History WesternAnimation / ArthurChristmas

* NotSoDifferent:
** Malcolm and Arthur make the same screw up in trying to deliver toys.
** Despite polar opposite ideals, Steve and Grandsanta are both prideful, militaristic, [[DudeWheresMyRespect believe their achievements go unrecognized]], and are nigh impossible to be reasoned with when they decide on something.

* RealityEnsues: Grandsanta and Arthur attempt to deliver Gwen's gift by flying Evie along Grandsanta's old route. However, in the decades since his last run, the cities in Canada have become more built up and they crash as a result of being unable the navigate through the new skyscrapers.

* HomemadeSweaterFromHell: Arthur wears one, ''willingly'', since tacky Christmas sweaters are part of the season's magic. According to the production notes, he has a Christmas sweater [[UpToEleven for every day of the year.]]

* MissionControl: Steve's job is essentially this, as he and his team of elves make sure the gift-delivering operation on Christmas Eve runs smoothly for Malcolm and the elves accompanying him. However, it's made pretty clear that Steve's the one doing all the real work and Malcolm has essentially become a figurehead. [[spoiler:In the end, Steve still has this role as Chief Operating Officer while Arthur becomes the new Santa.]]
* MrsClaus: Played by Creator/ImeldaStaunton, she's definitely the side of the family that Steve got his uber-competence from, and apparently handles the political side of the Claus operation (if that Treaty with Greenland she has to negotiate is any indication). She apparently spends her downtime taking lessons online, to the point where she can do most anything without trouble.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Steve manages to reach Arthur, Grandsanta and Bryony, Steve and Arthur argue about the importance of getting the bike to Gwen in time for Christmas. Arthur claims their father, the current Santa, must be unable to sleep out of worry, but Steve disproves this by attempting to call him and getting a voicemail message. Arthur can't bring himself to believe that Santa doesn't care if a single child isn't able to enjoy Christmas, at which point Bryony asks him if that's the case, why he was there instead of Santa, which stuns Arthur into silence.

** Grandsanta. He's been doing Christmas runs until 1941, and [[spoiler: took twelve shots during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It's important to note that it wasn't necessarily the Axis powers that shot him. The Germans and Italians were Christian, too.]] That he performed his run with "six reindeer and a drunken elf" (in other words, he had ''none'' of the advanced technology that his grandchildren do, and he ''still'' pulled it off!) earns him extra points in the badass department.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: Apparently Grandsanta [[spoiler: almost caused the Cuban Missle Crisis to go hot when he took the old sleigh out for one last ride.]]

** While Steve isn't actually Santa, he more or less fills this role. Doubles as BadassInANiceSuit, since his version of the costume is a [[spoiler: Versace]].
** Grandsanta. He's been doing Christmas runs until 1941, and [[spoiler: took twelve shots during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It's important to note that it wasn't necessarily the Axis powers that shot him. The Germans and Italians were Christian, too.]] That he performed his run with "six reindeer and a drunken elf" (in other words, he had ''none'' of the advanced technology that his grandchildren does, and he ''still'' pulled it off!) earns him extra points in the badass department.

** Bryony will ''not'' see a present being delivered unwrapped it, even if she has to wrap it while Arthur is still ''using'' it.

* {{Adorkable}}: Arthur, the title character. He's clumsy and awkward, but he's also very enthusiastic about Christmas and everything to do with it.

* RealityEnsues: Grandsnata and Arthur attempt to deliver Gwen's gift by flying Evie along Grandsanta's old route. However, in the decades since his last run, the cities in Canada have become more built up and they crash as a result of being unable the navigate through the new skyscrapers.

* MissingTrailerScene: One of the trailers has a scene where Gwen wakes up at night and checks her stocking only to find nothing and looks disappointed that doesn't appear in the film.

[[quoteright:187:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imagesCAV7956T_7041.jpg]]

* TheWorldIsJustAwesome: The sum of Grand Santa's speech to Arthur as they first pull out of the North Pole.

* TheUnfavorite: It is implied Steve's need to be acknowledged by Malcolm is rooted in a belief that he's this to the children of the world.
-->'''Malcolm:''' "This is about that pool table, isn't it? I told you, you should have written to me."\\
'''Steve:''' "I was eight! You're my dad!"

The film is set on Christmas Eve, and at last reveals the answer to every child's question: "So how does SantaClaus deliver all those presents in one night?" It is thanks to Santa's ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. It also turns out that being Santa Claus is an inheritable position, passed from father to son. Except this time, there are ''two'' sons who are prospective Santas: Arthur, whose heart is in the right place but is a bumbler, and his brother Steve, who is extremely efficient but more serious. Their father Malcolm, the current Santa, is little more than a figurehead who isn't familiar with how anything in his company works. When one out of the 2 billion presents is accidentally not delivered, it's up to Arthur to complete the mission - with a little help from his grandfather (the previous Santa Claus) and a plucky female elf named Bryony - before Christmas morning dawns and a child's heart breaks. This must be done, of course, without being discovered by the rest of the world. Naturally, [[HilarityEnsues this turns out to be much harder than it sounds]].

** When Steve [[spoiler:enters Gwen's house to deliver the bicycle]], he steps on a ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'' toy.
** Gwen has a ''WesternAnimation/ChopSockyChooks'' poster in her room.
** One of the elves in the opening montage puts model train tracks down in the same fashion as [[WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit Gromit]] in ''The Wrong Trousers''.
** The first "waker" kid has an ''WesternAnimation/OpenSeason'' poster in his room.

* {{Cool S|hip}}leigh: The S-1. A couple miles long, with flawless camouflage, capable of traveling seven million miles in a single night. And it runs on milk and cookies!
** Eve is too, in her own dilapidated, [[SteamPunk steampunky]] way. Even at a hundred and seventy years old, she's more powerful than any other aircraft aside from the S-1. She's even space-capable.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue

* UnsuccessfulPetAdoption: Zigzagged. A girl named Maria writes that her friend had a dog named Bippo who ran away but it's never said whether or not he came back. Furthermore, Maria could have made Bippo up because she claims he's blue, but it's never revealed why she'd make up a story like that.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Evil is a stretch, but Peter is the only elf who does not have the devotion to children the rest of the elves fanatically exhibit. Like Steve, he sees them as statistics.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: That elf in the trailers really wasn't helping his cause.