This is an adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel from 1997. The book is "one of the most loved British books of all time", according to teh Wiki, which puts it up there with the works of Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Those are some big shoes to fill but I have to say the book is definitely worth a read, at least once. In fact I would say to read ( or re-read ) the book first so you can better understand the movie. On Discworld, which is a flat world sitting on the backs of four elephants who stand on top of a giant space turtle, the Auditors of reality have hired an assassin to kill the Hogfather, an anthropomorphic person very much like Santa Claus, except that he drives a sleigh pulled by four very large hogs. Death ( another anthropomorphic character, in this case a seven foot tall skeleton with blue glowing eyes) has stepped in to fill the duties of the missing Hogfather and hilarity ensues. Deaths' granddaughter ( yes, Death has a granddaughter, she's mostly human. It's complicated ) gets involved and has to get to the bottom of the situation to help put things right. As in all Terry Pratchett works, there's a whole slew of interesting people, in this case a Verruca Gnome, ( a verruca is a plantar wart that you can get on your feet, I had to look that up) The Wizards of Unseen University, a God of Hangovers, the Tooth Fairy, an Eater of Socks and other weird creations.
The movie closely follows the book, possibly because Terry Pratchett was involved in the production. In fact they gave him a cameo at the end which was way cool. Of course they had to use a boat load of CGI to show everything but it really doesn't take away that much since everything takes place in a fantasy world. One thing it does showcase is the weirdness that lurks in the background of Pratchett's imagination. Don't think this is going to be a seasonal comedy movie like Christmas Vacation. It's a very understated comedy surrounded by creepiness and it pokes fun at a lot of Christmas traditions. It's funny, but you have to listen closely. I found some of the lines are difficult to understand with my American ears especially when the actors talk fast. Speaking of American I think it's interesting that they gave the villain an American accent where everyone else is English, probably to accentuate the foreignness of the character, as if they needed a reason.
Available on YouTube with commercials or TPB (where I found it)
I give it
four out of five pork pies
THE
ADAPTABLE
AARDVARK
Hogfather (2006)
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