The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix

The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix
NorwegianFlåklypa Grand Prix
Directed byIvo Caprino
Written by
Produced byIvo Caprino
Starring
Narrated byLeif Juster
CinematographyCharles Patey
Edited byIvo Caprino
Music byBent Fabricius-Bjerre
Production
company
Caprino Filmcenter a/s
Release date
  • 28 August 1975 (1975-08-28)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryNorway
LanguageNorwegian
Box office$6,439,069

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

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 Seven 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

In 1969, Ivo Caprino and Kjell Aukrust started work on a 25-to-30-minute-long pilot for a TV series[4] entitled Flåklypa Radio Norway (also called Flåklypa TV og Radio in some sources) 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 difficulty adapting the original material.[4] With the exception of 7-8 minutes worth of footage (including some that were repurposed for Flåklypa Grand Prix), 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 Municipality, 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

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 begun 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

Other works inspired

In 2000, the PC game based on the film was released. An Anniversary Edition followed in 2001, and a Gold Edition in 2002, each adding new features and minigames. The game broke Norwegian video game sales records upon release in 2000.[13] It remains the best-selling video game in Norway.[14]

The game is a hybrid point-and-click adventure and racing game consisting of various minigames. Players explore Flåklypa to interact with characters and scavenge for car parts, which are then used to build and upgrade the Il Tempo Gigante for racing.

Development was originally led by Tyr Neilsen[15] of Ingames Interactive before being completed under the supervision of Remo Caprino. Mario Caprino served as lead programmer, while Joe Dever and Terry Greer served as lead designers.

In 2010, an adaptation for Nintendo DS was released.[16] A modern remake was subsequently released in 2021, followed by a Gold Edition in 2025, restoring several minigames from the original release, for Windows, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.

The film inspired a young Christian von Koenigsegg to create the Koenigsegg CC, the first of the Koenigsegg line of supercars.[17]

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.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Mest sette kinofilm på 33 år". NRK. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2009.
  3. ^ "Горелов о советских хитах "Гран-при"".
  4. ^ a b c d Ken A. Priebe (2011). The Advanced Art of Stop Motion Animation. Cengage Learning.
  5. ^ a b c d "Judgement on copyright of Il Tempo Gigante" (PDF). Supreme Court of Norway. November 15, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Saturday Night with Erik Bye. NRK1. May 1, 1971.
  7. ^ Fædrelandsvennen 1975 issue
  8. ^ "Flåklypa Radio-TV in sea spray on the Southern coast". Dagbladet. July 15, 1972.
  9. ^ "Could you name your son Analius or Grus?". Aftenposten. January 22, 2019.
  10. ^ "Blu-Ray review". NRK. November 8, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  11. ^ 1981 film poster.
  12. ^ "Pinchcliffe Grand Prix - BBC Programme Index". January 3, 1983. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  13. ^ "Rekordsalg for Flåklypa". December 15, 2000. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  14. ^ "Flåklypa Grand Prix-anmeldelse". November 1, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2026.
  15. ^ "Flaklypa Grand Prix". Terry Greer. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  16. ^ "Zordix Publishing reveals: Hit game Pinchcliffe Grand Prix to get spiritual successor on Nintendo Switch and PC". Gamasutra. April 5, 2020. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  17. ^ "Pagani vs Koenigsegg: the bosses talk". TopGear.com. BBC.
  18. ^ "WhoSampled.com entry for Multicyde sample from film's theme". WhoSampled.com. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
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