A Wobot's Christmas (2003)

A Wobot's Christmas is Jimmy Neutron meets Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer for its misfits-save-Christmas theme (and a lot of borrowing from Jimmy Neutron and Star Wars). Despite its acceptable but sub-videogame-grade computer-graphics modeling and rendering, I promptly became a fan of this show for its choreography, characters, and musical composition. Even though the production has a leisurely feel (perhaps largely drawn on the protagonist Zak's ho-hum-for-Christmas gestalt -- he looks like he's on Prozac, even in chase scenes), every character has personality and speaks (or sings) and moves smartly, both independently and in conjunction with others. Even though Zak teams up with more than a half-dozen robot rejects to defeat the bad guy, each robot is distinctive enough in personality and heroic actions for viewers to keep them straight and enjoy their schtick. This show is full of much more than the usual amount of inventive, quotable, and funny dialog. The Christmas message is minimized but authentically presented, depicting the Baby Jesus in the manger and stating that he would "change the world." This show is not listed on Netflix or even on IMDB -- just Blockbuster -- but it can be found for purchase online. I'd suggest faith-based retail outlets too since at least two members of the Gaither family were involved in its production. I, for one, intend to get my own copy. 4 stars.