The Flight Before Christmas

Niko & The Way to the Stars (The Flight Before Christmas)
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 (2008-11-01)
Running time	75 minutes 45 minutes (U.S. edit)
Country	Finland, Denmark, Germany, Ireland
Language	English

Niko & The Way to the Stars is a 2008 animated Christmas film directed by Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen. It was produced by Animaker Oy (Finland), A.Film (Denmark), Ulysses Films (Germany) and Magma Films (Ireland).^[1] The production and animation were spread to all four countries. 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. The film is about a young reindeer who suffers from vertigo, learns to overcome his fear, takes flying lessons from a clumsy flying squirrel and heads to Santa Claus' fell to save a troubled Santa and his fleet of flying reindeer.

Plot

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, a flying squirrel who took on the roll of his dad, some other young reindeer tease him. To avoid further teasing, Niko and his girlfriend Saga leave the protected valley their herd is in so Niko can practice. Their protection in this valley is that the Black Wolf and his pack do not know where it is. 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. The leader of the herd and Saga's father pins a wolf under a tree but gets injured in the process. 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 (flying squirrel) 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 her 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.

Finnish cast

• Olli Jantunen as Niko
• Hannu-Pekka Björkman as Julius
• Vuokko Hovatta as Wilma
• Vesa Vierikko as Musta Susi
• Jussi Lampi as Räyskä
• Risto Kaskilahti as Rimppa
• Minttu Mustakallio as Essie

English Cast

• Harrison Fahn as Niko
• Sam Gold as Julius/Specs/Black Wolf/Smiley
• Prudence Alcott as Saga/Wilma
• Katie Leigh as Essie

References

1. ^ http://www.nikomovie.com/en.html#/en/partners

Emma Roberts was the weasel

External links

• The Flight Before Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
• Holiday Central on CBS.com