Holy crap.... this movie is SOMETHING. The villain is probably the best I've ever seen in a Christmas movie, the message is great, the fact that it barely even glosses over the fact that Niko is the product of a one-night stand is _hilarious._ And something about the _villain's lackey_ ending up with the obligatory pretty hostage character, to the point of bravely protecting her at one point, just struck me as pretty darn unique and awesome. I think I would thoroughly enjoy this movie if I saw it!
It surprised you didn't it?! It surprised me, I thought this was going to be another "Jontron Terrible Movie" review and even I had the thought to disagree with him if he said Black Wolf's intentions were mediocre. Black Wolf may be a bad name, but it is a charming way to remember him for some reason, he is something for a movie of this Kid audience! Some real passion went into this film, some show-don't-tell here and there, and not many things feel very forced, you know? It's a flawed gem if I ever saw one, I'd give props to the developer
If you've only seen the review, trust me, you don't even know the half of it. One of the odd things about 3D animation: all you need to do is add ragdoll physics and you can make a character look not just dead, but really dead. At the risk of shamelessly self-promoting: there's a small fangroup on DeviantArt, some people (myself included) have written reviews of the movie that cover other angles, if you're interested. But yeah, find the movie itself, and be careful you get the right version, because there's a heavily censored version out there that made it to air on television, allegedly. It's a bit of a mess, but a truly glorious one. As for European movies going so hard... depends on the country. Finland was getting a reputation for being pretty 'metal' around the time this movie was made, partly because of Nightwish, mostly because of Lordi. In other cases, you can blame World War 2 for some of it. Being cut off from American entertainment led to separate comic book and movie industries, notably the Franco-Belgian comics. Well, not exactly, but that's the short version of it. Some common tropes came out of that that don't make that much sense if you're not used to it. Besides that, there's probably differences in funding that affect the overall product, if the Blender Foundation is anything to go by.
I actually liked that for a change the mother isn't the one who remember dearly the one night stand for the rest of their lives. She just takes as it is, a funny time that resulted in a kid she loves. Pretty nature-accurate also.
Or she did know his name, and just didn't want to tell her son for security's sake. Same as how she didn't just lie and say his dad died defending them from wolves. Also, fun fact: mating season for reindeer is between September and November. Niko was conceived the day after Christmas. So yeah, that was kind of a surprise. Can you imagine what this movie would've been if he'd been conceived the day after Halloween instead of Christmas? Nightwish soundtrack, goth eyeliner everywhere, maybe a Krampus for good measure... I'm sure we could fit in snow bats of some description...
I love Oona. She is a good mother who wants the best for her family and her design is so beautiful! A little moody and bossy aside, I really want to see more of her.
As a kid who grew up in finland. This movie was a classic every christmas. I adore this movie and everything about it. The music, the animation, the character designs, the story, the voice acting, the sound effects. This is truly one of the most underrated christmas movies ever. Sooo nostalgic.
FUN FACT: The guy that voices Tony the Tiger on the Frosted Flakes commercials actually song "You're a Mean One mr. Grinch" in the original animated The Grinch That Stole Christmas film.
Also I'd like to mention that Disney actually used the leg gag even before Frozen and this. I remember them using it in a Chip and Dale short that I saw as a little squirt back in the 90's. Sadly I can't recall the title of it though.
I love that they called it Santa's Fell in this movie. It's unique and not overused like "The North Pole" or "Santa's Factory". I absolutely loved everything about this film. This film also makes me proud of my lineage as a Scandinavian.
I actually watched this movie quite a while ago when it was on Netflix, thinking it was just a generic bad kid's movie (I watch those occasionally just for the fun of it). I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent movie that I actually like a lot. And I'm glad to see that you also find Black Wolf deliciously evil.
The animation in this movie is actualy quite good-looking, especialy on movements and landscapes, and the characters... yea,, I'll handle for a nice character design.
I do love the fact they actually went with the father being the one who was there for Niko, rather than it all being about genetics. Really give those of us without a father, or who have a step father something to hold on to - it doesn't matter who you share DNA with; it's the people who actually care about you that matter. It's a direction I wish the Boxtrolls ended with. Great story up until then.
9:45: OKay, now I want a horror movie where Santa is a werewolf with a sleigh of flying wolves, visiting and eating kids who have been bad each year. :D Btw, Black Wolf's voice is pretty amazing. Who is that? Edit - just checked, huh, all three named wolves - Black Wolf, Specks and Smiley are all voiced by Sam Gold.
According to imdb: Alan Stanford. If you're in Britain, you might know a show (or movie) called Badly Drawn Roy. He played the narrator in that. As for that movie... umm... it's a work in progress. No promises.
Looking back at this movie and listening to Black wolf telling his pack what their motivation is is kind of good actually. It's a little out there, but good.
I actually think it was really interesting to have Nico be apart of a one parent family unit. A lot of kids are born the exact way Nico is including some of my friends and they were always bothered by the fact that even though most characters in popular animated movies either had one parent or none - it was always hinted that the parents were married once so they never really had any representation at all.
I actually really love the way this animation looks... It's a strange CGI type of "style", but I know there are other movies with it. and I just LOVE it.
The weasel's voice is actually quite pleasant. Usually when someone sings in a movie like this, the director thinks the character's voice sounds pleasant while the audience wants them to shut up, but whoever does her singing has actual talent. In fact, given the overall quality of this movie compared to the usual direct-to-video crap, I'm surprised they didn't find this worthy of a theatrical release in America like in the other territories. Oversaturation of the market is the only valid reason I can see for this not making it.
It's a shame the film didn't end with Specks redeeming himself by finally standing up for himself against his abuser Black Wolf and ends up helping Niko
By the way... How does it feel like to review an animated movie that actually depicts Reindeer? Just asking because the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cartoons You reviewed had deer that resembled a white tailed deer or a roe deer more than reindeer. As well as the RankinBass version of Rudolph.
@@herpderp3916Me too. When I first saw this movie and learned that both genders had antlers, I was blown away and impressed with how accurate they made them.
@@HopeKnutson-oy3phIt still confuses me that this movie doesnt cover that only female reindeers have antlers in the winter. I guess it’s just for kids to easily understand?
12:20 Funnily enough, the phrase "I can't feel my legs" was actually used in a commercial I used to see all the time as a kid - I can't remember what they were advertising, but I remember it being said by a moose head trophy. And the only reason I still remember it is because my mother still quotes that ad to this day. EDIT: I just searched it on RUclips, and it's an ad for Difflam (a brand of sore throat lozenges). Bit of a weird way to advertise them, but then again it would be easier to name ads that make sense within the realms of reality.
Really doesn't look like too bad a movie. I definitely just love the idea of Black Wolf being Santa, flying around in a sleigh and wearing the santa costume. XD
Aren't reindeer always migrating? I thought the females only stop temporarily to have their calves before moving again. This is so they can constantly find lush feeding grounds and also stay ahead of predators. So in retrospect, it isn't Nico's fault that the wolves found the herd as they would have been found eventually and they should have started moving a long time before hand.
Gosh, I miss when animated movie villains were insane. I almost want someone to remake this movie and cast Michael Fassbender as Black Wolf. That would be the greatest thing ever.
It's not often when a Christmas movie knows that reindeer *don't look like white tailed deer!* Which is more than what the creator of Rudolf knew about reindeer. ...kinda makes you wonder what Rudolf would actually look like.
@@vilmublues752 Guess that would help. Say, has anyone thought of making a Christmas movie featuring the dogs that help herd those reindeer? I've seen them on Dogs 101 and I think those dogs are absolutely beautiful; well deserving of some love!
Wow.Goddamn, you finally found an unknown film that is better than we thought! Of course I don't give you credit for making the Movie (OR BLACK WOLF :DDDD), but I must, however, thank you for finding BobSheaux! I and thousands of others wouldn't have been able to see the passion they put in! I can actually feel the passion in the writing of this movie man, the ruthless and brutality of the antagonist of a kids film, the somewhat show-don't-tell feel, it's something I never would've seen without you! Thank you!
ANH Oh yeah, there was an American English dub for this movie that billed Emma Roberts as the top star, when her character doesn't appear until sometime later in the movie.
Actually, the only difference I'm aware of is that the American version features Norm McDonald as Julius and Emma Roberts as Wilma, and their dialogue is exactly the same.
I recently got into your channel and I have to say I love your content. I feel like you’re more fair then most reviewers out there and I really appreciate it.
So Black Wolf went by the old mythological concept that by eating a foe's heart you gain their strength? I must say; well played sir. (obligatory referential humor clip: ruclips.net/video/iK5fZnz3VeI/видео.html)
7 лет назад+245
Oh my god, this movie! So great to see you review a movie from my home-country, Finland! Just a few funny facts: 1. At the time (2008) "The Flight Before Christmas" (in Finland, Niko-Lentäjän Poika), was the most expensive Finnish film ever made and the widest international release from Finland to date. Yeah, this film was a pretty big deal! 2. This was also the first fully computer-animated feature-length film made in Finland. 3. It is the most watched Finnish-movie internationally with over 3 million viewers around the world. 4. The original Finnish-dubbing sucks reindeers dick and this English-version is much better. 5. This also spawned a sequel in 2012 titled "Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure". Originally named "Niko 2 - Lentäjäveljekset". 6. In Finland, we have this big movie award-ceremony named Jussi-Gaala. In 2009's gala this film won two awards. One for Best Writing and one for Best Picture! It was also nominated for Best Direction. But yeah, I agree that the Black Wolf is a fucking awesome villain! And by the way... I guess you haven't visited Finland in winter? Those "snowpenises" are a pretty common sight here :D
You forgot the best one, from the closing credits: During this film's creation, 21,858 litres of beer were consumed. I think it's safe to say that affected the final product in all the good ways ^^
Neat info! is the sequel dubbed or at least subbed to english? Or german? Also, does Black Wolf return? :D
7 лет назад+18
Yes! It is dubbed in English too. Unfortunately Black Wolf is really gone for good :( In the sequel, his sister WHITE WOLF gets to be the main villain. She wants to revenge her brothers death. And instead of having her own wolf-army, she has a group of annoying eagles :P
+Pierre S. Kelijä Well, I wouldn't call it more kid-friendly by much. Niko almost dies a lot in this first film. In the sequel, that danger gets shifted to an even smaller child. The near-death is put on a reindeer who looks like a toddler, even smaller than the kids picking on Niko at the start. Oh, and unlike in the first movie, where Niko is knocked out off-screen, you get to see Jonni take the hit and go ragdoll. Makes Lion King look timid. Then there's the matter of the ribbon bondage... and the unfortunate implication of where the original Flying Forces got their ability to fly. Spoiler: real life deer have been known to eat eggs and small birds. If Black Wolf assumed they could steal flight by eating the Flying Forces... well, you get the idea. Also, best character in the whole dang franchise: Tobias. Good Lord, Tobias. What Jetfire was in the second Bayformers, Tobias is in the sequel... and he actually gets the screentime he deserves.
OH, this movie. I have seen the DVDs everywhere and all I can think of is how reptilian that reindeer looks like, with no nose but two separate nostrils. It's like a furry dinosaur...
I did like this movie :D I remember it has a sequel too, it isn't as good with the villains but it still touches on family issues you don't often see in kids movies, Niko gets a step-brother when his mother finds a new love. They actually gave it some pretty good animation too and the little brother isn't annoying like you'd think they'd do with that type of story, I recommend checking it out
I literally watched this movie few hours ago... and I gotta say, it brought me a tear at the end of the movie, no joke. The animation for a Finnish film where they primarily see snow is pretty awesome! The budget was $6.8M, and the box office made $22M. So, I’m not the only one that loves this. I’m thinking about showing this to my 9 year old bro around Christmas time. I think he can stand the wolves. But yeah, a very underrated classic, and will remember this film for future Christmas
And you saw how well that turned out. Congrats! If wolves aren't amazing villains, they make horrible, lazy and useless protagonists. I hope it's what you wanted. . . . .
Btw, isn't Wilma an ermine? She is too large to be a weasel, plus the black tail tip indicates as much (weasels have a white tail tip, so in their winter coat, they are totally white)
@@Elephant-Puppet Lapland overlaps with both Finland, Sweden and Norway, so it doesn’t specifically take place in Norway. We don’t even know which specific part of Lapland it takes place in, we just know that it’s somewhere in Lapland
If you want to see a movie crazy dog villain then watch Balto. The villain steel does not care that children are dying. And in every shot he looks absolutely evil.
7:50 I remember watching a tv show dedicated to strange weather and they once talked about strange dragon-like ice structures in Antarctica that were naturally formed by volcanic activity... or something. Is that what those are supposed to be?
5:28 Well, how did the reindeer end up in the tree? Why would they want to end up in the tree? Can somebody explain to me how the reindeer ended up in the tree?
Julius told him to climb up there. And I'm guessing Niko just jumped up to the nearest branch and then carefully manuevered around it. By the way, calling it antler's hill based on a reindeer's antlers is pretty clever.
Apparently, Black Wolf's English voice actor is Alan Stanford. He also worked on such films as Legends of Valhalla: Thor and All Creatures Big And Small. Unfortunately, I don't see him having done too many villain roles apart from this. If only he had, he makes this character so awesome.
Two things, one, I would love to read a fanfic where Black Wolf's plan actually happened. And two, if you thought his name was dumb, the sequel he has a sister and her name is White Wolf.
WARTHOGVANGUARD Well, this review got a false copyright strike for some reason, which Bob obviously successfully disputed. DMCA refers to Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is an act in the US applying to online copyright violations. When something on RUclips gets a strike, I'm pretty sure it's related to the DMCA. So DMCA would cover this in US law if someone was doing something illegal with it online on an American website such as RUclips.
6:18 The leader of the herd had a limp b4 he smashed into the tree 8:10 Wilma had the directions correct. U just looked at the angle wrong. The way Julius & Nico were walking was west & Wilma pointed in front of them rather than the actual direction they were going. It looked like she was pointing south but she meant that the direction they were headed was west.
Also, thanks for the Credit. I Also love Black Wolf a lot. Though I think his English voice is a bit too deep, compared to his original Danish and Finnish voices, but It's ok.
They? They? Why! That's like making a sequel to Coraline, Its already good, why go through the trouble! Are you being serious or are you actually playing with me? If this was a little known gem already I wouldn't see it getting a sequel from the developers I now respect!
+WARTHOGVANGUARD Would you be upset to hear there's a whole series coming of this franchise? It's been in Development Hell for a while now, but it's being made, still. Niko: the New Adventures. As for how they could make a sequel: introduce the basic problems of raising or even just disciplining a child that can fly when you cannot (Oona gets put through the wringer in that regard), give Niko enemies that can also fly (eagles), and take Jetfire out of the Bayformer movies, turn him into a reindeer named Tobias and let him loose, basically. It's a pretty glorious mess, to be honest. Lastly... in the first movie, Niko puts *himself* in mortal danger a lot, and he doesn't learn a lesson about that at all. In the sequel, he puts someone else in harm's way, and basically gets to experience what his mother has to go through on a daily basis, which makes for some nice and much-needed growth. It makes Niko more of an actor, rather than being acted upon.
Love this movie. The story, the comedy, the characters, and the music is awesome. I just love Specs relationship with Essie. I wish that they would kiss under the mistletoe.
+BobSheaux I keep seeing this argument, but... how is he a deadbeat dad, exactly? Prancer didn't know Niko was his kid. Even if you ignore him knowing Oona's name and not reacting to it, Oona had a life after Prancer. If Prancer accepts Niko as his, and the kid still can't fly, Niko isn't going to believe he's Prancer's son, nor will he be happy since... being able to fly is kind of his major motivation. Also, Niko even being conceived can count as a Christmas miracle, if you take mating seasons into account. That's not to mention Oona moved to a secluded valley, and made sure her son wouldn't go yelling Prancer's name every time the Flying Forces come by. You know, attracting wolves and all. You never hear Prancer's side to the story, remember? Come to think of it, didn't you defend a dad in this position? What was her name, Talia, when she had a son from Bruce Wayne, and never told him, yet said he was 'ducking his responsibilities'? Granted, that was after stealing genetic material, but other than that the fathers are in a similar situation: expected to take responsibility for a child they didn't know exists because their mother explicitly stopped them from finding out. What makes Batman not a deadbeat dad in that scenario, then? Prancer takes responsibility once he's sure Niko is his. If he doesn't take that precaution, then he risks putting a reindeer kid in the situation where his mother *lied* about who his father is, and who will spend the rest of his life trying and failing to fly. There aren't a lot of flying reindeer in the world. They can't exactly afford mistakes in that department. Though it does bring to mind the question of what Santa's role in the whole thing is... Personally, I'm hoping the series gives at least one of the Flying Forces a wife to live in Santa's Fell. That'd be interesting to see contrasted with Oona... and all the other does/cows that chose not to move to Santa's Fell after however many dates.
He's not a deadbeat. He just didn't know that he had a son because Oona didn't tell him. If he knew, he would've been in Niko's life a lot more. It's not his fault that he didn't realize this.
I love Prancer! I hope to see him and Niko interacting more in the third film! It sounds like the plot is going to revolve around their relationship and Niko's desire to be a member of the Flying Forces. With some interesting new characters.
I just want to say that Niko and The Way to The Stars(yes that's what I call it, because it sounds more like the original title, don't kill me) and Niko 2 Little Brother Big Trouble are my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Also, I', Danish, and, if you didn't know, the Niko movies are Danish/Finnish movies. So therefor, they are rather popular in my country, and also, sorry to say this, I don't really like the English versions that much. I perifer Danish or Finnish a lot more, because their voices just makes sense to me. I also watched Niko 2 in the Theaters and it was amazing. I own both of the movies and I've simply loved them ever since I watched them for the first time. Niko is my favorite character, because I can relate to hm a lot. And also, Cupid(the snow white reindeer of Santa's Flying Forces), is my favorite from The Forces, because he's beautiful an cute. Also Cupid's antlers from the Niko movies are amazing!
I wish I could watch the Niko movies in theaters! Sadly they don't do that here in the United States but regardless, I love all the movies as well and I'm so glad they are making a third one!
Holy crap.... this movie is SOMETHING. The villain is probably the best I've ever seen in a Christmas movie, the message is great, the fact that it barely even glosses over the fact that Niko is the product of a one-night stand is _hilarious._ And something about the _villain's lackey_ ending up with the obligatory pretty hostage character, to the point of bravely protecting her at one point, just struck me as pretty darn unique and awesome. I think I would thoroughly enjoy this movie if I saw it!
It surprised you didn't it?! It surprised me, I thought this was going to be another "Jontron Terrible Movie" review and even I had the thought to disagree with him if he said Black Wolf's intentions were mediocre.
Black Wolf may be a bad name, but it is a charming way to remember him for some reason, he is something for a movie of this Kid audience!
Some real passion went into this film, some show-don't-tell here and there, and not many things feel very forced, you know?
It's a flawed gem if I ever saw one, I'd give props to the developer
European animated movies always seem to go pretty hard, man, I gotta say xD
If you've only seen the review, trust me, you don't even know the half of it. One of the odd things about 3D animation: all you need to do is add ragdoll physics and you can make a character look not just dead, but really dead.
At the risk of shamelessly self-promoting: there's a small fangroup on DeviantArt, some people (myself included) have written reviews of the movie that cover other angles, if you're interested. But yeah, find the movie itself, and be careful you get the right version, because there's a heavily censored version out there that made it to air on television, allegedly. It's a bit of a mess, but a truly glorious one.
As for European movies going so hard... depends on the country. Finland was getting a reputation for being pretty 'metal' around the time this movie was made, partly because of Nightwish, mostly because of Lordi. In other cases, you can blame World War 2 for some of it. Being cut off from American entertainment led to separate comic book and movie industries, notably the Franco-Belgian comics. Well, not exactly, but that's the short version of it. Some common tropes came out of that that don't make that much sense if you're not used to it. Besides that, there's probably differences in funding that affect the overall product, if the Blender Foundation is anything to go by.
I thought it was Niggo?
Or is that too racist?
Elsie
your Joking.. right? About... enjoying it? :/
Please tell me you are.
I actually liked that for a change the mother isn't the one who remember dearly the one night stand for the rest of their lives. She just takes as it is, a funny time that resulted in a kid she loves. Pretty nature-accurate also.
Or she did know his name, and just didn't want to tell her son for security's sake. Same as how she didn't just lie and say his dad died defending them from wolves. Also, fun fact: mating season for reindeer is between September and November. Niko was conceived the day after Christmas. So yeah, that was kind of a surprise.
Can you imagine what this movie would've been if he'd been conceived the day after Halloween instead of Christmas? Nightwish soundtrack, goth eyeliner everywhere, maybe a Krampus for good measure... I'm sure we could fit in snow bats of some description...
I love Oona. She is a good mother who wants the best for her family and her design is so beautiful! A little moody and bossy aside, I really want to see more of her.
"Hey, I'm not sure what I should name this character. Any ideas?"
"Well, what does he look like?"
"He's a black wolf."
"That. Name him that!"
Makes me think of Old Bush from Phelan's review of Dingo's Pocahontas. lol
XDDDDD Da best villains have da weirdest names. First Joe from Help I'm A fish and now Black Wolf XDDDDDD
XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
As a kid who grew up in finland. This movie was a classic every christmas. I adore this movie and everything about it. The music, the animation, the character designs, the story, the voice acting, the sound effects. This is truly one of the most underrated christmas movies ever. Sooo nostalgic.
"Just think of all the delicious little boys and girls, waiting for me to visit."
... Must be a bobsheaux!
*fanfare*
😆😆😆😆😆😆😆
I can't believe he didn't make that joke.
Sounds like a lotta kids got a big red rocket coming.
He's a wolf. He is literally going to eat them. Get your minds out of the gutter.
"We're reindeer, we're not horses, we're Santa's Flying Forces, ho ho!"
Best…
theme-song…
EVER!!
Pidge Gunderson agreed
I agree
I repeat this theme almost every day! It never gets old!
i usually hate having wolves as the bad guys (it really gives them a bad rep) but black wolf in this is so badass im willing to overlook it
Not gonna lie. The wolves are actually fairly entertaining.
Plus the wolves all speak with British accents
Yes
FUN FACT: The guy that voices Tony the Tiger on the Frosted Flakes commercials actually song "You're a Mean One mr. Grinch" in the original animated The Grinch That Stole Christmas film.
King Denominator thurl ravenscroft
Also I'd like to mention that Disney actually used the leg gag even before Frozen and this. I remember them using it in a Chip and Dale short that I saw as a little squirt back in the 90's. Sadly I can't recall the title of it though.
14:39 Maybe Santa lives in the mountain, because they keep referencing Santa's Fell, and in Norwegian and Icelandic, "Fell" means mountain.
Actually mountain in Norwegian is "Fjell", but it was close.
I love that they called it Santa's Fell in this movie. It's unique and not overused like "The North Pole" or "Santa's Factory". I absolutely loved everything about this film. This film also makes me proud of my lineage as a Scandinavian.
am i the only one who thinks Speck kinda looks like Scrat from Ice Age?
Oh god he does
@@reptile1677 he also kind of resemble Zeke from the first Ice Age movie which is actually pretty fitting considering how similar Blackwolf is to Soto
Ah 'twas a good time when animated villains where insane and ominously evil
I actually watched this movie quite a while ago when it was on Netflix, thinking it was just a generic bad kid's movie (I watch those occasionally just for the fun of it). I was pleasantly surprised to find a decent movie that I actually like a lot. And I'm glad to see that you also find Black Wolf deliciously evil.
I didn’t know it was on Netflix
@@Elephant-Puppet It was at the time of my comment, no idea if it's still on there.
@@drygonfyre I have no idea it’s on there
9:10
That's it! Santa's flying wolves is going to be the name of my heavy metal band!
I WANNA SEE THIS COME TO FRUITION!
Truly an animated classic, and I need to see it in the original Finnish. Specs is adorbs.
Wolfabob appears. Internet is pleased
The animation in this movie is actualy quite good-looking, especialy on movements and landscapes, and the characters... yea,, I'll handle for a nice character design.
I do love the fact they actually went with the father being the one who was there for Niko, rather than it all being about genetics.
Really give those of us without a father, or who have a step father something to hold on to - it doesn't matter who you share DNA with; it's the people who actually care about you that matter.
It's a direction I wish the Boxtrolls ended with. Great story up until then.
12:01 “they popped out of the snow! LIKE DAISIES!”
9:45: OKay, now I want a horror movie where Santa is a werewolf with a sleigh of flying wolves, visiting and eating kids who have been bad each year. :D Btw, Black Wolf's voice is pretty amazing. Who is that? Edit - just checked, huh, all three named wolves - Black Wolf, Specks and Smiley are all voiced by Sam Gold.
According to imdb: Alan Stanford. If you're in Britain, you might know a show (or movie) called Badly Drawn Roy. He played the narrator in that.
As for that movie... umm... it's a work in progress. No promises.
"We're going to eat Santa." Holy crap, this movie's awesome!
Looking back at this movie and listening to Black wolf telling his pack what their motivation is is kind of good actually. It's a little out there, but good.
I actually think it was really interesting to have Nico be apart of a one parent family unit. A lot of kids are born the exact way Nico is including some of my friends and they were always bothered by the fact that even though most characters in popular animated movies either had one parent or none - it was always hinted that the parents were married once so they never really had any representation at all.
I actually really love the way this animation looks... It's a strange CGI type of "style", but I know there are other movies with it. and I just LOVE it.
Julius: he might be your dad..... but he aint your daddy
Mr Ravencroft 666 giggity
Niko: (Smiles and nuzzles Julius)
@Mr Happy
-Why make that reference...?- Nevermind dumb question...
@@DemonicRemption guardians 2
Close, but it's "He might be your father, but he ain't your daddy."
14:40 Speaking of, Scar NEEDS to team up with Blackwolf.
that would be epic
No, I am afraid lions and wolves would not get along. A fine idea, though.
I'm sure it would work out just as well as lions and hyenas did in that movie. ...Oh wait...
Lions Are Overgrown Cats And Wolves Are Overgrown Dogs
Sydney Hamilton well by that logic humans are just over-grow monkeys.
The weasel's voice is actually quite pleasant. Usually when someone sings in a movie like this, the director thinks the character's voice sounds pleasant while the audience wants them to shut up, but whoever does her singing has actual talent. In fact, given the overall quality of this movie compared to the usual direct-to-video crap, I'm surprised they didn't find this worthy of a theatrical release in America like in the other territories. Oversaturation of the market is the only valid reason I can see for this not making it.
Fallout Pewterschmidt All we need is for her to sing Jump Up Superstar and everything will be complete.
It did air on TV during December in the past, I believe it was on ABC.
This movie actually seems pretty badass. And Specks is adorable.
It's a shame the film didn't end with Specks redeeming himself by finally standing up for himself against his abuser Black Wolf and ends up helping Niko
By the way... How does it feel like to review an animated movie that actually depicts Reindeer? Just asking because the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cartoons You reviewed had deer that resembled a white tailed deer or a roe deer more than reindeer. As well as the RankinBass version of Rudolph.
You don't even know how happy I was to see more accurate reindeer in this, including having antlers on the does.
Given it's a finish movie obviously they would know
@@herpderp3916Me too. When I first saw this movie and learned that both genders had antlers, I was blown away and impressed with how accurate they made them.
@@HopeKnutson-oy3phIt still confuses me that this movie doesnt cover that only female reindeers have antlers in the winter. I guess it’s just for kids to easily understand?
@densetzu maybe
12:20 Funnily enough, the phrase "I can't feel my legs" was actually used in a commercial I used to see all the time as a kid - I can't remember what they were advertising, but I remember it being said by a moose head trophy. And the only reason I still remember it is because my mother still quotes that ad to this day.
EDIT: I just searched it on RUclips, and it's an ad for Difflam (a brand of sore throat lozenges). Bit of a weird way to advertise them, but then again it would be easier to name ads that make sense within the realms of reality.
Really doesn't look like too bad a movie. I definitely just love the idea of Black Wolf being Santa, flying around in a sleigh and wearing the santa costume. XD
Little Christian boy: mummy daddy, Black claus has come!
Mummy: aww that's great dear *begins seasoning Little Christian boy*
Aren't reindeer always migrating? I thought the females only stop temporarily to have their calves before moving again. This is so they can constantly find lush feeding grounds and also stay ahead of predators. So in retrospect, it isn't Nico's fault that the wolves found the herd as they would have been found eventually and they should have started moving a long time before hand.
Julies tells Niko: “He may have been your father boy, but he wasn’t your daddy”
That 'cutting out the middleman' joke was actually funny. :D
You could thank the actor for delivering that line. Paul Tylak is a great comedian in Dublin.
The actor for the black wolf sounds strikingly like an orc or uruk-hai from the Lord of the Rings.
Gosh, I miss when animated movie villains were insane. I almost want someone to remake this movie and cast Michael Fassbender as Black Wolf. That would be the greatest thing ever.
I feel this voice (Sam Gold) is just amazing for him.
Or when animated movies themselves were just fucking insane aka We're Back: A Dinosaur Story.
Oh my Gosh! I love that movie. #RollBackTheRockToTheDawnofTime
@@SwiftNimblefoot is Sam Gold British I'm just asking if he isn't then that is actually one of the best British accents I've heard an American do
I've only ever seen this movie once in my entire life, and yet, somehow, I still _vividly_ remember it 15 years later...
16:21“Where Santa’s flying forces, reindeer not horses, hello!” Hahahaaa!😂
It's not often when a Christmas movie knows that reindeer *don't look like white tailed deer!* Which is more than what the creator of Rudolf knew about reindeer.
...kinda makes you wonder what Rudolf would actually look like.
It's a Finnish movie and reindeer are very well-known here. The Sámi people herd reindeer in Northern Finland.
@@vilmublues752
Guess that would help.
Say, has anyone thought of making a Christmas movie featuring the dogs that help herd those reindeer? I've seen them on Dogs 101 and I think those dogs are absolutely beautiful; well deserving of some love!
And the cows have horns
I'm gonna give this movie credit, the snow looking like glitter looks really nice
The return of Wolfabob pleases me more than it probably should.
Wow.Goddamn, you finally found an unknown film that is better than we thought! Of course I don't give you credit for making the Movie (OR BLACK WOLF :DDDD), but I must, however, thank you for finding BobSheaux! I and thousands of others wouldn't have been able to see the passion they put in! I can actually feel the passion in the writing of this movie man, the ruthless and brutality of the antagonist of a kids film, the somewhat show-don't-tell feel, it's something I never would've seen without you! Thank you!
Props for using the European English dub of this movie.
ANH Oh yeah, there was an American English dub for this movie that billed Emma Roberts as the top star, when her character doesn't appear until sometime later in the movie.
Actually, the only difference I'm aware of is that the American version features Norm McDonald as Julius and Emma Roberts as Wilma, and their dialogue is exactly the same.
ANH
I remember, Julius's voice here sounds completely different from what I watched on TV.
I recently got into your channel and I have to say I love your content. I feel like you’re more fair then most reviewers out there and I really appreciate it.
So Black Wolf went by the old mythological concept that by eating a foe's heart you gain their strength? I must say; well played sir.
(obligatory referential humor clip: ruclips.net/video/iK5fZnz3VeI/видео.html)
Oh my god, this movie! So great to see you review a movie from my home-country, Finland!
Just a few funny facts:
1. At the time (2008) "The Flight Before Christmas" (in Finland, Niko-Lentäjän Poika), was the most expensive Finnish film ever made and the widest international release from Finland to date. Yeah, this film was a pretty big deal!
2. This was also the first fully computer-animated feature-length film made in Finland.
3. It is the most watched Finnish-movie internationally with over 3 million viewers around the world.
4. The original Finnish-dubbing sucks reindeers dick and this English-version is much better.
5. This also spawned a sequel in 2012 titled "Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure". Originally named "Niko 2 - Lentäjäveljekset".
6. In Finland, we have this big movie award-ceremony named Jussi-Gaala. In 2009's gala this film won two awards. One for Best Writing and one for Best Picture! It was also nominated for Best Direction.
But yeah, I agree that the Black Wolf is a fucking awesome villain! And by the way... I guess you haven't visited Finland in winter? Those "snowpenises" are a pretty common sight here :D
You forgot the best one, from the closing credits:
During this film's creation, 21,858 litres of beer were consumed.
I think it's safe to say that affected the final product in all the good ways ^^
DAMN, I never knew this movie had so many feathers in it's cap. That's awesome!
Neat info! is the sequel dubbed or at least subbed to english? Or german?
Also, does Black Wolf return? :D
Yes! It is dubbed in English too.
Unfortunately Black Wolf is really gone for good :(
In the sequel, his sister WHITE WOLF gets to be the main villain. She wants to revenge her brothers death.
And instead of having her own wolf-army, she has a group of annoying eagles :P
+Pierre S. Kelijä Well, I wouldn't call it more kid-friendly by much. Niko almost dies a lot in this first film. In the sequel, that danger gets shifted to an even smaller child. The near-death is put on a reindeer who looks like a toddler, even smaller than the kids picking on Niko at the start. Oh, and unlike in the first movie, where Niko is knocked out off-screen, you get to see Jonni take the hit and go ragdoll. Makes Lion King look timid.
Then there's the matter of the ribbon bondage... and the unfortunate implication of where the original Flying Forces got their ability to fly.
Spoiler: real life deer have been known to eat eggs and small birds. If Black Wolf assumed they could steal flight by eating the Flying Forces... well, you get the idea.
Also, best character in the whole dang franchise: Tobias. Good Lord, Tobias. What Jetfire was in the second Bayformers, Tobias is in the sequel... and he actually gets the screentime he deserves.
I remember watching its sequel awhile back, I absolutely adored it!
Its finally getting a third movie!
@@basicomen8713really
OH, this movie. I have seen the DVDs everywhere and all I can think of is how reptilian that reindeer looks like, with no nose but two separate nostrils. It's like a furry dinosaur...
Swift Nimblefoot Yeah, Niko DOES look kinda like Littlefoot from The Land Before Time.
Petition to encourage the creators to write a follow-up series about Specs? I'm all for it. :D
When your country is not blocked.
supersev2001 when you get a video in your country.
When you have a country.
"I'm the bad guy because I just am SHUT UP"
Me: XDDDDDDDDDD that just about sums up every bad movie with a villain there is XDDDDDDDDD
We're reindeer we're not horses we're santas Flying Forces HO HO
Best
Theme song
EVER
Yeah!
I did like this movie :D I remember it has a sequel too, it isn't as good with the villains but it still touches on family issues you don't often see in kids movies, Niko gets a step-brother when his mother finds a new love. They actually gave it some pretty good animation too and the little brother isn't annoying like you'd think they'd do with that type of story, I recommend checking it out
I literally watched this movie few hours ago... and I gotta say, it brought me a tear at the end of the movie, no joke. The animation for a Finnish film where they primarily see snow is pretty awesome! The budget was $6.8M, and the box office made $22M. So, I’m not the only one that loves this. I’m thinking about showing this to my 9 year old bro around Christmas time. I think he can stand the wolves. But yeah, a very underrated classic, and will remember this film for future Christmas
What I really like about this movie that they kept the characters' original names when dubbing it to different languages.
Why does it always have to be wolves as the antagonists? Guess cause they can't write them as protagonists **cough**AlphanadOmega**cough**
And you saw how well that turned out.
Congrats! If wolves aren't amazing villains, they make horrible, lazy and useless protagonists.
I hope it's what you wanted. . . . .
Let's not think about what would happen if Scar and Black Wolf teamed up....
Well this just got awesomely dark!
Btw, isn't Wilma an ermine? She is too large to be a weasel, plus the black tail tip indicates as much (weasels have a white tail tip, so in their winter coat, they are totally white)
Also, if you didn't know, the Niko movies takes place in Lapland
@@Elephant-Puppet Lapland overlaps with both Finland, Sweden and Norway, so it doesn’t specifically take place in Norway. We don’t even know which specific part of Lapland it takes place in, we just know that it’s somewhere in Lapland
The fact Specs is a vegetarian wolf is actually pretty funny
I loved this movie as a kid. I watched all the time when it aired on TV.
Black wolf is METAL
If you want to see a movie crazy dog villain then watch Balto. The villain steel does not care that children are dying. And in every shot he looks absolutely evil.
Doesn't he also desert his mission, claim Balto is dead and that he gave his girlfriend to him?
4:30 at this rate, this is gonna become Wolfabob channel.
7:50 I remember watching a tv show dedicated to strange weather and they once talked about strange dragon-like ice structures in Antarctica that were naturally formed by volcanic activity... or something. Is that what those are supposed to be?
5:28 Well, how did the reindeer end up in the tree? Why would they want to end up in the tree? Can somebody explain to me how the reindeer ended up in the tree?
Julius told him to climb up there. And I'm guessing Niko just jumped up to the nearest branch and then carefully manuevered around it. By the way, calling it antler's hill based on a reindeer's antlers is pretty clever.
One of your best reviews. Great man, really!
Apparently, Black Wolf's English voice actor is Alan Stanford. He also worked on such films as Legends of Valhalla: Thor and All Creatures Big And Small. Unfortunately, I don't see him having done too many villain roles apart from this. If only he had, he makes this character so awesome.
Oh. This was a nice lazy afternoon surprise :) allso, have fun finding out how many Finnish subscribers you have. Cause now you will.
Two things, one, I would love to read a fanfic where Black Wolf's plan actually happened. And two, if you thought his name was dumb, the sequel he has a sister and her name is White Wolf.
That wolf puppet is too damn cute.
YAY!! WOLFABOB IS BACK BABY WOOOOOOOOOOOO XD Love him
3:54 i love how that wolf has a Lancashire accent
24:51 where is this clip from?
If this is the kind of animation that Finland produces, I hope we can get more from them, cuz this was pretty damn good. xD
I love that this regular-ass wolf, was so fucking metal and evil that he scarred Flying Forces flightless
You'd think their ability to fly would make their confidence a little less shakeable, right? lol
Hell no, I would be afraid of Black Wolf even if I was Superman
I love it when he uses his wolf doll 😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩🤣😂🤣😂👍👍👍👍👍👍, more of it !!!!!!!
Glad this got restored. Stupid false DMCAs.
W-why? Come on this was as much movie as any other! I can feel that some inspiration definitely went into it, did the DMCA cover this one up?
WARTHOGVANGUARD What?
You referenced DMCA, I'm asking why DMCA even needs to cover this nice piece of work
WARTHOGVANGUARD Well, this review got a false copyright strike for some reason, which Bob obviously successfully disputed.
DMCA refers to Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is an act in the US applying to online copyright violations. When something on RUclips gets a strike, I'm pretty sure it's related to the DMCA. So DMCA would cover this in US law if someone was doing something illegal with it online on an American website such as RUclips.
They showed this movie on TV several years ago. I think it was CBS or ABC, a local channel station.
R.I.P Black Wolf the best Christmas villain
3:05 "a little wam bam thank you ma'am." lol. 😂
Now I want a movie with just Black Wolf!
6:18
The leader of the herd had a limp b4 he smashed into the tree
8:10
Wilma had the directions correct. U just looked at the angle wrong. The way Julius & Nico were walking was west & Wilma pointed in front of them rather than the actual direction they were going. It looked like she was pointing south but she meant that the direction they were headed was west.
bob, you should review the ice age films, or the brave little toaster
Is there a video on black wolf's version of o fortuna? If there is where can I find it?
Also, thanks for the Credit. I Also love Black Wolf a lot. Though I think his English voice is a bit too deep, compared to his original Danish and Finnish voices, but It's ok.
their is a sequel Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure
I... no. There can't be a sequel man! They reached as far as they could with this, HOW could they make a sequel?
WARTHOGVANGUARD with more family issues :D
stepchildren and a blind mentor
They? They? Why! That's like making a sequel to Coraline, Its already good, why go through the trouble!
Are you being serious or are you actually playing with me? If this was a little known gem already I wouldn't see it getting a sequel from the developers I now respect!
+WARTHOGVANGUARD
Would you be upset to hear there's a whole series coming of this franchise? It's been in Development Hell for a while now, but it's being made, still. Niko: the New Adventures.
As for how they could make a sequel: introduce the basic problems of raising or even just disciplining a child that can fly when you cannot (Oona gets put through the wringer in that regard), give Niko enemies that can also fly (eagles), and take Jetfire out of the Bayformer movies, turn him into a reindeer named Tobias and let him loose, basically. It's a pretty glorious mess, to be honest.
Lastly... in the first movie, Niko puts *himself* in mortal danger a lot, and he doesn't learn a lesson about that at all. In the sequel, he puts someone else in harm's way, and basically gets to experience what his mother has to go through on a daily basis, which makes for some nice and much-needed growth. It makes Niko more of an actor, rather than being acted upon.
Alongside the Rat King from The Nutcracker Black Wolf is an awesome Christmas villain.
Love this movie. The story, the comedy, the characters, and the music is awesome. I just love Specs relationship with Essie. I wish that they would kiss under the mistletoe.
Reminds me of what Krampus would do. 😨 9:30
You should review norm of the north
So Santa's Flying Forces sing like Robin Hood's Men in Tights.
But all jokes aside, this movie looks genuinely good.
Black wolf is the definition of a badass villain
RIP Thurl Ravenscroft
Who is that
Never forget Black Wolf. 💔
3:42 Well it’s gonna take a while to remove that image from my brain lol
"This video is not available" :(
It seems to be fixed now. Either that, or I'm watching this because I'm in Sweden...
Klas Kitsune Crap. I gotta watch this on my PC!
datautisticgamer Nope. Still not working for me
Try now
Are we all just gonna ignore the fact hat Prancer is a deadbeat dad?
Yeah, pretty much. lol
+BobSheaux I keep seeing this argument, but... how is he a deadbeat dad, exactly? Prancer didn't know Niko was his kid. Even if you ignore him knowing Oona's name and not reacting to it, Oona had a life after Prancer. If Prancer accepts Niko as his, and the kid still can't fly, Niko isn't going to believe he's Prancer's son, nor will he be happy since... being able to fly is kind of his major motivation. Also, Niko even being conceived can count as a Christmas miracle, if you take mating seasons into account.
That's not to mention Oona moved to a secluded valley, and made sure her son wouldn't go yelling Prancer's name every time the Flying Forces come by. You know, attracting wolves and all. You never hear Prancer's side to the story, remember?
Come to think of it, didn't you defend a dad in this position? What was her name, Talia, when she had a son from Bruce Wayne, and never told him, yet said he was 'ducking his responsibilities'? Granted, that was after stealing genetic material, but other than that the fathers are in a similar situation: expected to take responsibility for a child they didn't know exists because their mother explicitly stopped them from finding out. What makes Batman not a deadbeat dad in that scenario, then?
Prancer takes responsibility once he's sure Niko is his. If he doesn't take that precaution, then he risks putting a reindeer kid in the situation where his mother *lied* about who his father is, and who will spend the rest of his life trying and failing to fly. There aren't a lot of flying reindeer in the world. They can't exactly afford mistakes in that department. Though it does bring to mind the question of what Santa's role in the whole thing is...
Personally, I'm hoping the series gives at least one of the Flying Forces a wife to live in Santa's Fell. That'd be interesting to see contrasted with Oona... and all the other does/cows that chose not to move to Santa's Fell after however many dates.
He didn't know he had a kid
He's not a deadbeat. He just didn't know that he had a son because Oona didn't tell him. If he knew, he would've been in Niko's life a lot more. It's not his fault that he didn't realize this.
I love Prancer! I hope to see him and Niko interacting more in the third film! It sounds like the plot is going to revolve around their relationship and Niko's desire to be a member of the Flying Forces. With some interesting new characters.
I just want to say that Niko and The Way to The Stars(yes that's what I call it, because it sounds more like the original title, don't kill me) and Niko 2 Little Brother Big Trouble are my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Also, I', Danish, and, if you didn't know, the Niko movies are Danish/Finnish movies. So therefor, they are rather popular in my country, and also, sorry to say this, I don't really like the English versions that much. I perifer Danish or Finnish a lot more, because their voices just makes sense to me. I also watched Niko 2 in the Theaters and it was amazing. I own both of the movies and I've simply loved them ever since I watched them for the first time.
Niko is my favorite character, because I can relate to hm a lot. And also, Cupid(the snow white reindeer of Santa's Flying Forces), is my favorite from The Forces, because he's beautiful an cute. Also Cupid's antlers from the Niko movies are amazing!
I wish I could watch the Niko movies in theaters! Sadly they don't do that here in the United States but regardless, I love all the movies as well and I'm so glad they are making a third one!