The Holidays are upon us and there is nothing like a stop motion inspired Christmas film to fill you with the spirit of the season. Netflix as in the past produced a number of great stop motion animation productions and this years holiday special, Alien Xmas, is nothing short of beautiful and brilliant. This feature length stop motion special written and produced by the Chiodo Brothers is a whimsical ride of schtick and charm. All of which is a perfect blend of traditional stop motion animation and modern day flare.
The story starts off on a spaceship populated by little grey aliens called Cleps who’s only purpose in life is to steal. With their sights on the earth and the coming Christmas holiday, they hatch a plan to disrupt the earths gravity and steal all of the presents slated for delivery on Christmas morning. One little alien however finds the true meaning of Christmas by interacting with Santa’s elves and this alone throughs the whole plan out the window.
The story is a mix of classic Holiday spirit, scifi adventure, and silly comedy that is appropriate for all ages. What sets this film apart from all the others is the way the Chiodo Brothers bring their wacky scifi tastes to the Netflix original production. There’s a sense of love and dedication to the artform of stop motion animation through this production. And you can really see the beauty and magic shine through each and every frame. From talking to Stephen Chiodo in an interview for the upcoming issue of Stop Motion Magazine we discovered that the film is nearly all stop motion animation with very little in computer generated effects or even elements.
The film is officially released as of today November 20th, 2020 and can be found on Netflix.com. This movie should be on your Christmas list for Thanksgiving family watching after the big feast along with all your family gatherings. Beautiful film worth watching.
Stop Motion Magazine Issue 37 will feature this production with exclusive behind the scenes images and interviews. Checkout the film below if you have a Netflix subscription.
Official Site: https://www.netflix.com/title/80226040
