An Almost Christmas Story

image for An Almost Christmas Story

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 6 (themes, violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for An Almost Christmas Story
  • a review of An Almost Christmas Story completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 20 December 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to themes and violence.
Children aged 5–6 Parental guidance recommended due to themes and scary scenes.
Children aged 7 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: An Almost Christmas Story
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes
Length: 25 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Despite the best efforts of Papa Owl (voice of John Gaffigan), who tries to keep his owlings hidden and safe, little Moon (voice of Cory Christopher) just wants to be seen. He adores all things shiny and sparkling and does not grasp the dangers lurking around them. When he accidentally destroys the family nest, he disobeys his father and sets out to fix it, only he is attacked by a falcon before he gets very far. Papa Owl comes to his rescue but not before Moon’s wing is broken in the attack. Moon hides in the hollow of a tall tree but the tree is chopped down, loaded onto a truck and driven to New York City before his father can return for him. Moon is awed by all the glitz and sparkle as he awakens to find himself in the Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller Center, and falls from his perch in a hollow onto an ice rink. Escaping the skaters, Moon is accosted by three pigeons and loses his way while trying to escape from them. Seeking refuge on a subway, he encounters Luna (voice of Estella Madrigal), who is also lost and struggling with a handicap. Together the pair forge an unlikely friendship as they try to find their place in the world as well as their respective ways back home.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Children separated from parents; Segregation; Survival of the fittest; Disability and being different.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Moon is attacked by a falcon.
  • Moon falls onto an ice-skating rink and is nearly hit repeatedly by ice-skaters.
  • Moon is repeatedly told that he: “Should go back to where he belongs.”
  • Three antagonistic pigeons say that they will fight Moon and they aggressively stalk him till he flees.
  • Three pigeons chase Moon through the streets of New York where he is nearly hit by cars, nearly flies into objects and people, falls down flights of stairs, and is knocked by a subway car through a window and onto a train.
  • Both Luna and Moon are nearly hit by a car.
  • A dog chases Moon and Luna onto an ice-skating rink.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Moon is attacked by a falcon that comes out of nowhere. The falcon breaks the little owl’s arm, but is then occupied by Papa Owl who swoops in to save his son. Moon hides in a tree, alone and scared, waiting for his father to return while the tree is chopped down and he is taken farther and farther away from his forest home. By the time he arrives in the city he doesn’t know if he will ever see his family again.
  • Moon is chased by three pigeons through the city and is nearly hit or killed a few times. Some children may be distressed by the imminent sense of peril.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Again, Moon is told in no uncertain terms that he does not belong and that the city is not his place. A dog tells Moon that he has peed all over the city and that the city belongs to him.
  • Holy Mackerel!

In a nutshell

An Almost Christmas Story is a short film that uses computer generated animation combined with a stop-motion aesthetic to create a unique style that comes across as homemade or textured. The story takes place at Christmas time but is not directly a Christmas tale. The film is best suited to audiences over the age of 6.

The main messages from this movie are that the true spirit of the Christmas season lies in giving rather than receiving and that the simplest things in life are also the most precious and can bring us the greatest joy.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Courage
  • Strength
  • Friendship
  • Compassion
  • Helpfulness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Disobeying parental instructions.
  • Believing that certain places are only for certain people and that if you are different you do not belong.
  • Thinking yourself inferior or incapable because of a handicap or disability.