The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix


The Pinchcliffe 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.
It is the most widely seen Norwegian film of all time, having sold some 5 million tickets since its release to a population which currently numbers just over 5 million. The film sold 28 million movie tickets in the former Soviet Union.

Plot

In the village of Flåklypa,, the inventor Reodor Felgen lives with his animal friends Ludvig and Solan Gundersen . Reodor works as a bicycle repairman; one day, the trio discovers that one of Reodor's former assistants, Rudolf Blodstrupmoen, 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, 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 entitled Flåklypa Radio Norway based on Aukrust's books and commissioned for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Puppets were designed by Ingeborg Isdahl Riser, with the star vehicle Il Tempo Gigante being built by Bjarne Sandemose. Despite major publicity, the NRK were unsatisfied and ceased production; another factor was difficulty adapting the original material. With the exception of 7-8 minutes worth of footage, 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.
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. The film was made in 3 years by a small team of set builders and camera operators; Caprino directed and animated.

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. To promote it, a life-size replica of Il Tempo Gigante was created. 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.
The first English-language release occurred in 1981, distributed by G.G. Communications with a dub recorded in Montreal, Canada. In the United Kingdom another dub premiered on BBC One in 1983; it is this version that is available on Norwegian home video releases.

Subsequent films based on Aukrust's ''Flåklypa'' universe

  • Gurin with the Foxtail
  • Solan og Ludvig - Jul i Flåklypa
  • Solan og Ludvig: Herfra til Flåklypa
  • Månelyst i Flåklypa
  • ''Flåklypa – fra Paris til pyramidene''

    Other works inspired

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. The game was ported to Nintendo DS in 2010 and sold over 380,000 copies in Norway.
The film inspired a young Christian von Koenigsegg to create the Koenigsegg CC, the first of the Koenigsegg line of supercars.
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.