A Very Barry Christmas (2005)

This is a 45-minute stop-motion special about an Australian outback tour operator accidentally trading places with Santa Claus. Based on the premise and a minor character with a heavy Australian accent, I assume this was produced for the Australian market, but I actually haven't been able to verify that. The production company behind the project is Canadian, the main voice actor is Australian, and the only firm information I can find on it playing anywhere pre-streaming is a French film festival. IMDB does list a release date of December 25, 2008 in Australia, but it seems odd for it to have been delayed three years if that was the *first* time it was seen outside of festivals.

I swear, it used to be a lot easier to research this kind of stuff before AI turned the internet to crap.

None of that reflects on the quality of the special, of course, but I'd like to at least know whether this is an Australian or Canadian special, whether it's popular anywhere, and so on and so forth. I like to understand what I'm badmouthing. Well, not just badmouthing - this thing has its merits - but on the whole it doesn't work for the same reason most unsuccessful stop-motion doesn't work: the people making it lack a solid understanding of the medium's strengths and weaknesses. 

The puppets are designed and animated like cartoons but framed and edited like live-action, and the end result is something without the energy and excitement it needs. The jokes aren't paced right, so punchlines that could land just sort of linger and characters that could be endearing wind up overstaying their welcome. On top of that, the special attempts to incorporate other animation techniques to make the special feel larger in scope, but the results are simply awkward. 

The plot follows two groups of characters: Barry's animal friends in Australia (a crocodile, koala, kangaroo, and platypus), and the characters at the North Pole, primarily considering of a clumsy reindeer named Nutmeg and Mrs. Claus. The trouble starts when Nutmeg tries out for a spot on Santa's team, a test involving flying Santa solo around the world. I'll spare you the details, but the result is that he and Barry are swapped (Barry has the same build and is wearing a Santa suit at the time for... reasons).

Mrs. Claus convinces Barry to pretend to be Santa to keep the elves and press calm while the sleigh is repaired, with the assumption they'll switch them back before the Christmas deliveries. Things of course go poorly: Barry blurts out that they're going to make gifts for everyone, naughty kids included, and lets the professional reindeer gorge on milk and cookies, taking them out of commission. Meanwhile, Santa is unable to convince the animals he isn't Barry, starts doubting himself, and eventually winds up in jail for some reason. 

Barry and Nutmeg fly Santa's sleigh back to Australia and crash into his house, ruining the sleigh. They then hook up his old pickup to his animal friends and Nutmeg and use the power of Christmas magic to deliver the gifts. Meanwhile, Santa gets a ride back from a pilot.

It's all very silly, which isn't at all a bad approach. But while director Andrew Horne has the right philosophy, he doesn't have the instincts or experience to capitalize on the medium's potential. This is almost certainly taking its inspiration from Aardman - you can see the influence in the designs and scenarios - but this just doesn't have the charm or comic timing. 

I like a lot of those designs, by the way. Likewise, I like the jokes built around Mrs. Claus being the brains of the operation, with Santa more of a figurehead. I also thought Nutmeg was a fun character. There's absolutely good stuff here, but it doesn't shine through.

Like I said at the beginning, I was unable to find any useful information on whether this is popular in Australia (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter). If this is a Christmas tradition where you live, by all means sound off in the comments and tell me what I'm missing. But I found this mostly dull, despite some inspired designs and concepts. I just don't think it works as a stop-motion special.