Spike is a 2008 French computer-animated Christmas movie about a novice elf at Santa's Workshop who accidentally loses the mailbag containing the letters from children to Santa Claus (actually, it was the fault of his friend, a blue penguin) inside the bank vault of the local Penguin Village. Spike must then break into it to recover the letters with the help of an older elf overseer, unaware that a couple of polar bears are trying to rob the bank at the same time!
The film had a sequel, titled simply Spike 2 (they were released together on DVD). A year after the events of the original film, Tony (the polar bear thief from the first film) has been forced to work at the workshop to make amends. He claims to be rehabilitated—but no sooner does he leave than Santa's reindeer are kidnapped! Spike and his friends (with the help of a female elf cousin, a would-be TV reporter) must find and rescue them.
Not to be confused with the horror film Spike, the television network, or Spike Lee.
Tropes in Spike include:
- All-CGI Cartoon
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In the second movie, Tony uses a giant robot version of a popular toy to try to rob the Penguin bank again.
- Bank Robbery
- Christmas Elves: Very modern ones. They have their own school, have cell phones, etc.
- I Believe I Can Fly: The blue penguin is obsessed with flying. This leads to an aerial battle in the first part, and to borrowing the flying magic of one of Santa's reindeer in the second.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Penguins live in the Antarctic, not the Arctic. Subverted with the Polar Bear town in the second film.
- The New Guy
- Santa Claus: A somewhat lazy version. The elves do all the work, except delivering the presents.
- Shout-Out:The first movie homages bank heist movies; the second, spaghetti westerns and giant robot anime.
- Weaksauce Weakness: The giant robot cannot stop dancing when a certain song is sung; this is because it was made using toy circuits.
- Weird Currency: The penguins use fish as money.
