The Flight Before Christmas (2008)

A young reindeer who suffers from vertigo learns to overcome his fear, takes flying lessons from a clumsy flying squirrel and heads to the North pole to save a troubled Santa and his fleet of flying reindeer.

Directors:

Michael Hegner, Kari Juusonen

Writers:

Hannu Tuomainen, Marteinn Thorisson

Stars:

Olli Jantunen, Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Vuokko Hovatta

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Olli Jantunen	...	Niko (voice)
Hannu-Pekka Björkman	...	Julius (voice)
Vuokko Hovatta	...	Wilma (voice)
Vesa Vierikko	...	Musta Susi (voice)
Jussi Lampi	...	Räyskä (voice)
Risto Kaskilahti	...	Rimppa / Uljas (voice)
Minttu Mustakallio	...	Essie (voice)
Juha Veijonen	...	Raavas (voice)
Puntti Valtonen	...	Hirvas (voice)
Elina Knihtilä	...	Oona (voice)
Juulia Rönkkö	...	Saaga (voice)
Tommi Korpela	...	Porolauman johtaja (voice)
Aarre Karén	...	Isoisä (voice)
Arttu Hämäläinen	...	Poropoika 1 (voice)
Ilmari Huhtala	...	Poropoika 2 (voice)

Storyline

A reindeer boy named Niko dreams about flying like his father, whom he has never met. Despite constant mocking from others, he sneaks out of his home valley to take flying lessons from Julius, a flying squirrel.

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Plot Keywords:

winter | flying | search for father | computer animation | wolf pack | 

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Taglines:

An all-new holiday movie about Santa and his little helpers!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Bac Films [France] MG Film [Croatia]

Country:

Finland Denmark Germany Ireland

Language:

English Finnish

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (Finland)

Also Known As:

The Flight Before Christmas

Filming Locations:

Finland

Box Office

Budget:

€6,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinemaker Oy, Anima Vitae, A. Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was animated to fit the English language, using a temporary voice track recorded by Irish actors. It was then dubbed to other languages.

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Goofs

In the film Wilma is said to be a lumikko (=least weasel), but she actually is a kärppä (=stoat). You can tell the difference because kärppä has a black tail end and lumikko has all white tail.

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Quotes

Niko: You didn't want me to come here.
Julius: Of course i did.
Niko: You didn't want me to find dad.
Julius: Niko...
Niko: You didn't want me to fly.
Julius: Lower your voice!
Wilma: [worried] Guys...
Niko: [gets upset] You ruined everything!
Julius: I forbid you to...
Niko: [interrupting] You can't forbid me anything! You're not my dad!

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits: 21.858 liters of beer were consumed during the making of this movie!

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Alternate Versions

Alternate version spoken in Danish.

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Connections

Featured in Troldspejlet: Episode #40.15 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Tie tähtiin
Written by Stephen McKeon
Finnish lyrics by Annamari Metsävainio
Performed by Filmharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague & Totti Hakkarainen

User Reviews

American family entertainment

Niko and the Way to the Stars is an animated story of a young reindeer boy Niko, taking place somewhere in Lapland. Niko's father is gone, and his mother tells him dad is a member of Santa's Flying Reindeer Squad. Niko is supervised and taken care of by a flying squirrel named Julius who believes Niko will be able to fly someday, just like his father. The reindeer aren't allowed to go outside the valley because of the wolves who stalk there. After his disobedient visit outside the valley and a consequent incident with the wolves which forces the reindeer to move on, Niko decides to run away and look for his father further north where Santa resides. Adventure ensues.

From a Finn's standpoint this film felt a bit odd. It's written, produced and animated in Finland - yet the Finnish version of the film feels like an American animation film that has been translated and dubbed into Finnish. I wondered about this, but a friend explained to me the film is actually primarily intended for the international, mainly American market, and was written and lip-synced accordingly. Considering the country of origin, I was expecting a bit better Finnish translation though. The characters' lines were full of clumsy Anglicisms. Because of this, I have a feeling that native English viewers will enjoy this film more than Finnish viewers.

At a standard issue family entertainment level this film performs competently. There's family friendly humor and family values, there are no odd quirks, cussing or violence. It's exciting at times, but not too scary for young children. Perhaps with all this it is a bit bland, but still likable.

If you're looking for something to watch with your kids around Xmas, I can recommend this. However, if you're looking for something odd, quirky, eye-opening or original, look somewhere else.