Review of Father Christmas (1991) by Patricia W — 02 Dec 2017

Father Christmas, or as I always remembered it 'another bloomin' Christmas' is based on the Raymond Brigg's book and follows Santa as he decides to go on holiday for once, in his free time during the other 364 days of the year.

Voiced by Mel Smith, this version of Father Christmas is quite a grumpy sort and disaster seems to follow him from one destination to the next. Considering he's the only character that has more than one dialogue in the film, Mel Smith carries it well and manages to make the grumpy old man rather charming and fun to watch as he travels from country to country at quite a fast pace.

The animation is also very charming and is in the same style of The Snowman, another, more famous story of Brigg's who also has a cameo in Father Christmas. However the musical score isn't quite as compelling as that of The Snowman and is a little forgettable at times.

Although my experience of this film may be coloured by nostalgia, having thoroughly enjoyed it as a young child, I still think this is a good film. At only 25mins long, this little cartoon is short and sweet and if you've never happened upon it before, I would definitely recommend it as a good little Christmas film.