YMMV / The Star

• Audience-Alienating Premise: The birth of baby Jesus is a touchy subject in and of itself, but it probably wouldn't be so bad if the film wasn't a comedy where the animals are the main characters. Its box office conversely had a smaller initial opening debut and box-office intake than Sony Pictures Animation's other movies^* though as far as their major in-house productions go (not counting the Goosebumps (2015) movies and their collaborations with Aardman), Surf's Up is currently their lowest grossing movie.
• Awesome Art: For a low-budget film, the backgrounds are very well-detailed and provide quite a lot of Scenery Porn.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • Fans of both The Walking Dead and Voltron: Legendary Defender have claimed that Steven Yeun's main role in the film has them invested in spite of the criticism surrounding this movie.
  • There are also a few who are only interested in the film because Mariah Carey provides the theme song.
• Memetic Mutation: Due to the first trailer's negative reception and the fact that it advertises the film as being from the creators of Miracles from Heaven and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (the latter has been overall well-received), some have mockingly suggested that "From the creators of The Emoji Movie" should have been used instead, due to the period of rampant studio mismanagement SPA suffered from at the time of this film's production.
• Older Than They Think: The main premise of the film, which is the Nativity Story told from the perspective of animals, was previously made by Rankin/Bass Productions' Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey in 1977.
  • Not to mention an even older Christmas Special from 1970: The Night the Animals Talked, directed by Shamus Culhane.
• So Okay, It's Average: Critical reception has largely been in this territory, with more than a few stating that, while not the type of film one would write home about, it's still viewed as an enjoyable movie. At the very least, it's mostly considered better than the Sony Pictures Animated film that immediately preceded it.
• Tainted by the Preview: The teaser trailer was not exactly all too well-received by a lot of people, with criticisms directed towards the low-quality animation (courtesy of an $18 million budget), the apparent comedic tone, and, as noted several times, the fact that it focuses on the animals rather than the humans.

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