Rom-com veteran Richard Curtis makes first foray into animation

LONDON, United Kingdom — Two decades after scoring a surprise holiday season global hit with "Love Actually," British filmmaker Richard Curtis is bidding to repeat the trick with his first foray into animation.

The 68-year-old writer and director has co-adapted his own trilogy of children's books, and commandeered longtime friend Ed Sheeran into contributing an original song, to bring "That Christmas" to the big and small screens.

Featuring the voices of Brian Cox ("Succession"), Bill Nighy ("Love Actually") and a host of other acting talent, it hits select UK cinemas this week before its worldwide release on Netflix from December 4.

Curtis, behind box office successes like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill," before 2003's "Love Actually," said his first venture into animated movies was full of surprises, particularly the time-consuming nature of the genre.

"I've been shocked by the amount of time (it takes)," he said as the film premiered at the London Film Festival last month. There were some silver linings, however.

"My theory is that it means that people working in animation are nicer than people working in normal movies, because they know they've got to get on for five years."

"You really do get married. It's not a one night stand — it's not a sexy holiday in Ibiza! It's a long journey together. So I really enjoy it."

'Edgy'

"That Christmas" — a series of entwined tales about a town of friends and relatives during a troubled festive period — is a family-friendly offering which still has a grown-up contemporary edge to it.

It features plenty of jokes and references to everything from Jesus being a hipster to abortion and climate change.

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"If love were easy, your father wouldn't have run off with his 25-year-old dental nurse," one of the main animated characters, Mrs. Williams, tells her schoolboy son, Danny.

Curtis said he and co-screenwriter Peter Souter were confident the format meant they could be "modern and sometimes edgy and satirical without crossing any big red lines."

"I've always thought that you shouldn't, as it were, dumb down if you're dealing with