratch as opposed to something that's been done, something that's been rehashed."
While all those live-action remakes continue to barge their way onto cinema screens, Pablos was initially disappointed that Klaus would be distributed by a streaming service - before realising that, actually, it might just be the 'ideal viewing experience' for the film.
He said: "Isn't a Christmas film the kind of thing you actually have to watch at home, with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa with your family?"
Speaking of which, Klaus is available to watch on Netlifx now.
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: klaus, Christmas, Entertainment, TV and Film, Netflix
Jess Hardiman