The race for Christmas is no place for nice kids!
When Santa ends up in a coma and his heirs prove utterly useless, rebellious elf Lotte and spoiled Prince Edvald of the Nisse have to team up to save Christmas – in a breakneck race around the globe against Black Friday robots, bloodthirsty Viking nisser and the sinister anti-Santa, Krampus.
What's the point of it all?
Kids today have an abundance of things, but are starving for time and meaningful relationships. Christmas has become yet another arena where you have to "win" and squeeze in as much Christmas as humanly possible.
We've started treating the symbols of Christmas as if they were the most important thing about Christmas itself. With The Christmas Race we want to play with those symbols to tell an honest story about what the holidays are really about.
Because Christmas shouldn’t be a race!
Digital puppetry
At ADP we have always explored new techniques. We believe animation is at its best when it surprises visually – nobody cares about a good copy.
For The Christmas Race we have landed on a method we think fits the project perfectly: using motion capture in new, creative ways and combining it with everything we know about traditional animation.
We call it digital puppetry: controlling digital puppets through a range of parameters, placed in detailed, physical-looking sets and vehicles – something that has always been part of ADP’s DNA. It may not be animation in the narrowest sense, but the joy of storytelling and the expression are animated through and through.
Succession meets The Muppet Show meets Cannonball Run
The race is a tribute to classics like Cannonball Run, Wacky Races and the over-the-top ski movies of the 90s. We want to get back to the uncomplicated joy, the visual feast and action that goes completely off the rails!
There’s plenty of room for silliness here. We see every team as its own little film, with its own rules and its own logic. They are larger-than-life and easy to read, and even when they don’t drive the plot forward, they make sure the world is bursting with life and mischief.
Original title: Det store juleracet
Format: Animated feature film
Produced by: ADP Animasjonsdepartementet in co-production with Tordenfilm
Status: In development
