James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, and Imelda Staunton Set for Arthur Christmas Film

James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, and Imelda Staunton are lending their voices to Aardman Animations’ new 3D, CG-animated family comedy, Arthur Christmas, to be released November 23, 2011 from Sony Pictures Animation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The film focuses on Santa’s ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole.

McAvoy will play Arthur, the good-natured but clumsy younger son of Santa and the only one in his family still captivated by the magic of the holiday; Laurie will play older brother Steve, Broadbent will play Santa, Staunton will play his wife, and Nighy will plays Santa’s 136-year-old father, Grandsanta, a cranky old codger who hates the modern world.