"Santa's Magic Crystal is perhaps the first Finnish feature film planned as a 3D stereoscopic film. The Moomins 3D animation feature film was actually made afterwards," said producer Mikael Wahlforss from Epidem Zot who came up with the original idea. The film was directed by Niko and the Way to the Stars production designer Antti Haikala who signs here his feature debut. The film focuses on Santa's evil twin brother Basil who develops a diabolical plan: to steal the magic crystal that allows Santa to distribute presents to children and bring happiness around the world. However a young boy and Santa's Red Caps (his crew of elves helpers) set on a mission to rescue the crystal.
The €5.7m film was coproduced by Epidem Zot with Belgium's Skyline Entertainment and Araneo, part of publishing powerhouse Dupuis, with support, among others, from Nordisk Film & TV Fond. The animation work was made at Anima Vitae, creators of the international animation hit Niko. The 26x26' TV series co-produced by Wahlforss with Italy's Cartoon One for €4.5 million is a comedy adventure for 6-9 years old about Santa's Elves and their adventures to protect children around the world. The series received the support from Unicef. Several ancillary products based on the characters have been produced such as books, an online game and Red Caps club for kids soon available on www.redcaps.com.
TF1 International handles world sales for the feature film and TV series. Santa's Magic Crystal will be released this Christmas in Belgian cinemas via producer/distributor Skyline Entertainment (who had a major hit in Niko) and in Russia (Cinemax). Epidem Zot had a deal with Sandrew Metronome for Scandinavia and the Baltic States but after the company's withdrawal from theatrical distribution, Future Film Distribution took over the Finnish release but Wahlforss has had to renegotiate rights in the other territories. So far, Norway is the closest to sign a distribution agreement. European broadcasters that acquired rights on the TV series include RAI in Italy and RTL2 in Germany.