'So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?' The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But this year, Santa's son Arthur has an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns. - skip ad -   Genres: Kids/Family, Holiday and Animation Release Date: November 23rd, 2011 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG for some mild rude humor. Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Cast And Credits Starring: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton Directed by: Sarah Smith Produced by: Peter Lord, David Sproxton, Carla Shelley

Why is it that out of all the holidays, only Christmas ever needs to be saved? When was the last time you saw a movie about a madcap, heroic effort to save Flag Day?

That means that “Arthur Christmas,” a 3-D film that opens on Wednesday, is in well-worked territory. But this scrappy, smart animated tale can hold its own against the rest of the genre. The plot may be a little too cluttered for the toddler crowd to follow, but the next age group up should be amused, and the script by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith has plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups.



Arthur (the voice of James McAvoy), one of Santa’s two sons, is a bumbler who is assigned to the comparative busywork of answering children’s letters, while Steve (Hugh Laurie), his brother, is groomed to replace the aging Big Guy. Steve has coordinated the high-tech production and delivery system that enables Santa to meet the gift needs of the entire world in a single night. (It features a supercharged, reindeerless sleigh.) It’s Christmas Eve, and Steve is expecting Santa (Jim Broadbent) to retire once the last present is delivered, turning the Santa job over to him.

When the frenetic evening is over, everyone involved in the North Pole effort gathers under a big sign that says â€" gotta love this â€" “Mission Accomplished.” But just like the earlier high-profile instance when that phrase was displayed, the mission is not complete: one toy has been overlooked. Can Arthur and gnarly old Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) deliver it the old-fashioned way, and thus save Christmas?

At this point the plot starts getting unnecessarily busy â€" blame the government, which becomes involved when a strange radar blip suddenly turns up on defense systems, throwing the entire world into a panic.

But the joke count remains satisfyingly high; there’s a great recurring gag that anyone who uses a GPS will love. And Arthur establishes himself as a lovable clod who knows that while quotas and deadlines are important, the North Pole operation, like any business, needs to put the customer first.