Film
Klaus
Klaus reimagines Santa Claus's origin as a scrappy, hand-drawn-meets-CG comedy about a lazy postal cadet exiled to the Arctic and the bearded hermit he stumbles into. It's warmer and funnier than the premise suggests, sneaking real emotional weight into gags about mail quotas and feuding neighbours. Beautiful lighting, big laughs, a satisfying ending — built for family movie night but sharp enough that adults won't check their phones.
If you liked this
How to Train Your Dragon2010
Another animated tale of an unlikely bond between a reluctant young man and a creature everyone fears, told with the same visual lyricism and earned emotion.
But It's more adventure-fantasy than comedy, and the Vikings-and-dragons setting is a world away from Klaus's frozen postal town.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse2018
Wildly inventive animation and a scrappy underdog hero learning to believe in himself, packed with visual jokes, kinetic energy, and genuine heart in every single frame.
But It's a superhero action movie at heart, louder and faster than Klaus's gentle small-town charm.

The Iron Giant1999
A hand-drawn animation classic about an unlikely friendship between a lonely boy and a mysterious, dangerous outsider, carrying the same tender, old-fashioned sincerity that Klaus channels so well.
But Its Cold War backdrop and quieter pacing feel more earnest drama than comedy, so don't expect as many laughs.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Groundhog Day1993
Both are selfish men exiled somewhere cold and unfriendly, refusing to bond with anyone, until repetition — or reindeer — teaches them that showing up for other people is the whole point.
Bill Murray's smug weatherman is trapped reliving one day until he learns to actually care about the small, snowbound town around him — Jesper's whole arc, decades earlier, in a different genre entirely.
But It's a live-action romantic comedy with a much drier, sharper sense of humour than Klaus's outright warmth, and no animation at all.

More like this (8)
Coco2017
Pixar's colourful family tale of connection across generations, brimming with warmth, music and a message about legacy that lands nearly as hard as Klaus's does.
But It leans harder into tears than jokes, and the cultural specificity of Día de los Muertos is a different flavour entirely.

Big Hero 62014
A grieving boy and an oddball companion team up in a story that balances slapstick comedy with real sadness, much like Jesper and Klaus's odd-couple thaw.
But The superhero action climax pulls it in a much more conventional, franchise-friendly direction than Klaus ever goes.

Despicable Me2010
From one of Klaus's own creators comes another story of a selfish schemer whose plan to use others for personal gain backfires into genuine love.
But It's broader and sillier, with fart jokes and minions where Klaus keeps its comedy a touch more grounded.

Arthur Christmas2011no page yet
A cheerfully inventive spin on Santa mythology with the same mix of jokes, world-building and unexpected sweetness, perfect if the Claus lore really hooked you.
But It's busier and more slapstick, built around a race-against-the-clock plot rather than Klaus's slower character work.
Rise of the Guardians2012no page yet
Another lively reinvention of Santa and friends as an action-adventure ensemble, if you want more mythology-building and spectacle around the man in the red suit.
But It trades Klaus's intimacy and character focus for a much bigger, noisier fantasy battle overall.
The Polar Express2004no page yet
A hushed, snowbound Christmas adventure with real visual grandeur, for anyone who fell hard for Klaus's genuine frozen-town atmosphere and its quiet sense of wonder.
But The uncanny motion-capture animation has aged oddly and can feel eerie rather than charming to some viewers.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer1964no page yet
Both retell Santa mythology through someone who doesn't fit in, using isolation and ridicule as the starting point for a story about earning acceptance by helping others.
This creaky stop-motion classic invented half the Christmas-misfit imagery modern animation still borrows, and its story of outcasts finding belonging through kindness is the same emotional engine Klaus runs on.
But The animation is wonderfully clunky by today's standards, and at 47 minutes it's basically a TV special, not a film.
Ikiru1952
Strip away the animation and the jokes and both films ask the same question: what does a wasted, self-interested life look like once someone finally chooses to be useful to others?
Kurosawa's quiet masterpiece follows a dying bureaucrat who, faced with mortality, finally does something that actually helps his community — the same transformation from selfishness to purpose that powers Klaus, played entirely straight.
But It's a slow, subtitled, black-and-white drama about death with almost none of Klaus's warmth or humour — a genuinely different evening.

People
Cast
Jason SchwartzmanJesper (voice)
J.K. SimmonsKlaus (voice)
Rashida JonesAlva (voice)
Joan CusackMrs. Krum (voice)
Norm MacdonaldMogens (voice)
Will SassoMr. Ellingboe (voice)
Sergio PablosPumpkin / Olaf (voice)
Mila BrenerEllingboe Girl 3 (voice)
Neda Margrethe LabbaMargu (voice)
Sydney BrowerEllingboe Girl (voice)- Teddy BlumSmall Ellingboe Boy (voice)
Julian ZaneKrum Boy (voice)
Directing
- Carlos Martínez LópezCo-Director
- Sergio PablosDirector
Writing
- Edgar MartinsHead of Story
- Sergio PablosOriginal Story
- Jim MahoneyScreenplay
- Sergio PablosScreenplay
- Zach LewisScreenplay
Production
- Matthew Jon BeckCasting
- Micah DahlbergCasting
- Eamonn ButlerExecutive Producer
- Warren FranklinExecutive Producer
- Gustavo FerradaProducer
- Jinko GotohProducer
- Marisa RománProducer
- Mercedes GameroProducer
- Micah DahlbergProducer
- Mikel LejarzaProducer
- Sergio PablosProducer
- Tanguy OlivierProducer
Recommended by
Wolfwalkers, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Toy Story 5, Zootopia 2, The Wild Robot, The Bad Guys, The Book of Life