Netflix has confirmed that its new animated Christmas movie, That Christmas, will be available globally on December 6th, 2024, and will feature a new original song from Ed Sheeran.
Directed by Simon Otto, That Christmas is Netflix’s big new animated movie that is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Klaus and become one of Netflix’s most recognizable Christmas movies in its arsenal, which is primarily made up of rom-coms.
Earlier this year, we got word on the huge voice cast that’s been assembled for the movie produced by Locksmith Animation which includes Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Lolly Adefope, Alex Macqueen, Katherine Parkinson, Sindhu Vee, India Brown, Zazie Hayhurst, Sienna Sayer, Jack Wisniewski, Rosie Cavaliero, Paul Kaye, Guz Khan, Andy Nyman, Kuhu Agarwal, Bronte Smith, Freddie Spry, Ava Talbot, with Bill Nighy and Rhys Darby.
The movie “follows a series of entwined tales about family and friends, love and loneliness, and Santa Claus making a big mistake.”
Ed Sheeran, the Ipswich-born musician who has become an international superstar, announced on August 7th that he’s produced an exclusive new original song for the movie. The new track is titled “Under The Tree” and will be part of the overall soundtrack crafted by John Powell. In a statement, Sheeran said about the collaboration:
“I’ve been mates with Richard Curtis for years, and we’ve done a load of fun work for charity, and then both were heavily involved in the movie Yesterday. He came to me two years ago to play me the rough of That Christmas. It was just sketches and voices, but it blew me away. So emotional, yet so heartwarmingly funny, like all Richard Curtis movies. I find since having kids, there’s a real lack of great animated children’s Christmas movies, so I thought this was such an amazing thing to make and put into the world. 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. I got to work with my older brother on this which is such a rarity and a gift to work so closely with my only sibling, it felt so good to create something my children would watch, with their uncle, based in the country they live in. I find it mad that there isn’t more animated Christmas films for kids, but this is going to become a holiday staple, at least in our household. Hope everyone loves it, and enjoys the song, we had such a great time creating it.”
For more on Netflix’s upcoming slate of Christmas movies scheduled for release in 2024, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix. Other titles include Our Little Secret and Meet Me Next Christmas.
While we await the official trailer for the new movie, here are some more of the first-look images Netflix has released thus far, with many debuting recently at the Annecy Film Festival, where the movie was showcased:
Are you looking forward to checking out That Christmas on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.