An Innocent Christmas Typo Causes Sir Patrick Stewart to Star as Satan In This Animated Holiday Short

In cer­tain sec­tors, over-the-top ad agency greet­ings are as much a part of the hol­i­day sea­son as A Christ­mas Car­ol and How the Grinch Stole Christ­mas!.

Anom­aly Lon­don put in their thumb and pulled out a plum when Sir Patrick Stew­art agreed to voice their lat­est effort, above.

And what bet­ter way to top his cel­e­brat­ed turn as Ebe­neez­er Scrooge than by tack­ling the most Christmas‑y role of them all?

San­ta, is that you?

No, dear child, ’tis Satan, sum­moned by an inno­cent mis-spelling on the part of a young girl eager for a Christ­mas pup­py.

When the post office deliv­ers her sim­i­lar­ly mis­ad­dressed enve­lope to hell by Decem­ber 25, the buff and tat­tooed Lord of Dark­ness’ heart grows three sizes. Every­one likes to be told they’re spe­cial.

Next thing you know, he’s trad­ed the fiery fur­nace for a gluten-free bak­ery in Shored­itch, where he’s a hap­py team play­er, mak­ing lat­te art and wear­ing a goofy cap.

The end­ing is a sweet mix of “I hate you, you ruined Christ­mas, go to hell!” and “God bless us every­one.” San­ta doesn’t sur­vive, but the child­like capac­i­ty for won­der does.

Those with sen­si­tive stom­achs may want to go easy on the eggnog while watch­ing this soon-to-be-hol­i­day clas­sic. The pro­jec­tile vom­it­ing rivals the Exor­cist’s.

And hap­py hol­i­days from all of us at Open Cul­ture!

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Hear The Cin­na­mon Bear, the Clas­sic Hol­i­day Radio Series That Has Aired Between Thanks­giv­ing and Christ­mas for 80 Years

Hear Paul McCartney’s Exper­i­men­tal Christ­mas Mix­tape: A Rare & For­got­ten Record­ing from 1965

Sir Patrick Stew­art & Sir Ian McK­ellen Play The New­ly­wed Game

Ayun Hal­l­i­day is an author, illus­tra­tor, the­ater mak­er and Chief Pri­ma­tol­o­gist of the East Vil­lage Inky zine.  Fol­low her @AyunHalliday.