Flåklypa Grand Prix
Encyclopedia
Flåklypa Grand Prix is a Norwegian
stop motion
-animated feature film
directed by Ivo Caprino
. It was released in 1975
and is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust
. It is the most widely-seen Norwegian film of all time, having sold some 5.5 million tickets since its release to a population which currently numbers just 4.9 million.
In the town of Flåklypa (En
. Pinchcliffe), the inventor Reodor Felgen (En
. Theodore Rimspoke) lives with his animal friends Ludvig (En
. Lambert) (a nervous, pessimistic and melancholic hedgehog) and Solan (En
. Sonny Duckworth) (a cheerful and optimistic magpie). Reodor works as a bicycle repairman, though he spends most of his time inventing weird Rube Goldberg
-like contraptions. One day, the trio discover that one of Reodor's former assistants, Rudolf Blodstrupmoen (En
. Rudolph Gore-Slimey), has stolen his design for a race car engine and has become a world champion Formula One
driver. Solan secures funding from an Arab oil sheik who happens to be vacationing in Flåklypa, and to enter the race, the trio builds a gigantic racing car: Il Tempo Gigante—a fabulous construction with two extremely big engines (weighing 2.8 tons alone and making the seismometer in Bergen
show 7.8 Richter when started the first time), a body made out of copper, a spinning radar (that turns out to be useful when Blodstrupmoen starts engaging in smoke warfare during the race) and its own blood bank. Reodor ends up winning despite Blodstrupmoen's attempts at sabotage.
The film is heavily inspired by the birthplace of Kjell Aukrust's father, Lom
. The Flåklypa-mountain is a stylized version of a real mountain, where, ironically enough, the valley underneath it is named Flåklypa. It is also widely believed that the characters are carricatures of real persons.
The film was made in 3.5 years by a team of approximately 5 people. Caprino directed and animated; Bjarne Sandemose (Caprino's principal collaborator throughout his career) built most of the props, sets and cars and was in charge of the technical aspects of making the film; Ingeborg Riiser designed the puppets and Gerd Alfsen made the costumes and props. Charley Patey was the camera man.
When it came out in 1975, Flåklypa Grand Prix was an enormous success in Norway, selling 1 million tickets in its first year of release. It remains the biggest box office hit of all time in Norway (Caprino Studios claim it has sold 5.5 million tickets to date) and was also released in many other countries. The movie was shown in cinemas every day of the week for 28 years, from 1975 until 2003—mainly in Norway, Moscow
and Tokyo
. A real Il tempo gigante car was used to promote the film, e.g. driving around the Hockenheimring
between races. The car itself has over 550 hp and a jet-engine that can be used if wanted, but due to EU restrictions the vehicle is barely permitted to be used at all save for exclusive TV cameos.
The UK release featured the voice of well-known Formula One
commentator Murray Walker
. There is also a US dubbed version. In 2005 a new, digitally restored DVD was released which featured soundtracks and subtitles in 5 languages including English. A previous DVD was released in 2001.
The movie aired each Christmas Eve
in Norway for several years, until a change of channel from NRK to TV 2 (Norway)
changed the airing date to December 23 or 25. In 2009 it showed on 25th.
.
The game was ported to Nintendo DS
in 2010.
The movie inspired a young Christian von Koenigsegg
to create the Koenigsegg CC
. He conceived the first concept being 22.
Hip-hop duo Multicyde based their 1999 single "Not for the dough" on a sample from the movie's soundtrack and featured excerpts from the movie in the song's music video.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
-animated feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
directed by Ivo Caprino
Ivo Caprino
Ivo Caprino was a Norwegian film director and writer, best known for his puppet films. His most famous film is Flåklypa Grand Prix , made in 1975.- Early career :...
. It was released in 1975
1975 in film
The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
and is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust
Kjell Aukrust
Kjell Aukrust was a Norwegian author, poet and artist. He was the nephew of Olav Aukrust. He is most famous for his memoirs of his childhood in Alvdal in the books Simen, Bonden and Bror Min, and his creation of the fictional Norwegian village of Flåklypa and its cast of idiosyncratic characters...
. It is the most widely-seen Norwegian film of all time, having sold some 5.5 million tickets since its release to a population which currently numbers just 4.9 million.
Plot
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Pinchcliffe), the inventor Reodor Felgen (En
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Theodore Rimspoke) lives with his animal friends Ludvig (En
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Lambert) (a nervous, pessimistic and melancholic hedgehog) and Solan (En
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Sonny Duckworth) (a cheerful and optimistic magpie). Reodor works as a bicycle repairman, though he spends most of his time inventing weird Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
-like contraptions. One day, the trio discover that one of Reodor's former assistants, Rudolf Blodstrupmoen (En
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Rudolph Gore-Slimey), has stolen his design for a race car engine and has become a world champion Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
driver. Solan secures funding from an Arab oil sheik who happens to be vacationing in Flåklypa, and to enter the race, the trio builds a gigantic racing car: Il Tempo Gigante—a fabulous construction with two extremely big engines (weighing 2.8 tons alone and making the seismometer in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
show 7.8 Richter when started the first time), a body made out of copper, a spinning radar (that turns out to be useful when Blodstrupmoen starts engaging in smoke warfare during the race) and its own blood bank. Reodor ends up winning despite Blodstrupmoen's attempts at sabotage.
History
In 1970, Ivo Caprino and his small team of collaborators started work on a 25-minute-long TV special, which would eventually become Flåklypa Grand Prix. The TV special was a collection of sketches based on Aukrust's books, with no real story line. After 1.5 years of work, it was decided that it didn't really work as a whole, so production on the TV special was stopped (with the exception of some very short clips, no material from it has ever been seen by the public), But about one year after the rejection, Ivo Caprino's son, Remo Caprino, got the idea to make the sketches into a full-length film. Kjell Aukrust, Ivo Caprino, Kjell Syversen and Remo Caprino began at that point to write the script for what would later become Flåklypa Grand Prix (En. Pinchcliffe Grand Prix).The film is heavily inspired by the birthplace of Kjell Aukrust's father, Lom
Lom, Norway
Lom is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fossbergom....
. The Flåklypa-mountain is a stylized version of a real mountain, where, ironically enough, the valley underneath it is named Flåklypa. It is also widely believed that the characters are carricatures of real persons.
The film was made in 3.5 years by a team of approximately 5 people. Caprino directed and animated; Bjarne Sandemose (Caprino's principal collaborator throughout his career) built most of the props, sets and cars and was in charge of the technical aspects of making the film; Ingeborg Riiser designed the puppets and Gerd Alfsen made the costumes and props. Charley Patey was the camera man.
When it came out in 1975, Flåklypa Grand Prix was an enormous success in Norway, selling 1 million tickets in its first year of release. It remains the biggest box office hit of all time in Norway (Caprino Studios claim it has sold 5.5 million tickets to date) and was also released in many other countries. The movie was shown in cinemas every day of the week for 28 years, from 1975 until 2003—mainly in Norway, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. A real Il tempo gigante car was used to promote the film, e.g. driving around the Hockenheimring
Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is an automobile racing track situated near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it biennially hosts the Formula One German Grand Prix...
between races. The car itself has over 550 hp and a jet-engine that can be used if wanted, but due to EU restrictions the vehicle is barely permitted to be used at all save for exclusive TV cameos.
The UK release featured the voice of well-known Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
commentator Murray Walker
Murray Walker
Graeme Murray Walker, OBE is a former Formula One motorsport commentator...
. There is also a US dubbed version. In 2005 a new, digitally restored DVD was released which featured soundtracks and subtitles in 5 languages including English. A previous DVD was released in 2001.
The movie aired each Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
in Norway for several years, until a change of channel from NRK to TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 (Norway)
TV 2 is the largest commercial television station in Norway. Over 30% of the time Norwegians spend watching TV is spent watching TV 2. The station has 65% of the market for TV commercials in Norway....
changed the airing date to December 23 or 25. In 2009 it showed on 25th.
Other works inspired
In 2000 a computer game based on the film was released. The game was produced by Caprino's son Remo, while his grandson Mario was lead programmer. The lead designer was Joe DeverJoe Dever
Joe Dever is an award-winning British fantasy author and game designer. Originally a musician, Dever became the first British winner of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Championship of America in 1982....
.
The game was ported to Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
in 2010.
The movie inspired a young Christian von Koenigsegg
Christian von Koenigsegg
Christian Erland Harald von Koenigsegg is the founder of the Swedish high-performance automobile manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive AB....
to create the Koenigsegg CC
Koenigsegg CC
The Koenigsegg CC was the prototype for the CC8S made by Koenigsegg.-Overview:Issued to set work on in late 1999, Koenigsegg wanted to build a supercar that could exceed all standards set by the McLaren F1 at the time, and go over the 386 km/h set by the F1 in 1997...
. He conceived the first concept being 22.
Hip-hop duo Multicyde based their 1999 single "Not for the dough" on a sample from the movie's soundtrack and featured excerpts from the movie in the song's music video.
External links
- Flåklypa Grand Prix at Filmbyen.no
- Homepage of Caprino Studios (in English)
- Homepage of Bent Fabricius Bjerre (sound track)