The Magic Reindeer – Tales from the Polar Circle

The project is based on the old legends and fairytales of the small northern minorities like the Sámi people of Scandinavia ( Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Lapland ) , the small Fenno-Ugrian nationalities of Siberia, the Arctic Indian tribes of Alaska /Canada and the Inuits of Greenland.

Pilot for the series has already been shot in the Hafan studio in Prague. The single episodes (13 x 7 minutes) are all independent; they can be used as spots as well when needed. This project was presented in the  Cartoon Forum in Calicia 22.-25.9.2004.

The beliefs of the nomadic tribes and the mysterious rituals of shamans are still alive in the isolated villages beyond the Polar Circle, but very few films – mostly documentaries – have ever found their way for the wider audience. Puppet animation is a perfect tool to describe this rich and unique culture , and in a very gentle but effective way it can also support the struggle of the vanishing minorities against the overwhelming westernisation.

The soundtrack is a very important part of the project. The shaman drums, bone-flutes and mouth-harps are the instruments mostly used, and the special Sámi“ joiku “ singing ( singing without words ) is present in most of the episodes.

All the legends share the same principle of dealing with the Nature : a human soul is only a small part of the system and alone one will never survive. All the good things under the sun are meant to be shared , and all the sorrows will be easier to bear with the help of the others. Simple things, but so rare in our hectic post-modern world nowadays.