The Flight Before Christmas

Niko: Lentäjän poika (2008)

Timing: 1:20 (80 min)

5.8/10
137

6.715/10
9275

6.1/10
4300

• "Niko: Path to the Stars" became the most expensive animated film in the history of Finnish cinema. Furthermore, it became the best-selling Finnish film. The rights to it were sold in more than a hundred countries worldwide.
• Initially, the producer and screenwriter of the animated film, Hannu Tuomainen, planned to base the plot on Finnish folklore. During the work process, this was abandoned, and instead, the central theme became the protagonist's coming-of-age.
• The animation in the film was originally designed with an English-language soundtrack in mind. Temporary voice acting was done by Irish actors during production, after which the film was dubbed into many languages around the world.
• There were at least five different versions of the cartoon's script.
• In early script versions, the main character was named Rusty and Pietu.
• The voice acting for the squirrel Julius was the first such work for the famous Finnish actor Hannu-Pekka Björkman.
• A shortened version of the cartoon, approximately 45 minutes long, was made for broadcast on American television.