Santa Claus is comin’ to town. The animated film Klaus has just been picked up for worldwide distribution by Netflix and is set for release in late 2019.

Klaus, which tells the story of “a desperate postman who inadvertently brings about the genesis of Santa Claus,” has been in development for years now and is notable for combining traditional and contemporary animation techniques—the result, as you can see in the teaser below, is stunning.

The film marks the directorial debut of Despicable Me co-creator Sergio Pablos, whose animation studio, the SPA Studios, is co-producing the film with Atresmedia Cine. It boasts an impressive cast with the likes of Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, J.K. Simmons, and Joan Cusack—none of these actors are strangers to animation, and their involvement only adds to the promise of the film for me.

I’m happy to hear that the film is still being made and has been picked up for distribution, but the traditionalist in me wishes that it were being released theatrically instead of on Netflix. I absolutely love Christmas, and I feel like there are simply not enough quality holiday films being made now (or ever). Netflix is, of course, a very popular platform right now, but there’s so much content being produced for streaming services that I worry that something like Klaus could end up just getting lost in the shuffle of more mediocre animated films.

We’re still roughly two years out, so it’s possible that plans will change and Klaus will be released theatrically after all, but as of now, expect to see it emerge on Netflix in time for Christmas in 2019.

Are you excited to see Klaus? Do you wish you could see it on the big screen, or are you happy watching it at home? Let us know-ho-ho in the comments!

Edited by: Kelly Conley