Ah yes, the holiday season can truly begin once the themed movies come into full view. Good bye, abs and action scenes, hello heart warming Christmas themed fare.

This year, famed stop motion studio Aardman Animation (who was responsible for the classic Wallace and Gromit as well as Shaun the Sheep) presents "Arthur Christmas."

Early reviews for the film says it's good, but not exceedingly so. Then again, it doesn't really matter if the movie is Oscar worthy; this is Aardman's first foray into the 3D market-most likely, they're just testing it for bumps and cracks and looking to see if it fits with their aesthetic.

"Arthur Christmas" is about Santa, or to be more precise, the whole long lineage of Santas. The movie lets us in on exactly how Santa manages to give everyone a gift on Christmas Eve and how he runs such an efficient operation considering the very tight schedule.

It turns out; this Santa is close to retiring and is looking for one of his sons to relieve him of his duties. Enter Steve and Arthur-the former is the older, much more militant brother, while the latter is kind hearted and sweet. Kids are sure to enjoy the visual effects of Steve's highly precise Christmas assault-the character has a specific rocket that shoots off elves in order to deliver presents; it also converts milk and cookies into biofuel, what's not to love?

Arthur also has his moments as a girl from Cornwall is overlooked from the list this year and it's up to him (and maybe some old school Santa magic) to save Christmas Morning.

With a just dash of sibling rivalry and a whole lot of festivity-appropriated entertainment, "Arthur Christmas" makes for an amusing and even delightful fodder for the holidays.