Valhalla (1986)

Through Loki's treachery, two children in the Viking age find themselves spirited away into the world of Norse Mythology.

Directors:

Peter Madsen, Jeffrey James Varab (co-director)

Writers:

Søren Håkansson (comic book), Henning Kure (comic book)

Stars:

Dick Kaysø, Preben Kristensen, Laura Bro

Cast

Credited cast:
Dick Kaysø	...	Thor (voice)
Preben Kristensen	...	Loke (voice)
Laura Bro	...	Røskva (voice)
Marie Ingerslev	...	Tjalfe (voice)
Nis Bank-Mikkelsen	...	Odin / Udgårdsloke (voice)
Benny Hansen	...	Hymer (voice)
Olaf Nielsen	...	Rolf (voice)
Thomas Eje	...	Quark (voice)
Claus Ryskjær	...	Ravnen Hugin (voice)
Kirsten Rolffes	...	Ravnen Munin / Røskvas og Tjalfes mor (voice)
Jesper Klein	...	Mimer / Røskvas og Tjalfes far (voice)
Susse Wold	...	Sif / Elle (voice)
Percy Edwards	...	Other voices (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Radost Bokel	...	Roskva (voice)
Hans Clarin	...	Loki (voice)

Storyline

In a story based freely on Norse mythology, brother and sister Tjalfe and Røskva are paid a surprise visit by gods Thor and Loke. After the children disobey his orders, Thor takes them along with him to Asgaard, the land of gods. After quarreling with Loke, the children follow their own path, accompanied by strange creature Quark, and their adventure takes them to Odin, king of gods, to a playful forest and to the land of the giants.

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Plot Keywords:

mythology | norse mythology | troll | deity | ragnarok | 

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Taglines:

Mød spilopmageren Quark i det klassiske eventyr om de nordiske guder.

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Valhöll

Box Office

Budget:

DKK 40,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Swan Film Production A/S,Asgaard Film ApS,Metronome Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Odin did not appear in the particular graphic novels and myths the movie is based on, but the filmmakers decided that Odin was too much of an important God to be left out of a movie about Norse Mythology.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ravnen Hugin: Listen! The wind tells a saga... One that was there long ago when Yggdrasil, the tree of life, stood at the center of the world.

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Connections

Spin-off Quark and the Mosquitos (1987)

User Reviews

Great movie with a few weaknesses

I will not hide it: This is the movie that defines my childhood and might be one of the things that had a major impression on me. Yet still, it does have its weaknesses: The good things first: There are, compared to other mythologies, only few movies that handle the material in a fair and nice way and not reduce the norse folks and their gods down to brutal dumb-heads with horned helmets. Valhalla, the movie and the comics even more so, certainly know what they are talking about. The movie's story is based on the mythological tale of Thor's journey to Utgard with some minor myths and some additional comic-relief mixed into it. The result is a movie that does provide some good morals without hammering them into the viewer's head like so many films unfortunately do nowadays. But now for the downsides: The movie has its dragging parts. Thor playing with his children, the building of the hut etc are nice, but feel a bit long. The responding volumes of the comic (volume 4 and 5 to be precise) came out after the movie and might, in comparison, feel a bit better done. Especially since the comics explain a lot more where the movie left things out or just had them as a throw-away scene. Another weakness might be that the movie feels a bit like it expects the viewer to know the mythology by heart at times.

Therefore, to conclude this: The movie is certainly watching, whether or not you know the myths. But try to get your hands on the comics, they are worth a look even more, if I may say so.