Oct. 28 (UPI) — Netflix is teasing its upcoming animated film That Christmas starring Brian Cox (Succession) as Santa and featuring an original track by Ed Sheeran.
“This is the tale of one of the most challenging nights of my long career,” Santa says as the preview opens.
His reindeer, Dasher (Guz Khan), warns St. Nick against jumping down a chimney with multiple sacks, but Santa disregards the warning.
Later in the trailer, as Dasher struggles against a blizzard’s high winds, Santa insists the storm is “just a light breeze.”
“This movie tells the story of a troubled Christmas, forcing a group of kids and parents to accept that you can’t always plan life,” Simon Otto, the film’s director, told Netflix’s Tudum. “Life is chaotic, relationships are messy, and traditions sometimes must be re-evaluated ….”
Otto is well-known for his work on Love, Death & Robots and How to Train Your Dragon.
Richard Curtis, the writer and director behind Christmas staple Love Actually, also served as a writer and an executive producer of That Christmas, which was inspired by his children’s book series.
“I hope it’ll remind people of the joy and complexity of Christmas,” he said. “And some of the joys and comedy and heartbreak of childhood.”
Peter Souter also wrote the screenplay.
Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, Ava Talbot, Bill Nighy and Rhys Darby also lend their voices to the film.
Ed Sheeran, who created the song, “Under the Tree,” for the movie, said he was blown away when he saw the sketches.
“The scene that we wrote this song for is so heartbreaking, but so real for many people at Christmas — spending it without the ones they love, for so many reasons.”
That Christmas premieres on the streamer Dec. 4.