a b Cannon, Nicholas (26 November 2021). " 'A Boy Called Christmas' — release date, cast, plot and everything we know about this new movie". What to Watch . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Framestore has unwrapped the magical VFX surprises that the acclaimed studio delivered for the new holiday movie, A Boy Called Christmas, in partnership with StudioCanal and Blueprint Pictures. Based on the Matt Haig book of the same name and directed by Academy Award nominee Gil Kenan ( Monster House), the film follows a young boy called Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) as he sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father. The trio reaches Elfhelm but finds nothing there except for Joel's knife. Nikolas loses hope and collapses. He is found by Little Noosh and Father Topo. Father Topo gives Nikolas a "hope spell" that allows him to recover. Father Topo informs him that he is in Elfhelm, but it is only visible to the people who believe in the place.

Gil had a really clear and distinctive vision for the film,” explained overall VFX Supervisor Glen Pratt. “He’d talk about classic westerns in terms of cinematography: how negative space would create the frame. This really shines through in how these huge expanses of snow and epic landscapes are used to frame beautiful shapes — antlers, say — to create something really special.” A Boy Called Christmas – Elf concept art (courtesy Framestore) The film was released on 26 November 2021 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and China, by StudioCanal, [2] while Netflix released the film elsewhere, [3] on 24 November 2021. [4] The film was released on DVD. Although the feature is filled with magical challenges, such as the forming of fully CG environments and landscapes, one of the mountains to climb was in the realism. Producing photoreal CG characters that retained emotive facial expressions, while still looking like real animals. From start to finish, the feature took 70 weeks to complete, and was worked on by 342 Framestore artists.Miika the mouse became the star of the show for me” said VFX Supervisor Stuart Penn. “When developing the look, we started off with a photoreal mouse, and then exaggerated some features, making sure his mouth stayed mouse-like, but was able to ‘talk’ using an open/close movement. We were working with much fewer muscles than there would be in a human face, so we helped make him more expressive by twitching his nose, and using his eyes and ears to convey emotion as well.” Elfheim aside, A Boy Called Christmas also allowed the visual effects artists at Framestore to create environments entirely in CG. Mid-way through the film, Miika and Nikolas happen upon a mouth-watering ‘cake city,’ and Miika wastes no time diving into this delicious biscuity construction. A Boy Called Christmas We don't get to know much about how these three children have lost their mother, but it's clear that they've been overcome with grief and also have a bit of separation anxiety from their father as a result of their loss. (Consider the scene when they desperately make sure that Nikolas will reunite with his own dad in the Christmas tale before Aunt Ruth goes any further. Gulp!) Wisely, Ruth's story doesn't dwell too much on the details of Nikolas' mother's demise, but instead, it includes a lot of details about how much everyone loves and misses her. Her impact on Elfhelm is immense, and she even makes the meanie "Mother" elf happy and sappy. Nikolas is able to see the place after believing in the elves and tries to stay in the town. He learns that a group of humans, including Joel, has kidnapped a small elf called Little Kip. Nikolas is sentenced to be eaten by a troll in the Dark Tower. Nikolas manages to escape with the help of a young fairy called the Truth Pixie. He then decides to try to find Joel's party and clarify the misunderstanding. We were careful to build a mouse that, although designed and thus a little stylized, would be convincingly performed as if by a real mouse,” explained Animation Supervisor Dale Newton. “We found some harvest mice at a summer fair that were especially sweet. We shot hours of reference material observing the way they walk, breathe, climb, sniff, snuffle and yawn, all of which was analyzed and rebuilt by our assets team into our Miika animation puppet.” The animation team then used the same footage to immerse themselves into the headspace when coming up with performances. “I think some of my favourite Miika moments are those that have been carefully observed from life and adapted into a scene in the film.”

Jaafar, Ali (16 May 2016). " 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel's Ol Parker To Adapt 'A Boy Called Christmas' For Studio Canal, Blueprint – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 27 December 2021. year-old Nikolas and his father Joel, a woodcutter, live in the forest. Nikolas's mother had died two years before, eaten by a bear, and Nikolas tries to take comfort every night remembering the legend of a place called Elfhelm, where a girl found a magical place inhabited by elves that helped her to survive the winter. One night a mouse tries to steal some food but his life is spared by Nikolas who calls the mouse Miika and tries to teach him to speak. a b "Netflix Jumps Into Holiday Season With Teaser for 'A Boy Called Christmas' ". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 October 2021 . Retrieved 27 December 2021. A Boy Called Christmas is a 2021 British Christmas fantasy film directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Ol Parker and Kenan, based on the 2015 book of the same name by Matt Haig. I think all four (or 3.5, if you must) books in this series are charming, delightful, and fun. The first three are more likely to appeal to all ages, but this might appeal more to younger readers, who can appreciate the sing-song-like rhythm of this story. Everyone will appreciate the inspired illustrations by Chris Mould included throughout this book.Kenan summed up the benefits of this ‘real is better’ approach to film-making: “It was a lot of trouble to go through for a shot that could have been completely virtual, but the tactile nature of the finished sequence — and the fact that I get hungry every time I watch it — suggests that the trouble was worth it.”

Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom's best tales" Gil always seems to be storyboarding on his iPad,” recalled Pratt. “I actually remember him showing me this idea in the Framestore reception — he had the storyboard mapped out, and I loved it straight away. The clarity of his vision for the scene meant we could really hit the ground running, and despite its complexity it didn’t require a lot of iterative work. Nikolas finds a map that confirms the existence of Elfhelm so he decides to go to the Extreme North to find his father and give him the map. During the journey, Nikolas learns that Miika has learned to speak and this provides hope in continuing his quest. When they reach the Half Moon Forest, a reindeer who Nikolas names Blitzen allows Nikolas to mount him. Key to imbuing the film with a sense of place and wonder was an early recce to Lapland, taken by Kenan, Pratt and production designer Gary Williamson. “We went in December, when the sun rises at 11:30 a.m. and sets at 1:30 p.m. Your whole day lasts three hours, but it’s ‘magic hour’ the whole time,” Pratt noted. “You get this incredibly special light, and this wonderful palette went on to infuse the film and, of course, our VFX.” a b "StudioCanal, Netflix and Blueprint Pictures – A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS". Netflix Media Center . Retrieved 27 December 2021.

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In the forest, Nikolas finds a group of hunters and Little Kip, but he is trapped by the hunters and discovers his father is along with them. Joel has a change of heart and comes up with a plan. He frees Nikolas, Little Kip, and Blitzen and they run away from the hunters. Blitzen is unable to lift the sled with Joel sitting in it, so he decides to sacrifice himself to allow the trio to fly away. A deal was completed in May 2016 for the book to be adapted into film by Blueprint Pictures and StudioCanal. Ol Parker was set to write the screenplay. [5] [6] In April 2019, Gil Kenan was revealed to be directing the film, with Jim Broadbent, Sally Hawkins, Maggie Smith and Kristen Wiig amongst the cast. Filming began that same month, with production occurring in Lapland, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and London. [7] [8] Release [ edit ] One day, the King calls his subjects and promises a big reward if someone is able to find an object that would bring hope to the kingdom. Joel joins a group of hunters to try to find Elfhelm. Joel leaves Nikolas under the care of Aunt Carlotta, a selfish woman who makes Nikolas's life miserable.