The film tells the story of Santa Claus' family as one of his sons works to deliver an overlooked bicycle to a little girl in Trelew, Cornwall, England before Christmas morning.

The traditional sleigh and reindeer have been replaced by a high-tech vessel called the S-1 that is operated by hundreds of elves who use advanced equipment and military precision to deliver presents.

During the Clauses’ Christmas dinner, Arthur's suggestion to play a board game degenerates into a petty argument while Malcolm’s father named Grandsanta criticizes the modernization of the present delivering.

Arthur is horrified when he recognizes the present is a bicycle for a little girl named Gwen Hines who lives in Trelew, Cornwall, England.

Grandsanta on the other hand, proposes delivering the present using his old sleigh called Eve (mispronounced as Evie) and the great-great-grandchildren of Saint Nicholas’ reindeer, forcefully whisking away Arthur and a stowaway Bryony.

They get lost in three different continents, lose several reindeer, and land in danger several times, ultimately being mistaken for aliens and causing an international military incident.

The S-1 is renamed EVIE in honor of Grandsanta's sleigh and refitted to be pulled by five thousand reindeer led by the original eight who have managed to return safely.

The lead Christmas elves are voiced by Sanjeev Bhaskar, Robbie Coltrane, Joan Cusack, Rhys Darby, Jane Horrocks, Iain McKee, Andy Serkis, and Dominic West.

The other Christmas elves are voiced by Peter Baynham, Kevin Cecil, Cody Cameron, Kevin Eldon, Rich Fulcher, Bronagh Gallagher, Pete Jack, Danny John-Jules, Emma Kennedy, Stewart Lee, Seamus Malone, Kris Pearn, Alan Short, Sarah Smith, and Adam Tandy.

The music was distinguished into two approaches on how the Santa Claus family sees Christmas, especially through details that determine the two distinctive characters.

[4] The music video for Justin Bieber's rendition of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which plays over the end credits, was exclusively shown in theatres before the film.

The consensus reads, "Aardman Animations broadens their humor a bit for Arthur Christmas, a clever and earnest holiday film with surprising emotional strength.

[23] Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote that "the plot may be a little too cluttered for the toddler crowd to follow, but the next age group up should be amused, and the script by Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith has plenty of sly jokes for grown-ups.

"[24] Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald stated that "the movie fails utterly at coming up with a story that merits all the eye candy.

The film's mid-section flags a bit as Smith and co-writer Baynham can't quite seem to figure out how to completely flesh it out, but they recover nicely and serve up the holiday season's first salvo of cinematic delight", and praised the voice cast, though felt that Bieber's song was "a disappointingly commercial twist on an otherwise tender-hearted and infectious Christmas film for the entire family.

"[27] One reviewer, while light in criticism of the animation, called Justin Bieber’s rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" "blatant" and "inexcusable".

[31][32] An iOS video game titled Arthur Christmas: Elf Run was released in the United Kingdom on 9 November 2011, on iTunes App Store.

[46] Released as a free and a premium version, the game allows players to play as delivery elves, who must quickly and quietly deliver gifts to children.