Leave it to the folks at Aardman, the minds behind all those wonderful “Wallace & Gromit” adventures and Chicken Run, to take the tired Christmas-themed subgenre of family films and find a way to breathe some invigorating life into it. Their Arthur Christmas is easily one the year’s most invigorating surprises, and I almost can’t believe just how much start to finish I found myself enjoying it. Original and inspired, this joyful animated frolic is seriously entertaining, audiences of all ages sure to eat up its heartwarming Yule-tied message of family, resilience and togetherness that’s as touching as it is wonderful.

Bryony and Arthur ride to the rescue in Arthur Christmas © Columbia Pictures

Arthur (James McAvoy) is the youngest son of the current Santa Clause (Jim Broadbent), happily working in the letter office answering all of the mail sent in from children around the globe. His older brother Steve (Hugh Laurie), however, is the one truly running the ship, making Christmastime present delivery a clockwork, almost military-like exercise that’s as efficient as it is invisible. Sure the elderly GrandSanta (Bill Nighy) makes a constant fuss about how things were done in his day with reindeer and sleighs and the like but no one really takes that much notice, the art of making children happy for the holidays an adventure each and every elf working at the North Pole can be merrily proud of.

But this year, on the eve when it was widely believed Santa would retire and bestow his title to Steve, a child has been missed. A single little girl, living in England, eagerly anticipating the pretty pink bicycle she is sure is going to come her way. Only Arthur realizes just how much a disaster this is, knows what it means if even a single child goes unhappy at Christmas. With GrandSanta, an aging reindeer and chipper, gift wrapping extraordinaire elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen) at his side, this young man will set out to do the impossible, and in doing so prove to the elves, the North Pole and, most importantly, to his family just what it is Christmas and the holidays are truly all about.

Peter Baynham (Borat) and director Sarah Smith’s screenplay is a mixture of inspiration and laughs that moves at the speed of a light right from the very start. It sets up its cast of characters with beautiful simplicity, allowing the audience to know just the kind of people the Clauses are and exactly what will be the best for the whole lot of them in order for this family to ultimately come together as one. These are fully formed individuals who are all instantly recognizable, the filmmakers realizing that a family flick of this sort doesn’t necessarily need a human villain when apathy and complacency rear their ugly heads.

But the movie is also filled with tons of idiosyncratic details that are downright inspired; little visual asides, in-jokes and bits of character that both propel the story forward and allow for delicately refined chuckles throughout. Aardman is working at an almost Pixar-like level mixing things up in a way that works for young and old alike. Children will find much to revel in but then so will adults, the film clicking on multiple levels allowing for each member of the audience to find something distinctly personal to delight in.

There aren’t a lot of surprises, that’s true, and it isn’t like the outcome of this adventure is ever in doubt, but ultimately this isn’t a problem in any sense of the word. Whether cascading through the deserts of Africa, evading dangers unleashed by NORAD or stranded in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean Arthur’s quest propels itself forward with a captivating efficiency that’s a true delight. Arthur Christmas is the kind of animated family miracle the cinema could definitely use more of, and as early holiday presents are concerned here’s one I wouldn’t mind opening for a second time relatively soon.