John Cleese of ‘Monty Python’ fame narrates short film
MINDEMOYA—Unlikely combinations can sometimes lead to some of the best stories, and Islander Dave Schinbeckler is betting on that rule in his animated short-film project, ‘The Last Christmas.’
The premise of this film may appear unlikely, indeed – it’s rooted in an iconic Christmas story, but features a despondent Santa Claus, Manitoulin Island and a legendary actor as narrator. Over the past four years, Mr. Schinbeckler has been gradually weaving those threads together in a way that just seems to fit.
In fact, it was the unique and gritty take on a Christmas classic that helped Mr. Schinbeckler score some major star power for his film. Viewers will quickly recognize the voice of comedic actor John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, as the narrator of this tale.
“It’s huge. It’s the reason we pushed ahead with this project,” Mr. Schinbeckler says.
Now, ‘The Last Christmas’ is nearing completion, and its creator has big plans for the coming year. It’s a riff on the 201-year-old classic poem ‘The Night Before Christmas’ (which is actually titled ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’). Mr. Schinbeckler’s version, however, is intended for an older audience.
“It’s not a children’s piece,” laughs Mr. Schinbeckler. “There’s a bit of profanity, there are some references in there, so it’s for an older audience.”
‘The Last Christmas’ opens on a grandfather sitting in his workshop, trying to find a last-minute gift for his grandson. Even after scouring the classified pages of The Expositor, he’s left without any options on the eve of Christmas. Suddenly, a disenchanted Santa Claus crashes onto the scene, ready to hang up his reins after a long career on rooftops around the world.
The two decide to work together to find solutions to both of their problems, and they end up creating a Christmas to remember.
The entire script of the film is written in rhyming verse in a nod to ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ even matching the triplet feel of the original poem. (Mr. Schinbeckler says that rhyming triplet rhythm is called anapestic tetrameter, if you need a fun fact for your next Christmas cocktail party.)
Mr. Schinbeckler says the idea of creating this project began about a decade ago as a “shower thought.” He put a rough version of his script onto paper over the following month, but it remained on the shelf for a long time.
It was four years ago now that he decided to finally work on this project, which had been stubbornly staying in the back of his mind. ‘The Last Christmas’ is entirely self-funded on a bare-bones budget, with plenty of work offered in-kind by his creative team.
The script is deeply rooted on Manitoulin Island, with plenty of local references—the massive deer population, cedar trees, Mindemoya and, of course, this newspaper, to name a few. The look of Santa Claus himself is even loosely based on Expositor publisher emeritus Rick McCutcheon, whose image in a Santa cap was captured by Mr. Schinbeckler in various poses and sent to his illustration team.
“I’ve been here for 40 years, and the story just seemed to fit what I was trying to say, about the consequences of Santa Claus being put up against modern electronic life,” Mr. Schinbeckler says.
He says it was also important for him to show off a character who can do a bit of everything, from being a mechanic to producing fine art. That’s a quality he says he’s seen a lot among the people of Manitoulin Island.
Mr. Schinbeckler, who has a musical background, taught music in Northern Ontario communities for many years. In fact, much of the soundtrack to the film are original compositions that he wrote or co-wrote and recorded with friends, including Sudbury’s Shawn Pitzel.
“They’re all people that I have known and worked with over the years,” he says.
The whole project owes its existence to those kind gestures of people he’s met through the years. The audio mixer, Mark Hood, is a former high school classmate who has built a rich career around the world as a recording engineer.
His son Logan edited the piece, and brings decades of experience in the animation industry. Illustrator Emma Wilson, based in Netherlands, is the daughter of one of Mr. Schinbeckler’s former roommates. And those are just some of the many skilled people who have helped put this project together.
But the standout feature of this film, according to Mr. Schinbeckler, is John Cleese’s narration track.
“It was a fluke of the universe,” he says. “Before we even started this project, I knew we were going to have to find somebody of some repute and skill to read it.”
He made a long list of people he would like to have working on the project, ranked them from most- to least-likely to say yes, and then started at the least-likely end.
David Attenborough, known for his narration of nature documentaries, took the number-one spot, despite Mr. Schinbeckler knowing he’d never hear back from him.
The second spot, however, seemed to be a much better fit. Mr. Cleese could also deliver a dynamic performance in a familiar British accent, and his career has featured plenty of comedic and entertaining roles. Mr. Schinbeckler says he felt the casting was too perfect to ever work out in real life.
That is, until January 15, 2021, when his phone rang, announcing a call from London, England. It was Mr. Cleese’s personal assistant, informing him that Mr. Cleese had read the script, enjoyed it, and wanted to take part. After some budget negotiations, they had a deal.
“It just goes to show you, you never know unless you ask,” says Mr. Schinbeckler.
Mr. Schinbeckler says he thinks the gritty, warts-and-all characters in the script are what caught Mr. Cleese’s attention.
“He’s 82 now, he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do,” says Mr. Schinbeckler. “It’s precisely because of its irreverence I think that it appealed to John.”
That feeling of irreverence toward a classic Christmas tale seemed to work well at a private test-screening in Little Current last month for Expositor staffers. There were plenty of laughs and Mr. Schinbeckler says the audience seemed engaged throughout the full 25-minute runtime.
After securing the likes of Mr. Cleese, Mr. Schinbeckler’s ambitions have only grown. There won’t be any screenings until next year’s holiday season at the earliest, because he’s holding out for a premiere at the biggest film stage in Canada: The Toronto International Film Festival.
He knows it’s quite a long shot. He’s hoping to get into the Canadian productions category, and by his numbers, last year there were only a couple of projects chosen out of more than 60 submissions.
“I’ve certainly never done anything like this before, but I had a really good team and I figured, well, let’s just see if I can do it,” Mr. Schinbeckler says.
TIFF is considered one of the ‘big five’ film festivals on the planet, so once again, Mr. Schinbeckler is aiming high. He says he’s waiting to see if he can beat the odds again and make the cut, and will then start applying to other festivals.
“If ‘The Last Christmas’ wins something at TIFF, I will hire a marching band and we’ll have a parade,” he says.
The film is nearly complete, save for some missing background music, and Mr. Schinbeckler says he hopes to have everything finished by the time TIFF submissions open in March.
by Warren Schlote
