| Niko & The Way to the Stars (The Flight Before Christmas) |
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Theatrical Poster |
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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 | Mark Armstrong Kotzman Cenda |
| Studio | Anima Vitae, A.Film, Pictorion Magma Animation, Magma Films |
| Distributed by | Telepool (Munich) |
| Release date(s) | November 1, 2008 |
| Running time | 80 minutes 45 minutes (U.S. edit) |
| Country | Finland, Denmark, Germany, Ireland |
| Language | English, Finnish |
Niko & The Way to the Stars is a 2008 animated Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen. It is about 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. It was produced by Animaker Oy, A.Film, Ulysses Films, and Magma Films .[1] The production and animation were spread to all four countries. (Germany, Ireland, Denmark, and Finland). A 45-minute (not counting commercials) television edit in American English, was produced in the United States for CBS under the title The Flight Before Christmas.
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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 does not seem to be able to fly. While trying to fly with the encouragement of Julius,"Norm McDonald" a flying squirrel who took on the roll of his dad, and some other young reindeer tease him. To avoid further teasing, Niko and his friend Saga leave the protected valley their herd is in so Niko can practice. Niko gets spotted by two of the wolves and in spite of efforts to hide their trail after Julius stops the wolves from following, the wolves do find the herd. While fleeing the valley, Niko over-hears others talking of how Niko's actions have hurt them so he decides to leave the herd and try to find his father.
When Niko is discovered missing, Julius chooses to look for Niko as he can search without leaving a trail as fresh snow is falling. Julius cannot convince Niko to return to the herd so reluctantly joins Niko in the search for Santa's secret location. A lost pet poodle finds the wolf pack and before being eaten, gives Black Wolf the idea of killing Santa's Flying Forces reindeer. Essie, the poodle is considered Black Wolf's good luck charm for this idea and is spared but also forced to join the pack on this grim plan. Niko and Julius discover Wilma, a weasel, stuck in a small tree branch and save her. She is not pleased because she feels she has to save the lives of Niko and Julius before she can go on with her life. Julius and Niko get lost and separated in a sudden blizzard and Niko wakes under a pile of snow from the conversation of Black Wolf and his pack who do not see him. Niko overhears Black Wolf further deciding to kill Santa too and take his place but bring death to tasty boys and girls instead of bringing presents. When Niko is discovered, he flees, finds Julius, and gets cornered surrounded by rock cliffs. Wilma the weasel shows up in the overhanging snowdrifts above and sings a song while destabilizing the snowdrifts. She concludes her song by starting an avalanche. Hopping on to Niko, she steers the reindeer past many dangers by manipulating his antlers. After saving their lives, she is free to go but corrects Julius on the directions to Santa's home due to previously working there as a singer.
Niko convinces Wilma to guide them while Black Wolf and his pack are hot on their trail. They try to cross a dangerous river by Niko trying to fly across with Wilma's tutering but he still fails to fly once he looks down and fears falling. Thinking they are dead, the wolves head for Santa's home but below Julius and Wilma save Niko from going over a high waterfall. While waiting for Niko to recover Julius tells how his flying squirrel family was taken by wolves so Niko is his son now until he finds his real father. Once they arrive at Santa's place, Niko is almost hit by the Flying Forces while standing on the runway. Niko tells them of Black Wolf's plan but they doubt a wolf will ever make it to Santa's secret valley. The go in to celebrate before heading out on Christmas Eve where Wilma sings them a song that asks them who is Niko's father. Nobody admits to being his father but they decide to do a "flying test" to see if Niko has the genetics to fly to prove if this claim is true or not. Julius is worried after almost losing Niko at the river and his scream distracts Niko so he falls yet again. After this the wolves do get in and the scared Flying Forces reindeer lose their power of flight. Black Wolf is determined to get Niko and ends up chasing him up a tall tree despite the efforts of Wilma and Julius to distract him.
Julius recruits a reindeer with his head in a present box (so can fly) with a jab with an icicle. The other reindeer are cornered on the runway by the other wolves who are bowled over by the blindly flying reindeer. Julius then convinces the reindeer that they can fly allowing them to save Niko using the sleigh. Black Wolf gets on the sleigh too until Julius unlatches a part of the sleigh that Black Wolf is holding on to. In order to save Julius, Niko jumps off the sleigh. Only after saving Julius does Niko realize he is actually flying. Niko, backed up by the Flying Forces, send the wolves fleeing when they realize Black Wolf likely fell to his death. Santa invites Niko to join the crew but after Julius leaves to tell his mother and the herd that Niko is all right, Niko chooses to stay with his mother and with Julius the flying squirrel as his father but will visit his reindeer father Prancer too.
The animation took place in four different countries; first being Finland, the film's home country, then the animation was sent to Ireland to be further animated. The last two parts of the film were sent to Germany and Denmark to be animated. The original runtime for the film is 80 minutes. An US cut of the film was made into a special 45 minute long presentation, on CBS.
The Flight Before Christmas received mixed reviews. It currently holds a 55% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but does not hold any critic reviews. On Common Sense Media, the film revived 3 out of 5 stars, with a critic statement, wolves will scare younger kids in this holiday feature.
The Flight Before Christmas was released theatrically in Finland, and was released as a direct-to-video film in North America.
A sequel is said to be released in November 15, 2012, under the running title of Niko 2: Family Affairs.