IGN by Matt Fowler

Sergio Pablos' Klaus is a beautifully animated mix of old and new - offing up a unique and quirky take on Santa's humble beginnings. It's a fun, fresh story about friendship and the power of kindness that coats snowbound cliches with a shiny sheen.

RogerEbert.com by Matt Zoller Seitz

The goofy and charming Klaus probably plays better if you don't know going in that it's a Santa Claus origin story.

Slant Magazine by Steven Scaife

Sergio Pablos’s film is essentially a metaphor for its own unique and refreshing mode of expression.

Chicago Sun-Times by Richard Roeper

Klaus is a weird, meandering tale — but it has a distinctive visual style and a sly sense of humor and features brilliant voice work from the ensemble cast.

The New York Times by Glenn Kenny

It all moves along so amiably, and offers such consistently delightful visuals, that the conventional plot points, up to and including an inevitable “but I can explain” bit, are entirely digestible.

The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore

Sergio Pablos' Klaus invents its own unexpected and very enjoyable origin story for the big guy who gives out toys every Christmas eve. Shaking off most Yuletide cliches in favor of a from-scratch story about how even dubiously-motivated generosity can lead to joy, it contains echoes of other seasonal favorites (especially, in a topsy-turvy way, Dr. Seuss' Grinch) while standing completely on its own.

TheWrap by Alonso Duralde

It’s far more successful with holiday magic than it is with character-based comedy, but that’s not enough of a flaw to keep young audiences (and their parents) from potentially turning this feature into a cherished annual tradition.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri

It’s awkward and weird, and yet all that awkwardness and weirdness give it personality and charm and a freewheeling, nonsensical quality that feels refreshing.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

It’s not remotely as polished as the earlier contenders in the field, but “Klaus” is good enough to have earned a theatrical release, on a par with MGM’s “The Addams Family,” in any event.

Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele

As admirable as it is that “Klaus” in the overall isn’t a sugar-rush cartoon fix of wisecracks and mayhem, it’s also too lazily reliant on insults and insolence as its go-to mode for comedy. But what does work is the snowy, hilly luster of this bygone-era fairy tale environment, and the seasonal soul the filmmakers have tucked inside their invented history about children’s yearly haul.

The Guardian by Mike McCahill

Solid first and third acts can’t disguise a so-so middle section stuffed with conventional story beats.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

None of the characters in Klaus are as delightful as they are well-drawn, and Pablos’ film never earns the holiday spirit it tries to manufacture down the home stretch. But there’s no denying that the future of “traditional” animation looks a little brighter than it did yesterday, and that’s reason enough to celebrate.

Variety by Peter Debruge

What goodwill the movie does inspire owes more to the splendid visual world than to anything the story supplies.