The Flight Before Christmas

2008 "An All-New Holiday Movie About Santa And His Little Helpers"
6.1| 1h20m| en
Details

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

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Reviews

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
Prolabas Deeper than the descriptions
Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.
Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
dmwhipp-1 Seriously one of the worst Christmas movies I have ever seen. One of "Santa's Flying Forces" has a one night stand with a doe which results in Niko. Apparently Niko's mom doesn't bother to ask his name though (probably a common mistake among doe groupies trying to get laid by Santa's Flying Forces).Movie includes: - A pretty scary pack of wolves with plans to eat Santa, Santa's reindeer, and children of the world. - A bar scene (yep, a reindeer bar scene) where none of Santa's reindeer remember Niko's mother ("Sorry kid, this is the world famous flying forces you're dealing with. We're gonna need more details.") - A a pink poodle subplot that might have belonged in another movie.We watched with our 9 and 11 year-old sons and the only fun we had was making fun of how bad the movie was. They hated it, but I suspect for totally different reasons than my husband and myself, lol.I have no problem with a Christmas movie that's a little bit raunchy (love Christmas Vacation and Bad Santa), but targeting a movie towards kids about one night stands that result in kids, Santa's reindeer in bars, and a scary wolf pack out to eat Santa is just sort of creepy.
Ramikug5 This is excellent movie. This film tells us about dream. Especially, how great it is to have a dream that you want so badly. And, I think it's great to have a super father that can make you dream higher to be in the future. This film also speaks not to give up your dream even though there are many obstacles. And it also speaks that you don't live by yourself in this world. I do catch the Christmas spirit (though I never celebrate it anyway). It's that Christmas will be so much wonderful day ever when we spend it with people who love us and we love them back as well. In the end, this movie "Niko & The Way to The Stars" is really great after all. Worthwatching!
MrSitcom First off, the animation is beautiful. Very very well done. Possibly one of the best CG animation jobs on a Christmas Special ever! But I have to agree with some of the other American reviews on this board. Santa's reindeer are a bunch of womanizing pigs. One of them stops by and impregnates the star's (Niko's) mother. She never sees him again. Niko doesn't know which of the reindeer is his father, and when he finally meets up with the team, he asks if any of them met a lady on one of their flights...and they all proudly say yes and pretty much tell us that they all impregnate as many deer as possible.So, Santa's reindeer like to have sex and not a relationship with a female.Is that appropriate for a Christmas special? Not in the USA. It might be in other TV shows and movies...but come on...a Christmas special...and reindeer that are on Santa's team? Santa represents family and kids, and magic...all that's good...is this special from the creators of "Bad Santa"? At least that was a comedy.For you Finns that are saying that Americans like to sugar coat stuff and aren't being realistic to the world...um...not all of us are from the trailer-park and make guest appearances on The Jerry Springer Show. I am a father and actually don't have one night stands and actually married the woman I fell in love with and had kids "after" we were married (novel concept eh?). Plus I actually want to have a relationship with my kids. Maybe men aren't that way in Finland, but there are a good portion of us that are good family men in the USA.Even though the womanizing reindeer part of the story went over the head of my 4 year old, it's really not a message I want her to see at that age...let alone in a Christmas special.I'd rather her grow up thinking men are good, and not all dead-beat-dad wanna-bees.What's next? Showing a new take on the Little Drummer Boy and how he was sexually abused by a religious authority figure? That happens too, but not something I want to celebrate at Christmas time with my kids by having it forced into a story where it didn't need to be. I know...what about showing what really happened to the three "wise men" on their journey to Bethlehem? Maybe they stopped by a brothel? Perfect for the kids! Men do that all the time, so it's okay to show in a children's holiday special! It's a shame this good animation and the voice talent was wasted on this story. A story that could just as easily been changed so that the father was just a "glory hound" or a "workaholic" or even like it's "his duty" (like a soldier that's off at war and can't visit his kids...which is happening now to kids all over). Something to think about.
CattyA Although I'm a Finn I can see where the negative comments of the American parents come from. You have grown up with the Disney policy of showing children only sugarcoated films trying to protect them from the real world. I am a great fan of enchantment, princesses and cute animals but to make changed versions of world classics such as The Little Mermaid in which the ending was ruined by changing it into a happy one is a sacrilege. The Andersen story is forever spoiled for those who have first seen the film.I don't actually believe that children pay much attention to the one night stand or the macho behaviour of the reindeer. That's there for the grown-ups. The children are drawn to the story and if you don't point the other matter to them, it goes by like a snowflake.On the other hand many children living with a single parent may relate to Niko's situation and find comfort in seeing that he is not an outcast. It would be wonderful if all families had two parents and everyone lived happily ever after but sadly it isn't so. The word bastard should be deleted from the world. Your own goals and resources are what matters, not your family background.As mentioned in another post the animation of snow is fantastic in this movie. Also the animals are drawn well. The reindeer really look like this and the wolves' running rhythm is spot on. There are many local details like the landing light on the runway. They are called lumberman's candles in Lapland.