Krampus, the "Christmas Devil" of Austrian and Bavarian folklore, has entered the popular culture of North America; Christian Jacobs notes that "thanks to the Internet and YouTube, [Krampus] is now very much on America's Christmas radar." Tanya Basu interprets this as part of a "growing movement of anti-Christmas ...

Taken this way, the ending of the movie is a happy one. The snow globe may also be interpreted as a prison for Max and his family for losing their Christmas spirit. However, it is most likely a happy ending since Omi had a similar experience and didn't end up in a snow globe.