The August heat and rain are sweltering and boiling up outside, and Ed Sheeran is thinking about Christmas. The artist announced Wednesday that he’ll provide a new song, “Under the Tree,” for Netflix ‘s upcoming animated feature, That Christmas , which is based on the children’s book series by Richard Curtis (screenwriter for Love Actually , About Time ). The movie, directed by Simon Otto ( How to Train Your Dragon ), will premiere on the streaming platform on Dec.
6. Curtis is the movie’s co-writer alongside Peter Souter. “I’ve been mates with Richard Curtis for years, and we’ve done a load of fun work for charity, and then both were heavily involved in the movie Yesterday ,” Sheeran said in a statement.
“He came to me two years ago to play me the rough of That Christmas . It was just sketches and voices, but it blew me away. So emotional, yet so heartwarmingly funny, like all Richard Curtis movies.
I find since having kids, there’s a real lack of great animated children’s Christmas movies, so I thought this was such an amazing thing to make and put into the world.” Curtis feels Sheeran’s contribution is quite capital. “I’m SO thrilled to have Ed’s beautiful song in our movie,” he said (capitalization his).
“It’s a film set in Suffolk...
Ed lives in and loves Suffolk and completely understood the pitch and tone of what we were trying to do. ..
. Even if he wasn’t a friend and didn’t love Suffolk, how marvelous to have a wonderful new song by one of the greatest British songwriters EVER.” Trending Watch Jordan Klepper Query Trump Supporters About Kamala Harris on 'The Daily Show' Trump Posts Fan Fiction About Biden Stealing Nomination Back From Harris Sam Smith and Alicia Keys Spill Their Feelings Over a Grand Piano in 'I’m Not the Only One' Live Video Tim Walz Tears Into GOP Ticket at Raucous Philadelphia Rally And songcraft will be quite important for the picture since “Under the Tree” will play in a particularly devastating moment in the cartoon.
“The scene that we wrote this song for is so heartbreaking but so real for many people at Christmas spending it without the ones they love, for so many reasons,” Sheeran said. “I got to work with my older brother on this which is such a rarity and a gift to work so closely with my only sibling, it felt so good to create something my children would watch, with their uncle, based in the country they live in.” The voice cast for the movie includes Brian Cox as Santa, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, and Bill Nighy, among others.
They all live in an English seaside town where everything changes one Christmas. A synopsis teases Santa making a mistake and, inexplicably, the appearance of several turkeys..
