It features the voices of Jude Coward Nicoll, Tom Hollander, Idris Elba, and Gabriel Byrne as the four titular characters who form an unlikely friendship as they travel together in search of the Boy's home.

Since the illustrated book had a loose and unfinished quality of styling, Baynton and his animation team wanted to match this by using pencil ink for the characters, which had an intricate detailing, and watercolour-inspired texture in the background.

[6] Speller found it fascinating how Mackesy, "even though, he obviously created those characters and knows them better than anyone, he learned an awful lot more about them through the process of making the film".

[7] The film was directed by Peter Baynton and co-written by Jon Croker, with Jude Coward Nicoll, Tom Hollander, Idris Elba and Gabriel Byrne voicing the four titular characters.

We wanted people when they heard the boy's voice to have the instinct to try and take care of him or try and protect him [...] He announces to us right at the start of the film that he's lost and he's looking for a home.

And whenever I see it, I can pause the film at any point, and I will remember instances of deep conversation – and occasional argument and disagreement, but always in kindness.

"[5] He added that the challenge was translating the exquisite illustrations into hand-drawn animation, and "to find a way of drawing the characters that enabled us to nuance performances that could communicate the subtle emotions that we wanted to express".

The animation team, led by supervisors Tim Watts, Gabriele Zucchelli, Setareh Erfan and art director Mike McCain, worked tightly on detailed models and during the art and storyboard process, he encouraged the artists to find the looser way of inking, that was about "finding that very fine line that sort of drifts around the characters".

[5][6] On the design of the characters, Baynton said "one of the first things I remember, where you have these very realistic and well-proportioned horse and fox and child, and then this strange, little, graphic mole with tubular circles on this black triangle nose.

So it was just listening to Charlie, honestly, the way he speaks, the way he looks at the world, and then paying close attention to exactly why he made the book and why he felt it was an important thing to make the film.

[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 75 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[18] Emily Bernard of Collider gave four-and-a-half stars out of five, and said, "Fans of Mackesy's book will be utterly delighted to see that the hand-drawn illustrations translate beautifully to the screen without losing any of its neat-yet-messy aesthetic.

Because the lines are literally pulled from the pages of the detailed original work, the movie feels less like a short film with a progressing story and more like a moving book.

"[19] Megan Graye of The Independent wrote, "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is a wake-up call for adults, and a world of wisdom for kids.

The animation (which owes a debt to Winnie-the-Pooh and The Little Prince) is gorgeous, bringing Mackesy's ink and watercolour drawings to life.

"[21] In a negative review, James Walton of The Spectator said, "Mackesy's film is clearly hoping to join The Snowman as a tear-jerking Christmas classic.

The trouble is that this hope is so nakedly, even desperately apparent on screen – with the programme practically begging us to find it both charming and touching.