Fredrikstad Review: Santa's Workshop jingled my bells and decked my halls
I know we're in the thick of Spooky Season, but I always have room in my heart / in my movie viewing schedule for a bit of Christmas magic, so I was delighted to check out the opening film of this year's Fredrikstad Animation Festival (which starts in Oslo today and runs through October 25): the utterly delightful Santa's Workshop. It's one of those Christmas movies that feels like a classic from your childhood, which makes some sense, as it's adapted from a famous radio play. That radio play was written, composed, and co-directed by a beloved Norwegian children's author name Thorbjørn Egner, and his work has been handled with the utmost care in this expanded cinematic adaptation. The film is packed with songs by Egner, many of which fit the mood/occasion, and others that are just sort of fun and give the filmmakers a chance to play around a bit. For instance, when we first the film's protagonist, young Mary, she's playing pirate and singing an Egner tun...
