Who is the director of That Christmas?

Last Modified Mar 18, 2025 08:12 EDT
Who is the director of That Christmas?
Title card of the movie (Source: Screengrab from the trailer)


The animated movie That Christmas by Netflix Animation, Locksmith Animation, and DNEG Animation, is directed by Simon Otto.


That Christmas is an animated fantasy drama film that has been adapted from the interconnected stories in the children’s Christmas book titled “That Christmas and Other Stories” written by Richard Curtis. The movie has 3 stories revolving around the theme of Christmas and is filled with humor and family drama. The movie was released on December 4th and is live on the streaming platform Netflix.


That Christmas has an ensemble of cast members with Brian Cox as Santa Claus, Fiona Shaw as Miss Trapper, Jodie Whittaker as Mrs. Williams, Bill Nighy as Lighthouse Bill, Lolly Adefope as Mrs. McNutt, Alex Macqueen as Mr. Forrest, Katherine Parkinson as Mrs. Forrest, Sindhu Vee as Mrs. Mulji, India Brown as Bernadette "Bernie" McNutt, Zazie Hayhurst as Sam Beccles, Sienna Sayer as Charlie Beccles, Jack Wisniewski as Danny Williams, Rosie Cavaliero as Mrs. Beccles, Paul Kaye as Yirrell, and Guz Khan as Dasher, among others.


Who is the director of That Christmas?


That Christmas is directed by Simon Otto, which marks his first directorial movie venture. Prior to this, Otto was seen as an animator working with various production houses. Otto received his big break when he was hired by DreamWorks Animation in Los Angeles as a traditional character animator on their first 2D animated feature “The Prince of Egypt”. Since then Otto has been a part of the company for 21 years working on projects like How to Train Your Dragon. Among various contributions from the animator, is his work in developing Premo, the animation software developed at DreamWorks Animation, for which he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement.


Projects on which Simon Otto has worked on


Being active in Hollywood from 1997 till the present, Simon Otto has worked on various projects from being an animator to being a project director. The below table mentions all the projects for which Otto has been credited in the industry.


As a Director


YearTitleFormat
2016Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia – To Catch a Changeling (Episode)TV series
2016Dragons: Race to the Edge- A Grim Retreat (Episode)TV series
2016Dragons: Race to the Edge – Crash Course (Episode)TV series
2021Love, Death & Robots – The Tall Grass (Episode)TV series
2024That ChristmasMovie


As an Animator


YearProjectRole
1998The Prince of EgyptAnimator
2000The Road to El DoradoAnimator
2002Spirit: Stallion of the CimarronAnimator
2003Sinbad: Legend of the Seven SeasAnimator
2004Shark TaleAnimator
2006Over the HedgeSupporting character designer
2006Flushed AwaySupervising animator
2007EnchantedSupporting animator
2007Bee MovieSupporting animator
2008Kung Fu PandaSupporting animator
2010How to Train Your DragonHead of character animation
2014How to Train Your Dragon 2Head of Character Animation and Story Artist
2015HomeSupporting supervising animator
2018Bird KarmaAnimator
2019How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden WorldHead of Character Animation and Story Artist


Read more about That Christmas:


What is that christmas about

Where can i watch that christmas

That christmas cast


FAQs about That Christmas

That Christmas is available to watch on the streaming platform Netflix.

The role of Santa is voiced by Brian Cox in That Christmas.

That Christmas has a run time of 92 minutes.

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