Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure Explained

Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure
Director:Kari Juusonen
Jorgen Lerdam
Producer:Hannu Tuomainen
Petteri Pasanen
Antti Haikala
Emely Christians
Moe Honan
Ralph Christians
Bernhard zu Castell
Starring:Erik Carlson
Juhana Vaittinen
Mikko Kivinen
Vuokko Hovatta
Aarre Karen
Music:Stephen McKeon
Editing:Antti Haikala
Studio:Anima Vitae
Cinemaker
A. Film A/S
Ulysses
Magma Films
Distributor:Nordisk Film (Finland)
Universum Film/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Germany (Germany)[1]
Country:Finland
Denmark
Germany
Ireland
Estonia
Language:Finnish
Released: (Finland)
9 August 2013 (Japan)
Runtime:79 minutes
Budget:7,316,273 €[2]
Gross:1,384,148 €[3]

Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure (also known as Niko 2: Little Brother, Big Trouble, or simply Niko 2), is a 2012 animated comedy/adventure film, produced by Finnish studios Anima Vitae[4] and Cinemaker OY,[5] with co-producers Ulysses (Germany), A. Film (Denmark), and Tidal Films (Ireland). The animation was produced in Finland, Germany and Denmark, with post-production carried out in Ireland. It is the sequel to The Flight Before Christmas[6] and was written by Hannu Tuomainen[7] and Marteinn Thorisson, and directed by and . It was released in Finland on October 12, 2012.[8] Anima Vitae and Cinemaker OY were nominated for Cartoon Movie Tributes 2013[9] in the category “European Producer of the Year”. Like its predecessor, it is among the most expensive Finnish films ever produced.

Plot

The sequel takes places a couple of months after the events of the first film, and follows the story of Niko the reindeer. He must deal with his mother Oona getting remarried. He gains a stepbrother named Jonni, whom Niko hates at first. However, when Jonni gets kidnapped by eagles, Niko flies off to rescue him.

During his journey, Niko is joined by an old, near-blind reindeer named Tobias, who is revealed to be the former leader of Santa Claus's reindeer, Santa's Flying Forces. However, standing in Niko's way is also White Wolf, Black Wolf's younger sister, who is the leader of the eagles and wants revenge on Niko for her brother's death.

Now, Niko and the rest of the team must come up with a plan to save Jonni, defeat White Wolf and return home. At the end of the film, Oona is revealed to have given birth to an unnamed fawn and introduces Niko and Jonni to their new half-sister.

Cast

English Version

Finnish Version

Release

Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure was shown at the Hamburg Film Festival[10] on 29 September 2012.

It was released in Finland on October 12, 2012. The film opened in 115 theatres and was seen by 150,889 viewers, grossing €1,384,148.[11]

It was released in Japan on August 9, 2013, after being shown at the Kinder Film Festival.

It entered into limited European distribution in November and December 2013 in Germany, Denmark, Poland, France, Iceland, Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Estonia, and in Asia in Korea, Israel in March 2013.

Later in the fall of 2013 it was released in Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Portugal, Hungary, and Sweden.

In 2014, the film was released in Kuwait, China, Spain (limited), and Peru.

The film was released in the U.S. via Grindstone and Netflix in October 2013.

It moved to new territories in late October 2013.[12] [13]

Home media

Little Brother, Big Trouble was released in Finland on DVD and Blu-ray on November 13, 2013.[14] It was released in the U.S. on October 29, 2013.[15]

Reception

Despite not having a rating as of yet in Rotten Tomatoes,[16] Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure has received generally mixed to positive reviews. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) gave Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure[17] a 5.9 rating out of 10. Collectively, reviewers on Amazon.com have given the film a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.[18] Reception for Niko 2 in Japan was quite strong and as a result it was awarded the Grand Prix of the best film in feature section in Tokyo Kinder Film Festival.[19]

Soundtrack

The film's original score was composed by Stephen McKeon once again. The original score can be found for example in Spotify "Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble (Original Score)".[20]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Blickpunkt:Film | Film | Niko 2 - Kleines Rentier, großer Held.
  2. Web site: Elokuvavuosi 2011 Facts & Figures. Suomen elokuvasäätiö / The Finnish Film Foundation. March 9, 2015. April 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160418033438/http://ses.fi/fileadmin/dokumentit/Elokuvavuosi_2011_Facts___Figures.pdf. dead.
  3. Web site: Elokuvavuosi 2012 Facts & Figures. Suomen elokuvasäätiö / The Finnish Film Foundation. March 9, 2015. September 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190901052852/https://ses.fi/fileadmin/dokumentit/Elokuvavuosi_2012_Facts___Figures.pdf. dead.
  4. Web site: Anima. March 8, 2015.
  5. Web site: Cinemaker OY. March 8, 2015.
  6. Web site: The Flight Before Christmas (2008) "Niko - Lentäjän poika" (original title). 10 October 2008. IMDb. March 8, 2015. Web site: The Flight Before Christmas (2008). Rotten Tomatoes. March 8, 2015.
  7. Web site: Hannu Tuomainen. Cinemaker. March 8, 2015.
  8. Web site: Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure (2012) Release Info. IMDb. March 9, 2015.
  9. Web site: Animation Feature Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble to the victory in Tokyo Kinder Film Festival. Anima. March 8, 2015. December 6, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141206180238/http://www.anima.fi/press-releases/press-niko2/. dead. Web site: Cartoon Movie Tributes: Winners 2015. Cartoon Media. March 8, 2015. February 6, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150206145145/http://cartoon-media.eu/cartoon-movie-event/cartoon-movie-2015/about-4/cartoon-movie-tributes.htm. dead.
  10. Web site: Filmfest Hamburg 2012 Niko 2 - Kleines Rentier, großer Held. Hamburg Film Festival. 6 December 2016. de. 31 December 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161231080505/http://www.filmfesthamburg.de/de/programm/Film/8485/Niko_2_Little_brother_big_trouble. dead.
  11. Web site: 2012 Facts & Figures. Finnish Film Foundation. 6 December 2016. Helsinki. 15. en, fi. 2013. Hautamäki, Reetta. Kemppinen, Petri. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085009/http://ses.fi/fileadmin/dokumentit/Elokuvavuosi_2012_Facts___Figures.pdf. dead.
  12. Web site: AFM: 'Richard the Stork,' 'Niko 2′ Migrate to New Territories . . 30 October 2013 . Leo . Barraclough . March 8, 2015 . It has already been released in France (Millimages), the U.S. (Grindstone/Netflix), CIS (MGN Films), Benelux (Bridge Rights), Poland (Kino Swiat), Germany (Universum Film) and other territories..
  13. Web site: 'Niko 2', 'Richard The Stork' Sold to Multiple Territories. . March 8, 2015 . Scott . Roxborough . 29 October 2013 . Niko 2 sold to Metrodome in the U.K.; Chinese distributor Flame; Intersonic/Abbey Road for the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary; and Babilla Cine for Colombia. The film has already been released in the U.S. via Grindstone and Netflix, in France (Millimages), CIS (MGN Films), Benelux (Bridge Rights), Poland (Kino Swiat) and Germany (Universum Film), among other territories. .
  14. Web site: Niko 2′s DVD and Blu-ray release in Finland. Anima. March 10, 2015. June 30, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160630074332/http://www.anima.fi/tag/niko-2/. dead.
  15. Web site: Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure 2012. Amazon.com. March 10, 2015.
  16. Web site: Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure (2012). Rotten Tomatoes. March 9, 2015.
  17. Web site: Little Brother, Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure. IMDb. 12 October 2012. March 9, 2015.
  18. Web site: Little Brother Big Trouble: A Christmas Adventure. Amazon.com. 29 October 2013. March 10, 2015.
  19. Web site: Animation Feature Niko 2 – Little Brother, Big Trouble to the victory in Tokyo Kinder Film Festival. Anima. March 10, 2015. December 6, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141206180238/http://www.anima.fi/press-releases/press-niko2/. dead.
  20. Web site: Niko 2 - Little Brother, Big Trouble (Original Score) Stephen McKeon. 12 June 2013. Spotify. March 10, 2015.