Santa’s in
the Chimney.

Film & TV / 2D animation

A little Christmas chaos, brought to life in 2D.

The project

A little Christmas trouble.

Santa’s in the Chimney takes a familiar Christmas scene and gives it a slightly unexpected turn. Santa is stuck, Jimmy is wide awake, and the reindeer have a rescue to organise. Written and composed by Aram Gregory, the song called for a film full of character, visual comedy and Christmas cheer.

We handled the character design, environment design, storyboards and 2D animation in Toon Boom. From Jimmy’s first discovery to Santa’s eventual escape, we built the action around the song, keeping the story easy to follow and giving the characters room for a few comic surprises.

Format: Animated Christmas music video
Treatment: Character design / Environment design / Concept & storyboards / 2D animation

Meet the Christmas crew.

The film needed a cast that felt at home in a Christmas story, with enough personality to make the mishaps fun. We developed Jimmy, Santa and the reindeer through colour designs, poses and expressions, exploring how each character could react to the situation.

Colour character lineup of Jimmy, Rudolph and Santa.

Jimmy character design with colour artwork and expression sketches.

Jimmy in green pyjamas shown from multiple angles.

Santa character design with colour artwork and expression sketches.

Santa in his red suit shown from front, side and back views.

Rudolph character design with colour artwork and expressive pose sketches.

Coloured reindeer turnaround showing the character from multiple angles.

Character turnarounds.

The turnarounds explore how the characters look from different angles. These early drawings helped establish their proportions before moving into the animation.

Rough Jimmy turnaround with red alignment guides.

Rough reindeer turnaround with red alignment guides.

Environment designs.

The story takes us from a cosy living room to a snowy rooftop. Warm colours, a decorated tree and a fireplace make the house feel ready for Christmas, while the blue night skies and snow give the outdoor scenes a different mood. The chimney connects the two — and causes most of the trouble.

Christmas living room with a snowy window, sofa and yellow armchair.

Decorated Christmas tree and wreath above a warm living-room fireplace.

Christmas fireplace, red armchair and lamp in the blue living room.

Moonlit blue sky above snowy hills and fir trees.

Red brick chimney on a snowy roof beneath a starry blue sky.

Bringing the song to life.

The action follows a simple journey: Jimmy discovers Santa, calls for help and joins the reindeer for the rescue. We used the storyboards to plan those beats, then brought them to life in Toon Boom with expressive reactions and playful physical comedy. The aim was to keep the story moving with the song and make each mishap fun to watch.

A snowy house decorated with Christmas lights beneath the moon.

Santa’s legs dangling into a fireplace beside a decorated Christmas tree.

Santa wedged inside the chimney with a worried expression.

Jimmy in green pyjamas discovering Santa at the fireplace.

Jimmy calling for help from an open window on Christmas Eve.

Jimmy climbing a ladder beside a reindeer on the roof.

Jimmy and the reindeer setting up a winch beside the chimney.

Santa hanging sideways from a rope inside the chimney.

Jimmy and two reindeer pulling the rescue rope across the snowy roof.

Santa flying out of the chimney on the rescue rope.

Jimmy waving with his presents as the reindeer wheel a bandaged Santa away.

Watch Santa’s in the Chimney.

The finished film brings Aram Gregory’s song together with our character designs, Christmas environments and 2D animation. A festive rescue story with a few surprises along the way.