| Valhalla | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Madsen Jeffrey J. Varab |
| Produced by | Anders Mastrup |
| Written by | Peter Madsen Henning Kure Niels Søndergaard |
| Starring | Dick Kaysø Preben Kristensen |
| Music by | Ron Goodwin |
| Cinematography | Niels Grønlykke Jan-Erik Sandberg |
| Editing by | Lidia Sablone |
| Distributed by | Metronome |
| Release date(s) | October 10, 1986 (Denmark) January 2, 1987 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
| Country | Denmark |
| Language | Danish |
| Budget | DKK40 million (estimated) |
Valhalla is a Danish animated feature film released in 1986 by Metronome. Based on volumes one, four and five of the Carlsen comic book series, it was directed by Disney animator Jeffrey J. Varab and cartoonist Peter Madsen. The film was the most expensive film of 1986 and proved popular with audiences, however the company failed to regain the cost of production and, as a result, the film became a financial flop at the box office.
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The movie's plot is also told in the two comic albums "The Story of Quark" and "The Journey to Utgard-Loki". Thor, the god of thunder, and Loki, take two Viking children, Tjalvi and Röskva with them across the rainbow bridge to Asgard, the land of the Norse gods where they are put to work as servants. Tjalvi and Röskva meet Quark, and together they revolt against the tyrannical gods. They escape and run away to a forest, where they build a wooden cottage, of their own. Thor captures the children and takes them to the land of the giants. Tjalvi and Röskva then conduct combat in a mythical battle against the gods and the giants.[1]
The project was originally developed by character animator's Jeffrey J. Varab and Jakob Stegelmann.[2]
They had previously established an animation-school in Copenhagen and trained most of the animators who would eventually work on the film. They managed to raise a small budget for the feature film adaptation before the project was eventually passed to production companies. [2]
During production, the project ran into severe financial difficulties and was passed on between studios before being made by Swan Film,[2]
In the final stages of production, the film's director Jeffrey J. Varab walked out of the project, due to disagreements with the new production management. On the final release version, Peter Madsen, who had drawn the comic books and been the film's art director, is credited as director, and Jeffrey J. Varab is credited as co-director.[2]
At the time of its release, in October 1986[2] it was Denmark's most expensive film ever made, having cost around 40 million kroner. No Danish film has ever gone as much over budget since.
The soundtrack was composed by Ron Goodwin[2] and was performed by the Copenhagen Collegium Musicum orchestra. The soundtrack was released in 1987 and re-released in 1998.[3] The 45 minute soundtrack would be Goodwin's last film composition.[4]
Track Listing
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The Danish release version of the film features the voices of Dick Kaysø, Preben Kristensen, Laura Bro and Marie Ingerslev. The film was translated into other languages including English and German. During the production and animation stages, it was initially animated using an English language soundtrack featuring the voices of a primarily non-Danish cast.
Danish Version
English Version
German Version
The movie was released in October 1986.[2] More than 100 artists had worked hard on the film for 4 years and the total cost of the film was DKR 35 million. (5 million euro). The movie was an instant hit and for several years and reached number 3 on the Danish box office list. In spite of selling more tickets than any other Danish film in 1986, its heavy cost inevitably made it a box-office flop. Swan Film made eight spin-off short films for television featuring Quark, the troll character in both the books and the film, before eventually closing down.
The financial collapse of the Valhalla-production also brought down its sister company, LASER, which had been developing an animated feature film adaptation of Gilgamesh and a laserdisc video game, Pyramid, about a female hero battling various enemies inside an ancient temple structure. This action-adventure game would have pre-dated Tomb Raider by ten years.
However, four animators and one producer prior to completing Valhalla regrouped and formed a new company, A. Film A/S, which to date is Denmark's most successful animation studio, producing frequent artistic triumphs and box-office hits.