Incredible how meta this was. I came into this excited for Daniel Dae Kim, but was blown away by the rest of the cast. Set design is gorgeously minimal while still being very effective, with accompanying music and lighting effects. Very blessed to have seen this along with a q&a with the cast.
Honestly liked this a lot more than I thought I would from the description. The animation and character design is actually quite charming and varied, and puts a fun twist on the various parts of the Santa mythology that I really enjoyed. I felt more emotional that I expected to at the end too, plus my toddler loved it and stayed up until midnight watching it with us (rip me tomorrow morning)
Will say that some parts did feel referential…
Interesting and especially enjoyed the wide usage of archival footage, with the occasional input from Tom Hanks. Really loved the role of music narrating things that were happening. But didn’t really feel like there was significant examination about how this year was so impactful other than listing events that were impactful (especially thinking about the last segment about Nixon vs. Humphrey but not really discussing the ramifications of that election/the upset of the electoral college and how that changed into the politics of today. Just Thoughts)
