---
title: 'The Flight Before Christmas (2008)'
type: 'film'
director: 'Michael Hegner'
released: '2008-09-22'
runtime_minutes: 81
genres:
  - 'Fantasy'
  - 'Adventure'
  - 'Family'
countries:
  - 'Germany'
  - 'Denmark'
  - 'Finland'
  - 'Ireland'
canonical: 'https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-flight-before-christmas-2008'
review_count: 0
imdb: 'https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0885415/'
publisher: 'CinePixo'
---

# The Flight Before Christmas (2008)

2008 · 81 min · Fantasy, Adventure, Family · Germany, Denmark, Finland, Ireland

Original title: Niko – Lentäjän poika

## Synopsis

Niko & The Way to the Stars is a 2008 animated epic 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. The animation was produced in Finland, Germany and Denmark, with post-production carried out in Ireland. A 45-minute television edit in American English was produced in the United States for CBS under the title The Flight Before Christmas.

## Credits

- **Director:** [Michael Hegner](https://cinepixo.com/people/michael-hegner), [Kari Juusonen](https://cinepixo.com/people/kari-juusonen)
- **Screenplay:** [Mark Hodkinson](https://cinepixo.com/people/mark-hodkinson), [Hannu Tuomainen](https://cinepixo.com/people/hannu-tuomainen), [Marteinn Thorisson](https://cinepixo.com/people/marteinn-thorisson)
- **Producer:** [Hannu Tuomainen](https://cinepixo.com/people/hannu-tuomainen), [Petteri Pasanen](https://cinepixo.com/people/petteri-pasanen)
- **Original Music Composer:** [Stephen McKeon](https://cinepixo.com/people/stephen-mckeon)
- **Director of Photography:** [Antti Ripatti](https://cinepixo.com/people/antti-ripatti)
- **Editor:** [Per Risager](https://cinepixo.com/people/per-risager)

## Cast

- [Jussi Lampi](https://cinepixo.com/people/jussi-lampi) as Räyskä
- [Hannu-Pekka Björkman](https://cinepixo.com/people/hannu-pekka-bjorkman) as Julius
- [Dennis Schmidt-Foß](https://cinepixo.com/people/dennis-schmidt-fo)
- [Joachim Kaps](https://cinepixo.com/people/joachim-kaps)
- [Irina von Bentheim](https://cinepixo.com/people/irina-von-bentheim)
- [Tommi Korpela](https://cinepixo.com/people/tommi-korpela) as porolauman johtaja
- [Karlo Hackenberger](https://cinepixo.com/people/karlo-hackenberger)
- [Susa Saukko](https://cinepixo.com/people/susa-saukko) as laumaporo
- [Mika Ala-Panula](https://cinepixo.com/people/mika-ala-panula) as Oinas
- [Elina Knihtilä](https://cinepixo.com/people/elina-knihtila) as Oona
- [Kari Hietalahti](https://cinepixo.com/people/kari-hietalahti) as Armas
- [Vuokko Hovatta](https://cinepixo.com/people/vuokko-hovatta) as Wilma
- [Detlef Bierstedt](https://cinepixo.com/people/detlef-bierstedt)
- [Minttu Mustakallio](https://cinepixo.com/people/minttu-mustakallio) as Essi
- [Risto Kaskilahti](https://cinepixo.com/people/risto-kaskilahti) as Uljas

## Criticism on CinePixo

No reviews published yet.

Source: https://cinepixo.com/movies/the-flight-before-christmas-2008
Film facts: Wikidata (Q622661); synopsis from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Reviews, themes and notes are the work of this site's members.