Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "The Chubbchubbs Save Xmas" is an American animated short film from 2007, so this one has its 5th anniversary this year. Written and directed by Cody Cameron, this is a little add-on to the Oscar-winning Chubbchubbs short film from 3 years earlier. I am not a fan of that one and I am also not a fan of this one here. Nothing about it really works out. The story is very generic, the characters are forgettable and, worst of all, the music component (always crucial for Christmas-themed films) was extremely forgettable and felt very rushed in at the end. Cannot say too much about the voice acting. The little green creature ends up in charge of bringing the gifts to children after Santa has an accident and ends up at the hospital. You can guess who was rtesponsible for that. But how did Santa recover so effortlessly at the enmd of the film. A mystery. I did not really like it as a whole and I'm glad it was this short. So my suggestion is to skip this one unless you are really a big fan of the original Chubbchubbs film. This one here's not a failure, but it is also nowhere near the level where I would recommend it. There is a reason the Chubbchubb gang never got their full feature film. Watch something else instead.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews This is featured on the DVD of Surf's Up. I don't know why the people who wrote and directed the first one didn't get to do this, but boy does it show. Little more than the obligatory sequel, this matches the pace, and even does have a reasonable range to its references and humor(and yes, a lot of this is funny, and almost charming), however, the plot is utterly cookie-cutter, with Meeper having to "save Xmas". While I'm not personally bothered by the spelling, obviously some will be, and one has to wonder why they went for it. The Futurama Christmas episodes did, and that was part of their understandable hostility towards the holiday(I do not envy a single Jew growing up in America). Where The ChubbChubbs! was a sweet little story with a moral(that I refuse to spoil for those who have not seen the short) so easy to process that the youngest of audience members can't miss it, this comes off as preachy and better-knowing, literally having the lead character say what they want you to take from it. The singing feels tacked on, like it was put in to remind you of the far superior piece that this is a followup to. There's not much that is offensive in this. I recommend this to the biggest fans of the original. 6/10

theholmboy Being very fond of the Oscar-winning short The ChubbChubbs! from whence this awful thing sprang, I had somewhat high expectations of this one. Sadly, the ChubbChubb's went from being these cool, carnivorous little creatures that strike fear into all aliens to nothing more that miniature, yellow versions of the Tasmanian Devil. Meeper doesn't have much to do here -- only participating in the overly-used plot of delivering gifts in Santa's place and, hence, saving "Xmas." Who uses the term "Xmas" anymore?! Another obligatory & mediocre "sequel" to an original, that is really good. If you want to watch a funny, animated Christmas short, check out the Madagascar Penguins in "A Christmas Caper." It is so much better.