Ed Sheeran's "Under The Tree" From 'That Christmas' Is Holiday Ready
'That Christmas' Key Art
Netflix
Christmas comes but once a year, but on TV, as soon as the turkey carcass is removed from the dinner table and tossed in a pot to be rendered for stock, Christmas is ON. December will be Christmas Special City (or Festive Special City if you live in the U.K.), with Christmas tree lightings, holiday romance films filled with women finding random handsome single men now live in their hometown, and fan favorite TV series doing Very Special Episodes. But nothing quite beats the British tradition of animated holiday films, which this year arrives in the form of That Christmas.
That Christmas is one of Netflix's many offerings of Christmas-themed fare. (As Netflix aims to replace television wholesale, it will surprise no one that the streaming service has every holiday special imaginable.) The new film is based on the That Christmas trilogy of children's books, all short stories set around the Christmas celebration and adjoining holidays.
The books (and the film adaptation) were written by Richard Curtis, best known for creating Love Actually. Netflix is pulling out the stops to make this another holiday classic for the ages, with an A-list cast and an original song from pop star Ed Sheeran. Check out the video, which features Sheeran get a little help from another Netflix favorite, Claudia Jesse, aka Bridgerton's Eloise.
Here's the film's synopsis:
Based on the trilogy of children’s books of the same name, That Christmas tells a series of animated holiday stories, all of which turn out to be entwined tales about family and friends, love and loneliness, Santa Claus making a big mistake — and it also features an enormous number of turkeys!
Speaking of famous stars, Netflix has employed a good cross-section of the British A-list to voice this animated film, including Brian Cox (Succession), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who), Lolly Adefope (Miracle Workers), Alex Macqueen (The Inbetweeners), Katherine Parkinson (Rivals), Sindhu Vee (Matilda The Musical), Rosie Cavaliero (Funny Woman), Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones), Guz Khan (Turn Up Charlie), Andy Nyman (Unforgotten), Bill Nighy (Lazarus), and Rhys Darby (Our Flag Means Death).
The kid cast includes Zazie Hayhurst (The White Princess), Sienna Sayer (Silent Witness), Jack Wisniewski (The Full Monty), Bronte Smith (Still Up), Freddie Spry (Spencer), Ava Talbot (Trying), India Brown (Invasion), and newcomer Kuhu Agarwal.
That Christmas is based on the successful series of children’s books by filmmaker Richard Curtis (Love Actually), his first foray into animation, serving as the film’s writer. It also marks the feature film directorial debut of animator Simon Otto (How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy). Curtis executive produces, and Nicole P. Hearon and Adam Tandy are producers.
That Christmas slides onto Netflix on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
