(Credit: Netflix)

Animated Christmas films bring in a different narrative when you are not trying to make sense of the year anymore. There is something so comforting about watching drawings move with more honesty than most real people manage.

You see, Netflix has always tried to build a meaningful collection of such films, and one tiny genre that belongs to this category is animated Christmas movies. And these are not your over-the-top films, just simple stories that remind you of a softer world.

What’s to be loved about them most is how these films take familiar feelings and turn them into something easier to look at. It feels like someone put your emotions through an animation filter and handed them back to you in pastel colours. You do not need to overthink; you just feel it.

So if November has already started to feel heavier than it should, this list is your pause button. Watch one, two, or all five; they do not ask for much, just your attention for a little while.

Three feel-good animated Christmas stories on Netflix

Klaus (Sergio Pablos, 2019)

When you start watching Klaus, just like many others, you might confuse it for a cheerful Santa story, and then ten minutes in, you realise it is doing something else. The film looks hand-drawn in an old-fashioned way, but it moves with a smooth rhythm. It starts with Jesper, the spoilt postman, getting dumped in this grey, frozen town where people have forgotten how to be decent. Watching him try to fix that is extremely fun.

There is a calmness in Klaus that makes it special. The story never begs for emotions; it simply places them carefully for you to pick them at the right moments. By the end, you are not even thinking about Santa anymore. You are thinking about how simple goodness can be if someone just starts it.

Angela’s Christmas (Damien O’Connor, 2018)

This one is tiny, barely a half-hour movie, but the impact it creates in that half-hour is a lot more than some so-called “classics”. It’s set in old Ireland, and it follows this little girl named Angela who does something she thinks is kind, and somehow that small act turns into the whole story. The film doesn’t try to impress you; it just caresses you gently, like it knows you’ll get it without being told.

When you finish this film, you might want to sit quietly for a bit. And don’t worry, it’s not sad exactly, but it has that quiet ache that good Christmas stories carry. It’s short, but it feels complete, like it said exactly what it needed to.

Alien Xmas (Stephen Chiodo, 2020)

Who knew that a stop-motion Christmas movie about aliens would work, but this one does. It’s funny and manages to make a story about greed and generosity feel fresh. The setup is simple: a tiny alien lands on Earth, planning to steal everything and instead learns what giving means. It sounds predictable, but the way it’s told makes it oddly endearing.

The animation has that handmade look that makes it feel a bit old-school. Luckily, it is not slow and the buildup is fast, so you don’t get bored. It’s silly, sure, but it has moments that feel unexpectedly honest. It’s the sort of thing you put on thinking you’ll half-watch, and by the end, you’re smiling at how sincere it turned out to be.