The Flight Before Christmas (2008 film)

The Flight Before Christmas
Promotional poster for the American release
Directed by	Michael Hegner Kari Juusonen
Written by	Mark Hodkinson Marteinn Thorisson Hannu Tuomainen
Produced by	Hannu Tuomainen Petteri Pasanen
Starring	Olli Jantunen Hannu-Pekka Björkman Vuokko Hovatta Vesa Vierikko Jussi Lampi Risto Kaskilahti
Edited by	Per Risager
Music by	Stephen McKeon
Production companies	Anima Vitae Cinemaker Oy A. Film A/S Ulysses Filmproduktion Magma Films
Distributed by	Nordisk Film (Finland and Denmark) Universum Film[1] (Germany) Magma Films[1] (United Kingdom and Ireland)
Release dates	22 September 2008 (2008-09-22) (Rovaniemi) 10 October 2008 (2008-10-10) (Finland)
Running time	80 minutes 45 minutes (TV Version)
Countries	Finland Denmark Germany Ireland
Languages	Finnish English
Budget	€6,100,000[2]
Box office	€21,822,495[1]

The Flight Before Christmas (Finnish: Niko – Lentäjän poika, lit. "Niko – A flyer's son", aka Niko & The Way to the Stars) is a 2008 animated Christmas film directed by Michael Hegner and Kari Juusonen. It revolves around a young reindeer named Niko who must overcome his fear of flying by heading to Santa Claus' fell to save him and his fleet of flying reindeer from a pack of wolves. The film was a Finnish production with co-producers in Denmark, Germany and Ireland. It was produced by Anima Vitae, Cinemaker Oy, A. Film A/S, Ulysses Films, and Magma Films.^[3] The animation was produced in Finland, Germany and Denmark, with post-production carried out in Ireland.^[4] A 45-minute television edit in American English, was produced in the United States for CBS under the title The Flight Before Christmas. A sequel, Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure was released in October 2012 in Finland. It is one of the most expensive Finnish films.