Normally I’m not too interested in the family-friendly holiday dreck that takes over theatres every December, and especially not CG-animated dreck, but a new movie from Aardman Animations is usually something worth looking forward to. Granted, I still haven’t seen Flushed Away, their last major theatrical release, but I did enjoy the most recent Wallace and Gromit film, A Matter of Loaf and Death. Now they’ve got a new project in development as part of their partnership with Sony: a Christmas-oriented film called Arthur Christmas.

The story revolves around the son of Santa Claus himself, who is not exactly a chip off the old block. When Santa’s annual operation accidentally misses one of the 600 million children on his list, Arthur sets out on an unauthorized mission of his own to rectify the problem. The teaser trailer is clearly a custom made piece that does not feature actual footage from the movie, but it gets across the playful tone and I kind of enjoyed it. I also like the fact that they are treating Santa’s yearly journey as if it is actually possible with a lot of high-tech equipment… it seems like a good opportunity for some clever Pixar-esque humour. Arthur Christmas doesn’t hit theatres until next November, but as of right now I’m thinking I might actually give it a shot. Check out the teaser trailer after the jump and see what you think.