Hintertupfinger Grand Prix

To many Norwegians, this is perhaps one of the most important movie the country has ever produced. Even those who refuse to acknowledge Norwegian film industry tend to have a soft spot for this movie. I am Norwegian myself, and I have grown up with this - so obviously this review will be a bit biased. But I firmly believe it would not have gotten its place in Norwegian culture, had it not been for it being such a high quality movie - in all respects.

The story is simple, but great fun. Reodor (en: Theodore) is an inventor that lives in a small village (Flåklypa/Pinchcliffe) with his two animal companions. Solan (en: Sonny) is an overly optimistic magpie, while Ludvig (en: Lambert) is an overly pessimistic hedgehog. Reodor discovers that an man who used to work for him has stolen the design of a car component, and used it to become a racing champ. Reodor (kind of) decides to make his own car, and it all ends in a race. This over-arching storyline is not so important though, as it is only a device used to show of the characters, the settings, the moods, the dialog, and the beautiful naive spirit of the movie. As a Norwegian, it's easy to point at it and say that he captures the Norwegian spirit - but I'm sure most countries has the same curiosity, the same strange characters and the same way of looking at life.

As a fan of animation, the stop motion work in this movie is at times incredible. Especially in some of the scenes in Reodor's garage, and during the unveiling of the car. The amount of work that would have had to be put into creating all that movement must have been astounding. There's also other small touches that are very nice. When ever a character is jumping, it's so seamless that you don't think about the amount of work being put into it looking natural. Now, all of this said, there are also some sequences where the animation is clunky. The use of back projection is obvious in many scenes (especially in the HD version), and you can also tell at times that they are using smaller models than in the rest of the film. All in all, it's a great piece of craft.

The other highlight of the movie is the music. The Danish composer Fabricius Bjerre has managed to make tunes that sound so Norwegian that many assume that they were old folk tunes. You'll find yourself whistling some of the themes long after the movie is over.

One part of the movie that has not aged so well, is the Arab oil sheik. He is an obvious caricature, based on stereotypes. In today's political climate, you could not have a character like him. That said, it's never a mean spirited caricature, and throughout the film, it feels more they are poking fun at him as royalty, not as an immigrant or anything like that. It's definitely "kicking upwards".

And a last aside: I was fortunate enough to be able to see this with some non-Norwegians who were not that acquainted with the movie, and they pointed out a fun detail that I had never thought of: the narrator gives the post man as long an introduction as the main characters. My friend was surprised by this, as the postman is barely in the movie at all. For some reason, to me, it's always just made sense for the narrator to introduce the post man - because he just happens to be there the morning the narrator decides to talk about the gang.

Flåklypa Grand Prix is the biggest selling and most watched film of all time in its homeland of Norway. In fact, its ticket sales in Norway is greater than the population of Norway: which should tell you a lot. It is a cultural phenomenon in Norway that is just as popular 30 years after its arrival, which was proved by the video game based on the film that became the biggest selling video game of all time in Norway: 25 years after the films debut. OK, enough "Hype and Wonderment", lets talk about the movie.

Set in rural Norway in the mid 20th century, it tells the tale of a bicycle mechanic and his friends who wind up entering a car race with a homemade automobile. It is a story of wonder, adventure, charm, "getting by against the odds" and most of all friendship. It is a family film, enjoyed equally by teens, young-lings and adults alike. The humor is accessible to all ages and types of people, and the emotions that emanate from the screen are always moving the story forward and deepening your involvement about the characters and their environment. It is quite simply, an outstanding film, that should not be missed.

To balance my obvious admiration for this piece of work, I will now look on the flip side of this shining coin. Firstly, the film does stereotype slightly, and does so from a 1970 point of view. This makes some characters and jokes seem outdated and "inappropriate" nowadays. However, this is a minor flaw from which most all films of age suffer. The second and final "critisism" is this question: why was a (proper) sequel never made???

This film has had influence on Hollywood without the major public knowing about it. From Back to the Future to Star Wars Episode I, which pod racing scene is almost an exact copy from Flåklypa Grand Prix. If you are an avid film enthusiast and want to have light bulbs appear over your head in regards to finding our where things came from in some major Hollywood productions, then you should watch this film.

What more can I say but go and see it :)

Flåklypa Grand Prix is a wonderful piece of art. This movie is, to put it in simple words, perfect. I saw the first time as a kid, and I can still watch it over and over again without any loss in pleasure. It is a children's movie, in a way, but I'm over 30 and I still love it. The scenery is absolutely beautiful, with the mountains of Flåklypa and everything. The puppets are amazingly alive in spite of the relatively small number of moving parts. The technological marvels of Reodor Felgen, including but by far not limited to the monstrous car Il Tempo Gigante, evidence a very skilled craftmanship and an eye for details. The car competition towards the end really feels in your own stomach, too. The story line is quite simple and not really original, but that's the way it should be in a children's movie (even for kids above 30).

Flåklypa Grand Prix is my absolute favorite of all movies ever made in the whole world!

...however let's try.

I'm not gonna sketch the plot, couz' plenty other people have done it, but:

The humor is outstanding, the action is tense, and one can not help getting sucked into this world filled with nutcases, daydreamers, villains, plain goofy looking types, and hopelessly stupid inventions and the characters likewise way of thinking.

The music score is absolutely perfect, the dialog is sharp and fun, the scenes are extremely well done. It simply doesn't get any better than this.

Just my two cents

I always knew this film as Pinchcliff Grand Prix in the United States. I loved this movie as a five-year-old child in 1977 but now it is impossible to find anywhere. I have been looking for years and have had no success. Can anyone out there help me get a copy? This movie was very ahead of its time and in my opinion could compete with some of the latest high tech computer animation movies out today. NOTHING has even come close to what Pinchcliff Grand Prix did for me. It even inspired me as a young child to become addicted to fast cars as an adult!