 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Flight Before Christmas
- Review Date: November 20, 2008
- G
- Genre: Family and Kids
- 2008
Common Sense Media says
Wolves will scare younger kids in this holiday feature.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that while the movie features a cute baby reindeer and his forest friends, the story is about a pack of ravenous, evil wolves intent on eating Santa and his reindeer, and the main character is imperiled throughout. Non-standard family units like a single mom, son, and grandpa are featured, as is a surrogate father who is preferable to the real thing. No discussion of religious aspects of Christmas and hardly any of the secular aspects either; this is all about the reindeer.
What's the story?
Though the packaging indicates that THE FLIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS is about Santa and his little helpers, the real story is a lot darker. A young reindeer, Niko (voiced by Andrew McMahon) longs to fly with Santa's Flying Forces, one of whom he believes is his father. His inability to fly doesn't discourage him, and his friend and tiny protector Julius (Norm MacDonald) exhorts him to believe in himself. One day Niko strays too far from his Home Valley to practice his flying and inadvertently reveals the location of his herd to a pack of starving wolves, setting off a chain of events which leads to the wolves' decision to hunt Santa and his flying forces. Niko must try to save himself, his herd, and Santa to redeem himself.
Is it any good?
This movie is beautifully animated and imagined, and that may be part of its problem. The wolves are truly scary, and the fact that they are chasing Niko and his herd is bad enough; then they decide to eat Santa. The subplot about Niko determining which of the Flying Force reindeer is his father borders on creepy, especially as his mother relays the tale of her one magical night with Daddy Reindeer and the arrival of Niko 10 months later.
As a singing and wisecracking weasel Wilma, Emma Roberts has a small part, although she's got top billing in the credits. MacDonald is much more affecting as the flying squirrel Julius, whose only family is Niko and whose bravery is much more compelling than that of the preening and silly Flying Forces. This is not a movie that embodies the Christmas spirit, but for kids who can withstand the wolves it's a quirky coming-of-age tale.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about what Niko does when he leads to the wolves to his herd by mistake. Have you ever made a mistake and tried to fix it? What did you learn from that experience?
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AGE
Looked charming and cute, but the wolves would be scary to a 4yo.
I just turned the TV on, and this was playing. It was a cute scene, with the animals skiing down the mountain, totally appropriate for our 4yo. We're always looking for family friendly shows to TiVo. So I began recording it...and not one minute later, the scary wolves bared their fangs. So I headed to common sense media.org to see what the recommendation was...it sounded right on the money. I quite recording it...thx common sense media...your reviews are always spot on. (Interesting note - submitting this review flagged the text "common sense media (all one word)" as spam...you might want to remove your website name from your spam filter;) ! )
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AGE
the main character is an illegitimate reindeer whose father is one of santa's flying reindeer, that had a one-night stand w/his mother, and none of the reindeer own up to the deed. the bad guys are frightening wolves that are trying to eat up santa and his reindeer. my preschooler was understandably too scared to watch when they came on screen. despite the marketing, this is not a family-friendly Christmas movie.
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AGE
DONT LET YOUR KIDS WATCH THIS MOVIE!
This movie made me sick. This is basically a movie about a one night stand a reindeer had with a random buck and she doesn't know who the baby daddy is! The reindeer goes looking for his father and there are trashy comments about dna laying around and which reindeer had a one night stand with this reindeers mother? Forget it!
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| Topics: | adventures, holidays |
| Studio: | Weinstein Co. |
| Directors: | Kari Juusonen, Michael Hegner |
| Cast: | Emma Roberts, Gavin Morgan, Norm MacDonald |
| Genre: | Family and Kids |
| Run time: | 80 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 25, 2008 |
| DVD release date: | October 25, 2008 |
| MPAA rating: | G |
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