Klaus

Released in theaters on November 8, 2019

Stream on HBO Max

Runtime: 1 Hour 37 Minutes

Rated PG

Jesper lives a life of privilege enjoying all the riches of his father, who is the postmaster general. Jesper’s life is turned upside down when his father decides to give him a “wake up call,” by sending him to the the small, snowy town of Smeerenburg where he must mail 6000 letters before he can return home. Once there he discovers two crazy, waring families who have been carrying out a feud from decades before, but have no idea why. These two clans have been the reason no mail man has ever stayed there. Things really go sideways when he discovers a reclusive old man who lives in the woods and has made hundreds of wooden toys.

Themes:

Family, responsibility, privilege, feuds, the postal system, mail carriers, toys, tradition, hatred, prejudice, school, education, gifts, selflessness, good deeds, loss, infertility, children, resentment, spite, goodwill, death, myths, legends, prejudging people, betrayal, honesty, Christmas, origin stories, and friendship.

Language:

“What the…” is mentioned, but the character doesn’t finish it with a word, like many cartoons these days. “oh God,” is said at least twice. There is name calling such as brat and idiot. No curse words.

Stuff to be aware of:

There is a scary looking city in the film. It is misty and there is a giant whale skellington hanging up when the boat enters town. The town is home to two feuding families that do terrible things to each other. There are two people seen carrying a dead body. There are a few huge fight scenes where people use comical weapons and punch one another. Nothing worse than Looney Tunes is seen, nothing graphic. One man looses the walls to his bathroom and he can be seen in a bathtub, but bubbles cover all private areas. There are a few characters and scenes that mimic horror movies, but are done for humor. Some younger children might find the first 20-30 min in this town scary.

There is a lady that sells fish that splits one open and cuts their heads off. There are multiple fish hanging up. One character mentions that a package has a severed head in it, but it doesn’t. He also mentions that someone might “chop him up and scatter his guts in the woods.” A “great mooning” is spoken of and there are little toy figures that moon one another.

Infertility is not mentioned, but one character and his wife could never get pregnant. While this scene explaining this doesn’t last long, it is a huge part of this character’s back story.

Overall:

I went into this movie knowing very little about it, I didn’t even watch a trailer. Man, was I blown away. The animation is beautiful, the humor is quirky and witty, and my wife and I found ourselves shedding tears multiple times. The humor reminds me a bit of The Emperor’s New Groove, but a bit more intense. I am looking forward to watching this one again in the future and catching things I didn’t before.

Klaus also tackles some heavy themes for a movie aimed at children, it handles these themes well, but there is a big tonal shift from the beginning and dealing with comical feuding families to dealing with loss and infertility. Like I said, heavy topics, but it handles them well.

I really enjoyed this one.