The Magic Crystal (2011 film)

Last updated
The Magic Crystal
The Magic Crystal.jpg
DVD cover.
Finnish Maaginen kristalli
Directed byAntti Haikala
Screenplay byAntti Haikala
Bob Swain
Dan Wicksman
Nuria Wicksman
Alessandro Liggieri
Music byMenno Van Riet
Production
companies
Epidem ZOT
Aranéo Belgium
Skyline Animation
Distributed by Future Film (Finland)
TF1 Enterprises (international)
Atlas International Film (worldwide sales)
Release dates
November 2, 2011 (Belgium)
November 18, 2011 (Finland)
Running time
75 minutes
CountriesFinland
Belgium
LanguageFinnish
Budget€5,074,000 ($6,001,019.8)
Box office€340,836

The Magic Crystal (Finnish : Maaginen kristalli), also released as Santa's Magic Crystal [1] and The Elf that Rescued Christmas [2] in the UK, is a 2011 Finnish-Belgian computer-animated Christmas film directed by Antti Haikala from a screenplay by Haikala, Bob Swain, Dan Wicksman, Nuria Wicksman and Alessandro Liggieri. [3] The film is part of a unified multimedia concept developed by Mikael Wahlfors, which also includes Andrew Bernhardt's Special Patrol children's books, the Italian-produced animated series Red Caps , and the mobile app World Polar Heroes. The Magic Crystal was produced by the Epidem ZOT, Aranéo and Skyline Animation. [4]

Contents

It was released in Belgium on November 2, 2011 and on 18 of the same month in Finland; the film was a box office bomb, grossing $340,836 against a budget of €5,074,000 ($6,001,019.8). [5] [6]

Plot

On December 23, a young orphan named Yotan (Jonas in some versions) is late to return to the orphanage due to him helping a younger boy retrieve his Christmas letter in a drain. In his room, Santa's twin brother Basil and his minion Grouch (Lätty in some versions) show up outside his window asking if he would like to help save Christmas. The orphanage owner bursts into the room scaring Yotan out of the window and into the garbage bin. In the bin, Yotan befriends a female talking squirrel named Jiffy. Santa's rocket-powered sleigh shows up driven by a Jamaican anthropomorphic reindeer named Poro who picks up Basil and Grouch. The bin rolls down the hill and the orphanage owner tells Yotan to never come back. Yotan and Jiffy crash into the town centre where the sleigh returns to collect the letters and the two hide in one of the letter bags. Basil and Grouch notice them and help Poro with the bags and they take off back to Lapland.

In Lapland, the sleigh arrives at Santa's palace. Yotan and Jiffy sneak out before Basil finds them and they run around the palace narrowly avoiding Basil. Basil eventually finds them and takes them to the crystal room where a magical crystal is being kept. He explains that Santa is two minutes older than him and says that Christmas isn't what it's supposed to be. He then makes Yotan retrieve the crystal and with Jiffy's help is able to get it. Basil then betrays Yotan when he takes the crystal from him and leaves him behind. A group of elves and Poro arrive in the crystal room to find Yotan and Jiffy and the crystal missing. An elf named Jaga accuses Yotan of stealing the crystal. Santa Claus (credited as Joulupukki in original version) and his wife Maya arrive and react more calmly to Yotan's presence. Basil calls from the control room revealing he stole the crystal. Jaga and another elf named Didi chase after Basil on rocket-powered skis but are shot down by Basil's Robotics (minion-like robots). Yotan hijacks the sleigh with the help of a younger elf named Alpo who only speaks in Elvish. Poro grabs on to the sleigh and it blasts out of the palace. Yotan earns Poro's trust after he saves him. Santa reveals that the reason Basil needed Yotan was because he is at the top of the nice list making him the nicest person in the world and earlier put a magic star in Yotan's pocket and tells him that when the time comes it will do exactly what he needs it to do and to believe in himself. At Basil's base, he steals Jaga and Didi's magic stars and forces them to activate them in order for his base to start working. He then freezes the palace and imprisons them.

As the sleigh closes in on the base, Basil flies out on another sleigh and shoots it down. Basil explains to Jaga and Didi that he plans to kidnap all the children in the world due to bad things they do when they grow up (wars, pollution, crimes, etc.) and that Santa spoils them. Surviving the crash, Poro fix the sleigh and Alpo distracts the Robotics. Making their way into the base, Yotan and Jiffy find out that the Robotics are strange green beings in robot suits. Disguising as one of them, Yotan finds portions of Basil's plan but before he can move on, his cover is blown and is imprisoned by Basil who steals his star. Jiffy escapes and accidentally falls off the base which causes a giant snowball to destroy the sleigh just as Poro finishes fixing it. They crash into the base and Yotan's cell, freeing him. Unbeknownst to them, Basil witnessed the escape.

Back at the palace, Santa, Maya and the elves are revealed to have survived being frozen from the blast and with the radio down, Smoo, a gifted elf, attempts to fix a drone to find the group. The group retrieve Jaga and Didi's stars but Basil appears and after a fight, chases him to where Jaga and Didi are where Basil reveals that the base is built under a volcano and attempts to burn them in the lava. Yotan throws them their stars allowing them to escape as does Basil and Grouch. Chasing after them, the base starts to rise. Jaga still doesn't trust Yotan who runs off with Jiffy to stop Basil himself after she said that he's not one of them. Yotan attempts to stop Basil but is then joined by the others, including Jaga, finally accepting him. Yotan throws Jiffy at Basil who retrieves his star. The volcano starts to erupt due to the power of the crystal trapping Poro and the elves. Basil pushes Yotan into the lava but uses the orphanage owner's cane to hold himself. He retrieves his star and it gives him anti-gravity powers which he uses to save the others. The crystal is revealed, when the Christmas star rises, to multiply Santa for each country so he can deliver the presents. Yotan asks the Basils "Which one of you is the real Santa Claus?" This causes a fight between the Basils giving Yotan and Jaga a chance to save the crystal, but is saved by Grouch who they take with him. Due to the crystal being taken, the Basils regroup causing Basil to be launched out of Lapland and into a house where he is toppled by children.

In Basil's sleigh, it is too heavy for all of them so Jaga attempts to sacrifice herself but Yotan attempts to save her causing them both to fall off. The sleigh escapes but the drone saves Yotan and Jaga and the green creatures from the Robotic suits escape from the base. Back at the palace, Yotan, Jiffy, Jaga, Didi, Alpo and Smoo are named Santa's special helpers: the Red Caps. The crystal multiplies Santa and Poro who go off to deliver the presents and spread Christmas joy to the world and Yotan is given his wish he made earlier: being part of a family.

Cast

Release

The Magic Crystal was released in Finnish cinemas on 18 November 2011 by Future Film. [7]

Box office performance

The Magic Crystal was a box office bomb. It received 5,000 admissions during its opening weekend, ending with 16,865 during its entire theatrical run, which equates to $195,599 according to Box Office Mojo. In Belgium, it grossed $74,096. The film was later released in Lebanon on 13 December 2012, where it grossed $71,141 for a worldwide total box office gross of €340,836 against a budget of €5,074,000 ($6,001,019.8). It was the 86th most-watched film in Finland of 2011 by number of admissions. [6] [8] According to Peter Toiviainen, manager of marketing at Future Film, the reason for the film's underperformance at the box office was because "the novelty value of domestic 3D films is now lower than it was two years ago", and competition from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 , which premiered at the same time as The Magic Crystal. [5]

Reception

Common Sense Media gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and the disclaimer: "Finnish Christmas adventure has some cartoonish violence". [9]

Päivi Laajalahti gave the film three out of five stars. In his review he criticized visual effects and the script, but praised voice acting and considered dialogues smart. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Ernest Saves Christmas</i> 1988 US Christmas comedy film by John Cherry

Ernest Saves Christmas is a 1988 American Christmas comedy film directed by John Cherry and starring Jim Varney. This is the third film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, the second film in the Ernest series, and the highest-grossing film in the Ernest series. The film chronicles Ernest's attempt to help find a replacement for an aging Santa Claus.

<i>Elf</i> (film) 2003 American Christmas comedy film

Elf is a 2003 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell as Buddy, a human raised by Santa's elves, who learns about his origins and heads to New York City to meet his biological father. James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Asner and Bob Newhart appear in supporting roles.

<i>The Santa Clause 2</i> 2002 film directed by Michael Lembeck

The Santa Clause 2 is a 2002 American Christmas comedy film directed by Michael Lembeck in his directorial debut. It is a sequel to The Santa Clause (1994) and the second installment in The Santa Clause franchise. All of the principal actors from the first film, including Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, and David Krumholtz, reprise their roles, and are joined by Elizabeth Mitchell, Spencer Breslin, and Liliana Mumy. Released on November 1, 2002, the film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $172 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. It was followed by another sequel, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, released in 2006.

<span title="Finnish-language text"><span lang="fi" style="font-style: normal;">Joulupukki</span></span> Christmas figure from Finland

Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name joulupukki literally means 'Christmas goat' or 'Yule goat' in Finnish; the word pukki comes from the Germanic root bock, a cognate of English "buck", meaning 'billy-goat'. An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus.

<i>Santa Claus: The Movie</i> 1985 film by Jeannot Szwarc

Santa Claus: The Movie is a 1985 British-American Christmas film starring Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, and David Huddleston. It depicts the origin of Santa Claus, and his modern-day adventure to save one of his elves (Moore) who has been manipulated by an unscrupulous toy company executive (Lithgow). It was directed by Jeannot Szwarc and was the last major fantasy film produced by the Paris-based father-and-son production team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind.

Elmo Saves Christmas is a Sesame Street Christmas musical fantasy comedy drama television special released on PBS on December 2, 1996. It was released to VHS that same year. Inspired by the 1892 short story "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells, Elmo wishes for Christmas to occur every day, only to be taken to the future to learn the adverse consequences of his wish. The program was filmed in Sesame Street's usual home, the Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. Footage from the film It's a Wonderful Life also appears in the program and after the credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Claus in film</span>

Motion pictures featuring Santa Claus constitute their own subgenre of the Christmas film genre. Early films of Santa revolve around similar simple plots of Santa's Christmas Eve visit to children. In 1897, in a short film called Santa Claus Filling Stockings, Santa Claus is simply filling stockings from his pack of toys. Another film called Santa Claus and the Children was made in 1898. A year later, a film directed by George Albert Smith titled Santa Claus was created. In this picture, Santa Claus enters the room from the fireplace and proceeds to trim the tree. He then fills the stockings that were previously hung on the mantle by the children. After walking backward and surveying his work, he suddenly darts at the fireplace and disappears up the chimney.

The Secret World of Santa Claus is a French and Canadian children's animated television show. It is syndicated to several countries worldwide, including Teletoon in Canada, and Super RTL in Germany, and is generally seen every December during the holiday season. On December 25, 1999, Christmas Day, The Secret World of Santa Claus marathon took place from 6:00am to 7:00pm. As of 2013, it has been released on 2 DVDs from Cinedigm in the US.

Elmo's Christmas Countdown is a 2007 television Christmas film, featuring the characters from Sesame Street. It was first aired on December 23, 2007, on ABC and starred Ben Stiller.

<i>A Miser Brothers Christmas</i> American TV series or program

A Miser Brothers’ Christmas is a 2008 Christmas stop motion spin-off special, based on the characters from the 1974 Rankin-Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Distributed by Warner Bros. Animation under their Warner Premiere label and Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studios, the one-hour special premiered on ABC Family on Saturday, December 13, 2008, during the network's annual The 25 Days of Christmas programming.

Elf Toljander is a Finnish Christmas themed television show for children that was broadcast by Yle TV2. It was first presented in 1998. Yle TV2 made new episodes in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2013. One episode is about 5-15 minutes long, depending on the year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Park</span> Theme park in Rovaniemi, Finland

SantaPark is a Christmas theme park and visitor attraction in Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland. SantaPark was opened 28 November 1998.

<i>The Flight Before Christmas</i> (2008 film) 2008 Finnish animated film by Michael HegnerKari Juusonen

The Flight Before Christmas 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. 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. 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.

<i>The Search for Santa Paws</i> 2010 American film

The Search for Santa Paws is a 2010 Christmas adventure fantasy film released on November 23, 2010. The title is the tenth film in the Air Bud franchise and is also a prequel to Santa Buddies, as well as a spin-off from the Air Buddies film franchise.

<i>Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups</i> 2012 American film

Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups is a 2012 Christmas adventure film directed by Robert Vince and produced by Anna McRoberts. It is the sequel to The Search for Santa Paws (2010). The Santa Pups save Christmas around the world. The film was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray, and as a film download on November 20, 2012.

Red Caps is an Italian-Finnish animated television series produced by Cartoon-One in 2011. The series focuses on the adventures of a group of elves, and it is characterized by educational and moral purposes which gained to it the support of a number of institutions, including UNICEF and the Finnish Ministry of Environment.

<i>Get Santa</i> 2014 British comedy film by Christopher Smith

Get Santa is a 2014 British Christmas comedy film directed and written by Christopher Smith. The film stars Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Warwick Davis, Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker and Kit Connor.

<i>Santa Claus and the Magic Drum</i> 1996 TV series or program

Santa Claus and the Magic Drum is a 51 minute long Finnish-Hungarian animation released in 1996. The story is based on a 1995 children's book of the same name by Mauri Kunnas. The film has been recorded in Finnish, English (British) and Swedish. It was made for TV broadcasting and was first shown on Christmas Eve 1996, and has been broadcast on YLE TV2 nearly every Christmas Eve since. Santa Claus and the Magic Drum has been sold to over 40 countries.

<i>The Christmas Chronicles 2</i> 2020 American Christmas comedy film

The Christmas Chronicles 2 is a 2020 American Christmas comedy film directed and produced by Chris Columbus, who wrote the screenplay with Matt Lieberman. A sequel to the 2018 film The Christmas Chronicles, it features Kurt Russell reprising his role as Santa Claus. Also reprising their roles are Goldie Hawn, Darby Camp, Judah Lewis, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, with new cast members Julian Dennison, Jahzir Bruno, Tyrese Gibson, Sunny Suljic, Darlene Love, and Malcolm McDowell. The film had a limited theatrical release before moving to Netflix on November 25, 2020.

<i>Alien Xmas</i> 2020 American stop-motion animated film

Alien Xmas is a 2020 American stop-motion animated Christmas film directed by Stephen Chiodo. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Chiodo and Jim Strain, the film features the voices of Keythe Farley, Dee Bradley Baker, Kaliayh Rhambo, Michelle Deco, and Barbara Goodson. The film's plot centers on X, an extraterrestrial belonging to a race of thieving aliens known as Klepts, who is sent to the North Pole on a mission to eliminate Earth's gravity.

References

  1. ↑ Costello, Brian. "Santa's Magic Crystal". Common Sense Media . Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. ↑ "The Elf that Rescued Christmas". Radio Times . Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "Maaginen kristalli" (in Finnish). Finnish Film Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Maaginen kristalli". National Audiovisual Institute . Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. 1 2 Lehtonen, Veli-Pekka (22 November 2011). "Kotimaisella elokuvalla nihkeä vuosi – Maaginen kristalli tuorein floppaaja" [Domestic cinema has a bad year: Magic Crystal the latest flop]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 23 November 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  6. 1 2 "The Magic Crystal". Box Office Mojo . IMDb. Amazon . Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "Maaginen kristalli 3D". Cineuorpa. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Suomen katsotuimmat elokuvat vuonna 2011" [Most watched films in Finland in 2011]. Elokuvauutiset.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Santa's Magic Crystal". Common Sense Media.
  10. ↑ "Maaginen kristalli – elokuvan arvostelu". Episodi.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.