Film Snail

8.2

Klaus

PG·2019·96m

Animation

Family

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Animation

Family

Adventure

Comedy

Fantasy

Summary

When Jesper distinguishes himself as the Postal Academy's worst student, he is sent to Smeerensburg, a small village located on an icy island above the Arctic Circle, where grumpy inhabitants barely exchange words, let alone letters. Jesper is about to give up and abandon his duty as a postman when he meets local teacher Alva and Klaus, a mysterious carpenter who lives alone in a cabin full of handmade toys.

Cast

Jason Schwartzman

Jesper (voice)

J.K. Simmons

Klaus (voice)

Rashida Jones

Alva (voice)

Joan Cusack

Mrs. Krum (voice)

Norm Macdonald

Mogens (voice)

Will Sasso

Mr. Ellingboe (voice)

Sergio Pablos

Pumpkin / Olaf (voice)

Mila Brener

Ellingboe Girl 3 (voice)

Neda Margrethe Labba

Margu (voice)

Sydney Brower

Ellingboe Girl (voice)

Teddy Blum

Small Ellingboe Boy (voice)

Julian Zane

Krum Boy (voice)

Emma Shannon

Creepy girl 1 (voice)

Kendall Joy Hall

Annelise (voice)

Sky Alexis

Ellingboe Girl 2 (voice)

Tucker Meek

Ellingboe Boy / Krum Boy (voice)

Amanda Philipson

Ellingboe Councilwoman (voice)

Finn Carr

Ellingboe Boy 1 (voice)

Lucian Perez

Krum Boy / Creepy Boy 2 (voice)

Emma Yarovinsky

Little Krum Girl (voice)

Jaeden Bettencourt

Krum Boy / Jesper Son (voice)

Hailey Hermida

Krum Girl 1 (voice)

Evan Agos

Ellingboe Boy (voice)

Leo Miller

Ellinboe Boy 5 (voice)

Bailey Rae Fenderson

Creepy Girl 2 (voice)

Ayden Soria

Creepy Boy 1 (voice)

Reiulf Aleksandersen

Adult Saami (voice)

Matthew McCann

Additional Kids Voices (voice)

Hudson West

Additional Kids Voices (voice)

Joaquin Obradors

Boy (voice)

Crew

Director, Original Story, Screenplay

Sergio Pablos

Head of Story

Edgar Martins

Screenplay

Jim Mahoney

Screenplay

Zach Lewis

Reviews

r96sk

December 17, 2020

A beauty.

What a lovely, charming and clever film. <em>'Klaus'</em> took my interest and then some, I was locked in from the start. It's terrific, with some excellent hand-drawn animation. The cast, led by Jason Schwartzman, do very good jobs, also.

I loved seeing it connect all the dots of Santa, Christmas et al. If you think about it, it's actually rather simple but it's done in a smart and pleasant way. The ending is particularly sweet. Away from the heart, it also has humour and the pacing is absolutely spot on.

Schwartzman is entertaining as Jesper, with J. K. Simmons doing a very solid job as Klaus. I also enjoyed Joan Cusack as Tammy. The cast are probably down the pecking order of this film's pluses, but that's only due to its other, more noticeable positives.

Always pleasing to see a great animated film away from Disney, if only to create important competition for the latter.