The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
| The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Norwegian | Flåklypa Grand Prix |
| Directed by | Ivo Caprino |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Ivo Caprino |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Leif Juster |
| Cinematography | Charles Patey |
| Edited by | Ivo Caprino |
| Music by | Bent Fabricius-Bjerre |
Production company | Caprino Filmcenter a/s |
Release date |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | Norway |
| Language | Norwegian |
| Box office | $6,439,069[citation needed] |
The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix (Norwegian: Flåklypa Grand Prix) is a 1975 Norwegian stop-motion-animated sports film directed by Ivo Caprino. It is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust.[1]
It is the most widely seen Norwegian film of all time, having sold some 5 million tickets since its release[1][2] to a population which currently numbers just over 5 million. The film sold 28 million movie tickets in the former Soviet Union.[3]
Plot
[edit]
In the village 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 Gundersen (En. Sonny Duckworth) (a cheerful and optimistic magpie). Reodor works as a bicycle repairman; one day, the trio discovers 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 Arab oil sheik Ben Redic Fy Fazan (En. Abdul Ben Bonanza), who happens to be vacationing in Flåklypa, and to enter the race, the trio builds a gigantic racing car: Il Tempo Gigante. Reodor ends up winning despite Blodstrupmoen's attempts at sabotage.
History
[edit]In 1969, Ivo Caprino and Kjell Aukrust started work on a 30-minute-long TV special[4] entitled Flåklypa Radio Norway based on Aukrust's books and commissioned for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.[5] Puppets were designed by Ingeborg Isdahl Riser,[6] with the star vehicle Il Tempo Gigante being built by Bjarne Sandemose[6] (who used entirely house-found material in its construction).[7] Despite major publicity, the NRK were unsatisfied and ceased production;[5] another factor was difficultly adapting the original material[4] (with the exception of some very short clips, no material from it has ever been seen by the public). A year later, Caprino and Aukrust announced that it would be adapted into a feature-length film.[5][4][8]
The film is heavily inspired by Lom, where Aukrust had roots. The Flåklypa-mountain is a stylized version of a real mountain, where the valley underneath is named Flåklypa. Other names, including Reodor and Blostrupmoen, were taken from the village of Alvdal.[9] The film was made in 3 years by a small team of set builders and camera operators; Caprino directed and animated.[4]
Release and reception
[edit]Flåklypa Grand Prix was originally released in Norway on 28th August 1975. Following its immense success, NRK1, later TV 2 Direkte, began broadcasting the film every year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day respectively, a tradition which continues into the present day.[1] To promote it, a life-size replica of Il Tempo Gigante was created.[5] In 2013, the film was released on Blu-Ray and finally available in high definition, the restoration process having began in 2005 for DVD and further enhanced for a theatrical 2010 rerelease.[10]
The first English-language release occurred in 1981, distributed by G.G. Communications[11] with a dub recorded in Montreal, Canada. In the United Kingdom another dub premiered on BBC One in 1983;[12] it is this version that is available on Norwegian home video releases.
Subsequent films based on Aukrust's Flåklypa universe
[edit]- Gurin with the Foxtail (1998)
- Solan og Ludvig - Jul i Flåklypa (2013)
- Solan og Ludvig: Herfra til Flåklypa (2015)
- Månelyst i Flåklypa (2018)
Other works inspired
[edit]In 2000, a computer game based on the film was released. The game was created by Tyr Neilsen who was Creative Director and in charge of production at Ingames Interactive until a debilitating accident ended his video game career. The project was taken over and completed by Caprino's son Remo, while his grandson Mario was lead programmer. The lead designers were Joe Dever and Terry Greer.[13] The game was ported to Nintendo DS in 2010 and sold over 380,000 copies in Norway.[14]
The film inspired a young Christian von Koenigsegg to create the Koenigsegg CC, the first of the Koenigsegg line of supercars.[15]
Norwegian hip-hop duo Multicyde based their 1999 single "Not for the Dough" on a sample from the film's soundtrack and featured excerpts from the film in the song's music video.[16]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Flåklypa Grand Prix (1975) | Filmene | Kjell Aukrust". September 23, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ "Mest sette kinofilm på 33 år". NRK. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
- ^ "Горелов о советских хитах "Гран-при"".
- ^ a b c d Ken A. Priebe (2011). The Advanced Art of Stop Motion Animation. Cengage Learning.
- ^ a b c d "Judgement on copyright of Il Tempo Gigante" (PDF). Supreme Court of Norway. November 15, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- ^ a b Saturday Night with Erik Bye. NRK1. May 1, 1971.
- ^ Fædrelandsvennen 1975 issue
- ^ "Flåklypa Radio-TV in sea spray on the Southern coast". Dagbladet. July 15, 1972.
- ^ "Could you name your son Analius or Grus?". Aftenposten. January 22, 2019.
- ^ "Blu-Ray review". NRK. November 8, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- ^ 1981 film poster.
- ^ "Pinchcliffe Grand Prix - BBC Programme Index". January 3, 1983. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- ^ "Flaklypa Grand Prix". Terry Greer. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
- ^ "Zordix Publishing reveals: Hit game Pinchcliffe Grand Prix to get spiritual successor on Nintendo Switch and PC". Gamasutra. April 5, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Pagani vs Koenigsegg: the bosses talk". TopGear.com. BBC.
- ^ "WhoSampled.com entry for Multicyde sample from film's theme". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
External links
[edit]
- The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix at IMDb
- Official website (in English)
- History of Caprino Studios' portfolio (in Norwegian. Backup archive.)