Customer Reviews

The Flight Before Christmas

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

When this popped up on CBS TV the other night, I started watching it, and the first thing I thought was "This is not an American-made film." For one thing, it's fairly densely plotted and has a much more complex and dark storyline than a U.S. cartoon would have. Sure enough, although CBS zipped through the ending credits almost too quickly to read them, I saw that it was made in Finland. That explains it! The night I watched, it followed on the heels of the awful 1996 "The Return of Frosty" cartoon, which made the Finnish production seem that much more intelligent.

As a grown-up viewer, I thoroughly enjoyed the story -- a young reindeer searching for his father, whom he believes to be one of Santa's heroic flying squadron. The youngster is helped along his way by a fatherly, protective flying squirrel and a female ermine/weasel (?) who warbles pop tunes like an American Idol contestant. There's also a pink French poodle who appears suddenly and disappears mysteriously once her plotline is over (what becomes of her??). Yes, there are implications of reindeer one-night stands (how very Scandinavian of them!), and Niko's real dad turns out to have, shall we say, commitment issues (many kids will relate, I'm afraid). And there are some scary wolf villains -- but really, no scarier than the hyenas in "The Lion King," which this production seems to channel (one could say "copy" if one were ungenerous) more often than not. The digital character animation looks a bit clunky, with giant grinning amorphous faces that too often really look computerized -- but the backgrounds and landscapes are quite lovely. There are shots of the Scandinavian forest with the aurora borealis overhead that are very memorable. The musical score recalls Howard Shore's "Lord of the Rings" and almost seems a bit too grand for the room. But this is an hour-long cartoon that is really trying to be quite epic in its story and scope, and I think it's the first Finnish production (that I can recall, anyway) to make it to the U.S. TV market in such a big way (major network broadcast).

As for the scare factor of the big bad wolves -- really, can ANYTHING be scarier than the classic 1939 "Wizard of Oz"?? "Oz" gave me tornado and flying-monkey nightmares for years as a kid, but I loved it and watched it whenever it was on. I think a few good TV scares never hurt any child! Classic Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales are chock-full of scary and often quite violent situations; even the best Disney films (like "Lion King") are full of scares and sadness. I give the Finns points for offering a little darkness and scare factor, and not serving up sugary holiday syrup like "Frosty Returns" (or even the original 1960s "Frosty the Snowman," which also preceded "Flight Before Christmas" the other night -- yup, it may be a beloved classic, but wow, it's so sweet it makes your teeth hurt!).

So, yes, I recommend "The Flight Before Christmas" -- a Finnish production that is a quite worthy and surprisingly intelligent entry into the annual holiday animation derby.

I just watched this with my 3 and 7 year old boys. Entertaining - yes. Beautiful scenery and animation - yes. But I can't believe this is rated G and described as a "a festive addition to the holiday library that the entire family can enjoy." Folks, this movie is centered on a young reindeer whos hotshot flyboy father knocked up his mother during a one night stand, then left never to be seen again. It is a dark story about wolves (quite scary for a three year old by the way) who conspire to eat Santa and all the reindeer so the head wolf can travel to all the homes of the "delicious boys and girls" on Christmas night. The positive message of a reindeer who learns to fly because he believes in himself is far outshadowed by the dark, almost disturbing storyline and the awful family values it portrays. I know that is the sad reality of many families these days, but does that make it OK for a children's movie? To be frank, I can't believe some reviewers here see no problem with the movie and let their 3 year old watch it daily. Maybe for older kids... but this is NOT a children's movie.

I liked this film, I thought it was better than Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. It had a great moral at the end: no matter if the person in your life is your real parent, it just matters that they care. Niko was a cute little reindeer, I loved the animation and I thought it was far better than a movie about a red nosed reindeer whom no one liked until he became useful to them. I watched it on television though, so some of it was cut out because it was edited for the time alloted but I want to see it on DVD, I really enjoyed it. I don't agree with the G rating though, I thought it was more of a PG movie. They disguised the more mature themes through colorful dialogue and I think that's why they got away with a G rating. But all in all it was worth watching and I wouldn't mind seeing it again and again. Niko is the cutest reindeer in a movie, he blows Rudolph out of the water:)

I purchased this for my young grandchildren and am I glad that I watched it first before letting them see it.
I feel this is totally wrong for young childern ( and isn't that who christmas cartoons are geared towards?) It starts out with a mother explaining basically a one night stand with one of santas reindeer when asked about her sons father and the wolves are way too frightening for young children. However, the animation is good and they did have some catchy songs. I was going to give the dvd away but now will just throw it in the trash. Don't want to scare any other childeren!

This is a animated Christmas movie featuring a cute baby reindeer named Niko (Andrew McMahon).

He has several animal friends that help him search for his roots (his father is Prancer, one of Santa's Sleigh Crew). It is also a story of belief in yourself and trying new things. It was produced in Finland, Germany, Denmark and the U.S.

Niko, has been told that his father could fly. He goes out in search of his father, along with Julius the Flying Squirrel (Norm MacDonald) and Wilma, a cute small white rodent-like animal (Emma Roberts). Niko suffers from severe dizziness and is also young and vulnerable as the story unfolds. He has many challenges in finding his father including a pack of bad wolfs who want to eat Santa, all his reindeer and the boys and girls presents are delivered to.
The story is original and fun to watch as Niko finds his father, and his true friends through it all.

The animation and voices are terrific and fun to watch a new story on the Christmas Season.

While I honestly feel for single-parent households whose children have never met one of the parents, taking traditional holiday characters and turning them into "deadbeat dads" is not the best plot idea for a Christmas special. As you read in other reviews, the basic premise is that the main character's mother (who cannot fly) by chance ran into Santa's flying reindeer after Santa's sleigh broke down. One of the flying reindeer fixed the sleigh, had a "magical time" with the mother, and quickly flew away. Months later, the main character Niko was born. When asked why the flying reindeer didn't come back to visit, the mother said that he "didn't know that (Niko) would be born months later, so why would he visit" and that "no one knows where Christmastown where the flying reindeer stay actually is".

Thus starts a long trek for Niko to find his father and understand why he has dreams of flying. Along the way, he meets a flirtatious female weasel who just happens to know where Christmastown is located. When Niko finally finds the flying reindeer in a bar, the weasel starts a sultry song-and-dance number about giving the flying team a "big surprise," and at the end of the song literally sings "one of you share the same DNA" and points towards Niko, which of course spooks the flying team. When Niko gives his mother's name and asks if any of the team remembers her, he is basically told that the entire flying reindeer team have "magical times" with the non-flying reindeer very often, and Niko is asked to perform a paternity test of showing he can fly to prove that he is actually one of their sons. Basically, to make a long story short, Niko "saves the day" and one of the reindeer steps forward very grudgingly and tells Niko that he can call him dad. Merry Christmas! Niko tries to get his father to return to the non-flying pack, the father says that he's part of a "flying team" and isn't willing to go back, and Niko tells a flying squirrel who had looked out for him since day one that he is more of a dad to him than his real dad would ever be. Then, the credits roll.

While the forced lessons of "it's ok to have a deadbeat dad" and "step fathers can be real fathers even if they look different" could be pertinent to certain families, it can also send the wrong message to children that it is ok to take advantage of others and leave without taking responsibility for your actions. What's worse is that when you watch the movie the second time knowing which one of Santa's reindeer is the actual father, you see a new perspective from the bar scene forward of the father knowingly trying to deny Niko, even going so far as denying meeting Niko's mother in the bar, letting Niko throw himself into a bottomless cliff during the "can you fly" paternity test, and basically saying "well you can't fly, guess no one here is your father" after Niko fails the test.

In all honesty, not one part of this film gave me a warm holiday spirit, and I seriously would warn parents about the movie's message before letting their children see it. Do not be tricked by the cutesy cover, characters, and descriptions... this children's flick feels like it was written and directed by Maury Povich.

I'm 33 years old & saw this for the first time on tv . I couldn't move from my seat. a new Christmas classic . maybe it should've been PG but it wasn't even close to being as "bad" as some of the reviews made it out to be , saying that it was not for kids because it was to scary or violent . there are alot worse cartoons than this . for example Shreck , kids love that cartoon and the same parents that are trashing this cartoon , I bet , has bought Shreck & lets there kid watch it over & over and scary images ? what about all the walt disney cartoons ? what about Cruella Devil wanting to kill puppies ? or hunters shooting Bambi's dad ? don't listen to these uptight people , it is worth the money & your children will love it . I thought it was a very cute cartoon & I'm plan'n on buy'n it for my daughter .

What a poor excuse for a Christmas film. As a little add on they could have had Mom take the whole crew on Maury for a DNA test. If you liked this film wait until you get to see her "10000% sure that Prancer is the father". I really think the people who are thrilled to let their kids watch this are just pressing play and leaving the room. What are people thinking with this garbage?

Great movie for young children...I ordered it because my grandchildren wanted to watch it over and over again..it was fun t watch and exciting clean movie for small children...

We watched this show as a family with my 8 and 4 year old children. They like just about everything they watch, and even they called this show "horrible".
Where to start with the problems with this show...
- The main character is a result of a one night stand. Santa's reindeer are very open to the fact that one night stands are a common occurrence for them during their Christmas Eve travels.
- Santa's reindeer are egotistical and haughty. They are shown drinking/socializing in a bar setting at the North Pole.
- One of the protagonists, a weasel, sings in the bar in a very sexy voice with promiscuous moves. Kid appropriate? NO!
- The antagonist is a scary wolf (which terrified my 4 year old) who plots to NOT ONLY EAT SANTA AND HIS REINDEER, but to then EAT CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD!!!
- If that's not enough, the writing and dialog is just plain bad.
Who in their right mind thought this made a good Christmas story??????????????????????????????