Niko & the Way to the Stars

Niko & the Way to the Stars (also known as The Flight Before Christmas in the Americas and Australia) is a --- computer-animated Christmas film directed by Michael Hegner & Kari Juusonen, Produced by Anima Vitae and Cinemaker, Co-produced by Ulysses Filmproducktion, A-Film, and Magma Films. It is distributed by Nordisk Film in Nordic territories, and Telepool worldwide. It is written by Mark Hodkinson, Marteinn Thorisson, and Hannu Tuomainen and produced by Marteinn Thorisson, and Hannu Tuomainen.

Niko & the Way to the Stars is an adventure tale about a young reindeer boy Niko´s quest to find his absent father, whom he believes to be a member of the world famous Santa´s Flying Forces. Niko sets out to Lappish winter wilderness to find his dad, whom he actually has never met. His best friend and mentor, an old flying squirrel Julius decides to help his friend, even though nobody knows where Santa lives.

It was originally produced in English, since it used tracks recorded by actors from Ireland. It became the first Finnish animated feature to be distributed in 100 countries and is one of the most expensive films from Finland.

It later received a sequel titled Niko 2: Little Brother, Big Trouble, released in 2012. An second sequel is currently in production, titled Niko - Beyond the Northern Lights, which is planning to release in 2024.

Cast
The original English version was recorded in Ireland.


 * }


 * }

Music

 * }

Release
Although the original language for this film is, which is produced in Ireland, this film premiered first in Finland with an dub, marking it as the world premiere for the film.

It was released in 2008 in European theaters and was later released as a Direct-to-Video film in North America, titled The Flight Before Christmas, released by TWC, and later Lionsgate, which currently holds North America rights to the film, where Emma Roberts and Norm MacDonald voices Wilma and Julius respectively.

An 45-minute version of the American version of the film aired on CBS on December 2008.

International Versions

 * }