The Flight Before Christmas (2008 film)
| The Flight Before Christmas | |
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| Directed by |
Michael Hegner Kari Juusonen |
| Produced by | Hannu Tuomainen Petteri Pasanen |
| Written by | Mark Hodkinson Marteinn Thorisson Hannu Tuomainen |
| Starring | Olli Jantunen Hannu-Pekka Björkman Vuokko Hovatta Vesa Vierikko Jussi Lampi Risto Kaskilahti |
| Music by | Stephen Mckeon |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Telepool (Munich) The Weinstein Company (US) |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes 45 minutes (TV Version) |
| Country | Finland Denmark Germany Ireland |
| Language | Finnish |
| Budget | €6,100,000 |
| Box office | $21,822,495 |
The Flight Before Christmas (Finnish: Niko – Lentäjän poika, aka Niko & The Way to the Stars) is a 2008 computer animated Christmas film directed by Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen. It revolves around a young reindeer who must overcome his fear of flying by heading to Santa Claus' fell to save him and his fleet of flying reindeer from a pack of wolves. The film was a Finnish production with co-producers in Denmark, Germany and Ireland. It was produced by Anima Vitae, Animaker Oy, A. Film A/S, Ulysses Films, and Magma Films. The animation was produced in Finland, Germany and Denmark, with post-production carried out in Ireland. A 45-minute television edit in American English, was produced in the United States for CBS under the title The Flight Before Christmas. A sequel, Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure was released in October 2012 in Finland.
Niko, a young reindeer, was told by Oona, his mother, that his father is one of the "Flying Forces", Santa's flying sled reindeer. Niko dreams of joining his dad as a flying reindeer but he is unable to fly. While trying to fly with the encouragement of Julius, a flying squirrel who takes on the role of a mentor and father figure, the other young reindeer teased Niko. To avoid further teasing, Niko and his friend Saga leave their protected valley so Niko can practice without any disruptions. Niko gets spotted by two of the wolves, and escapes to his herd in panic, not thinking about the repercussions. While the herd is fleeing the valley, Saga's father battles and defeats one of the wolves named Smiley, but is wounded in the process. Later, Niko overhears others talking of how his actions have damaged the herd. He decides to leave the herd in an attempt to find his father and Santa's Fell.
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