August heat It's hot and humid outside, the rain is pouring down, and Ed Sheeran is thinking about Christmas. The artist announced Wednesday that he will be performing a new song, “Underneath the Tree,” for Netflix's upcoming animated film, That Christmasa film based on the children's book series written by Richard Curtis (screenwriter for true love, About timeThe film is directed by Simon Otto.How to train your dragon), will premiere on the streaming platform on December 6. Curtis is the film's co-writer alongside Peter Sutter.
“I've been friends with Richard Curtis for years, and we did a lot of fun charity work, and then we got very involved in the movie. yesterday“He came to me two years ago to play the lead role with me,” Sheeran said in a statement. That Christmas“It was just graphics and sounds, but it blew me away. It was very emotional, but at the same time very funny, like all Richard Curtis films. Since having my own children, I’ve found that there’s a real lack of great animated Christmas films for kids, so I thought it was an amazing thing to make and put out into the world.”
Curtis sees Sheeran’s contribution as very significant. “I’m so happy to have Ed’s beautiful song in our film,” he said (using all capital letters). “It’s a film set in Suffolk… Ed lives in Suffolk and loves it and understood the tone of what we were trying to do… Even if he’s not a friend and doesn’t like Suffolk, it’s great to have a great new song from one of the greatest British songwriters of all time.”
The songwriting will be very important to the film, with “Under the Tree” featuring at a particularly devastating moment in the animated film. “The scene we wrote this song for is so heartbreaking but so real for so many people at Christmas who are, for so many reasons, spending their Christmas without their loved ones,” Sheeran said. “I got to work with my older brother on this project, and it’s a rare and special gift to work so closely with my only sibling, and it felt so good to create something that my children would watch, with their uncle, who is based in the country where they live.”
The film's voice cast includes Brian Cox as Santa, Fiona Shaw, Jodie Whittaker, Bill Nighy, and more. They all live in an English seaside town where everything changes one Christmas. The film's synopsis tells of a mistake made by Santa, and the inexplicable appearance of several turkeys.
