Short Stop: David Lowery brings the holiday cheer with An Almost Christmas Story

We're on our third year in a row of Alfonso Cuarón producing a holiday short for Disney+, and I couldn't be more grateful for this new tradition. First up a couple years ago was Alice Rohrwacher's utterly charming (and Oscar-nominated) Le pupille, about the rebellious students (and a beautiful cake) at a Catholic school during the war. Last year was the (for me) extremely underwhelming The Shepherd, from director Iain Softley. Just a total dud. 

This year, we get our best one yet, courtesy of one of my favorite filmmakers David Lowery. Lowery is, in one sense, an eclectic filmmaker. He alternates between textured arthouse favorites like A Ghost Story and The Green Knight, and more populist fare like Disney's live-action remakes Pete's Dragon and Peter Pan and Wendy (the two finest such remakes Disney has produced, in my opinion). With his utterly charming An Almost Christmas Story, it feels like Lowery is working in both modes at once. It isn't surprising, really -- he always brings such care to his work. His films are always gorgeous to look at, thoughtful, artful. But it's really fun to see him bring something like this to life, a stop-motion gem that feels both like an obvious extension of his well-established talent, and something a bit new and different from his previous films.

Inspired by the true story of an owl that was found in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree a few years ago, An Almost Christmas Story centers on tiny Moon (Cary Christopher), an adventurous little owl who dreams of building a shiny silver nest (not advisable for staying invisible to predators) and isn't great at following her father's instructions. After a couple mishaps, Moon ends up seeking shelter in a tree that gets chopped down and then erected at Rockefeller Center. 

Thus begins Moon's journey to get home, aided by a girl with a prosthetic leg named Luna (Estrella Madrigal). Though they don't share the same language, they immediately form a bond. There's a similar burden of pain and loneliness that connects them, being lost in a big city, being perceived as weak and needing help. Their connection is told in a clever visual way, too: while most of the people in NYC are depicted as cardboard cutouts, both Luna and Moon (and a few other characters, mostly animals) are depicted as fully three-dimensional puppets. It's immediately clear they share something special, something real. It's no wonder they strike up an unlikely friendship.

There's so much to gush about with the animation. Along with the background humans, so much of the city is rendered in cardboard and similar materials. Everything is so crafty looking, it's utterly charming. The more dimensional characters are absolutely gorgeous, especially the owls, who look like they were carved from wood, but with huge glassy eyes (it's no wonder an owl cuckoo clock confuses Moon). There's a great graininess to the lensing and lighting, as well, which makes this look and feel like it's some rediscovered classic rather than a sleek new Disney production, a feeling that's enhanced by the folk singing narrator, perfectly voiced by John C. Reilly.

At 25 minutes, I was impressed with how much story this packed into such a short runtime. It really feels like a journey, with characters making multiple appearances and the city feeling so alive and bustling. The beauty of the animation, the gentleness of the humor, the narrator's songs, and the setting all make this feel like a modern Christmas classic, even as the narrator questions what makes a Christmas story a Christmas story (in less capable hands, I think there would've been an obvious Die Hard reference in here somewhere). It certainly gave my heart all the warm fuzzies I want from a holiday tale, and I expect this will become a recurring player in a lot of people's Christmas movie rotations (mine included).