Klaus

Klaus is an English-Spanish animated comedy written and directed by Serigio Pablos. It is distributed globally by Netflix as a Netflix Original, and is Pablos first attempt at directing.

The movie is a Christmas-comedy and enters around a postman whop befriends a reclusive toymaker, Santa.

Summary
"A selfish postman and a reclusive toymaker form an unlikely friendship, delivering joy to a cold, dark town that desperately needs it."

- Netflix Synopsis

After being recognised as the postal academy's worst student, Jesper is stationed over the North Pole, where there is a shortage of letters due to the hostility between the locals. When he is about to give up, he finds a friend in Alva and discovers Klaus, a carpenter who lives alone in a cabin full of handmade toys. The legacy unfolds as an unlikely friendship forms between the trio.

Plot
Jesper Johansson is the lazy, spoiled son of the Royal Postmaster General, who has enrolled Jesper into his postman training academy hoping that it will reform him. Jesper deliberately underperforms, forcing his father to finally send him to the distant island town of Smeerensburg with the task of posting six-thousand letters within a year. If Jesper fails, he will be cut off from the family's fortune. Upon arrival, it is explained to Jesper by sarcastic ferryman Mogens, and bitter teacher-turned-fishmonger Alva, that the town's two familial clans—the Ellingboes and the Krums—comprise nearly all of the populace and are perpetually at war, spending more time fighting each other than writing letters.

While desperately searching for people to post letters, Jesper finds an isolated dwelling outside of the town. There, he meets a reclusive woodsman named Klaus, who has a house filled with handmade toys. Terrified by Klaus' imposing appearance, Jesper flees and leaves behind a sad drawing he had found from one of Smeerensburg’s children. Klaus forces Jesper to lead him to the house depicted in the drawing, and then makes Jesper secretly deliver a toy to the boy inside.

Word of this event spreads to other children and they go to Jesper the next day, each believing that they will receive a toy if they send him a letter. Jesper capitalizes on the idea, and asks Klaus if he can donate his toys; Klaus agrees provided that they operate at night, and that Jesper continues to deliver the toys in secret. Soon, more and more children begin writing letters to Klaus. When Jesper tells them Klaus only gives toys to good children, and always knows whenever any child misbehaves, the acts of kindness they perform gradually inspire the rest of the townsfolk to end their ancient dispute. Alva reopens her school to help the children learn to read and write.

Eventually, Jesper and Klaus begin running out of toys. With Jesper's deadline approaching, he tries persuading Klaus to make more toys in time for Christmas. Klaus initially refuses, but then works with Jesper to build a sled for a small Sámi girl named Márgu, who lives in an isolated settlement with her people. Klaus finally tells Jesper about his wife, Lydia, and explains he had made the toys to give to the future children the couple hoped to have, but they couldn't conceive and Lydia died from illness. Klaus has slowly realized their work is spreading joy to the children and agrees to the Christmas plan, with Márgu and the rest of her people arriving to help. As the town and his relationship with Alva flourishes, Jesper finds himself wanting to stay in Smeerensburg.

Meanwhile, family elders Aksel Ellingboe and Tammy Krum form a temporary truce, wanting to stop Jesper and Klaus so that the families can resume their traditional feud. They trick Jesper's father into believing Jesper had posted fourteen-thousand letters, and he arrives on Christmas eve to congratulate his son, inadvertently revealing to Jesper's friends the selfish reasons for his deeds. Just as they are about to leave town, Jesper's father notices his son's remorse, and after a private talk he allows Jesper to stay. Jesper then tries to stop the elders and their gang from destroying the Christmas toys, but apparently fails. However, Alva had already been informed of the plot by the town's children, so she and Klaus had replaced the toys with decoys. During the chase for the toys, Mr. Ellingboe's daughter and Mrs. Krum's son have also fallen in love.

Jesper is redeemed, and Smeerensburg becomes a happy town, with the family elders being forced to end the feud due to the marriage of their children. Jesper marries Alva and raises two children, and he and Klaus continue to deliver presents in Smeerensburg and beyond for eleven years. Then on the twelfth year, Klaus follows a wisp of wind up a sunny hill and disappears, seemingly to join his departed wife. Every subsequent Christmas Eve, Jesper sits beside the fireplace and waits to see Klaus as his spirit continues to deliver toys to children around the world as Santa Claus.

Cast and Characters

 * Jason Schwartzman as Jesper
 * J.K. Simmons as Klaus
 * Rashida Jones as Alva
 * Will Sasso as Mr. Ellingboe
 * Neda Margrethe Labba as Márgu
 * Sergio Pablos as Pumpkin / Olaf
 * Norm Macdonald as Mogens
 * Joan Cusack as Mrs. Krum

Awards
The series was nominated for 20 awards which includes a Academy Awards and won 9 awards.