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I wonder if the others were as good?
Dec. 19th, 2016 10:11 pmSweden has an interesting Christmas tradition "Julkalendern" that I somehow didn't notice at all till last year, when they did "Tusen år till julafton*" (Thousand years till Christmas Eve).
Just as some famlies have an Advent Calendar, Sweden has one for the whole country--every day in the weeks leading up to Christmas there is a new 10 minute episode of a TV show that airs. Apparently in most families the kids eagerly await the show each day, and it helps build the hype of the holiday. They make a new one every year, and, of course there is a list of all of them they have every made on line.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lord_kjar never suggested watching them the first five years I was in Sweden, and I am not in the habit of watching TV or movies, and also didn't know about them, so I never suggested it. But C. has always loved the shows, and didn't quit watching them every year just because she grew up, so we have been watching several episodes at a time every few days lately. We just finished watching the ones from the 14th to today.
This years story, Selmas Saga (The Saga of Selma) is one of those cute touching and heart warming stories about a little girl and a beautiful (read: long haired), slightly mad, old scholar, on a quest to find Tomptens Rike (The Kingdom of Santa Claus). We are watching the version with subtitles for the hearing impaired, so I am having the fun of reading the dialogue as I listen to it, which means that I am able to follow 99% of what they say. It is only about once every other episode that I have to ask "what does ___ mean?".
The people producing this had fun including many storytelling tropes appropriate to the story, including a Toy Merchant tycoon who wants his hired Adventurer/Explorer to get to Tomptens Rike first so as to destroy it so that Santa won't be giving away free toys anymore. There is much in the way of magic, including a way to teleport through a locked door, and magic creatures. They take a hot air balloon (the setting is kinda historical, but may only be inspired by vaguely 1800/1900 technology and fashion, I am not convinced that it is true to any specific pre-modern era--it is much more of a fantasy story).
I am really enjoying watching the story as it unfolds. I am told that it isn't available outside of Sweden, in which case, too bad for those of you who would enjoy it. Then again, if you don't understand Swedish it wouldn't make much sense. Somehow I doubt they translate it.
*Of course I heard of "Tusen år till julafton"--that year each episode was from a different time in history, and the actors dressed in appropriate costumes for the time, lived in the correct style house, and ate the right sort of food for the time, so everyone in the SCA was talking about it. However, I only actually saw one or two episodes of it, the ones set in the Middle Ages.
Just as some famlies have an Advent Calendar, Sweden has one for the whole country--every day in the weeks leading up to Christmas there is a new 10 minute episode of a TV show that airs. Apparently in most families the kids eagerly await the show each day, and it helps build the hype of the holiday. They make a new one every year, and, of course there is a list of all of them they have every made on line.
lord_kjar never suggested watching them the first five years I was in Sweden, and I am not in the habit of watching TV or movies, and also didn't know about them, so I never suggested it. But C. has always loved the shows, and didn't quit watching them every year just because she grew up, so we have been watching several episodes at a time every few days lately. We just finished watching the ones from the 14th to today.This years story, Selmas Saga (The Saga of Selma) is one of those cute touching and heart warming stories about a little girl and a beautiful (read: long haired), slightly mad, old scholar, on a quest to find Tomptens Rike (The Kingdom of Santa Claus). We are watching the version with subtitles for the hearing impaired, so I am having the fun of reading the dialogue as I listen to it, which means that I am able to follow 99% of what they say. It is only about once every other episode that I have to ask "what does ___ mean?".
The people producing this had fun including many storytelling tropes appropriate to the story, including a Toy Merchant tycoon who wants his hired Adventurer/Explorer to get to Tomptens Rike first so as to destroy it so that Santa won't be giving away free toys anymore. There is much in the way of magic, including a way to teleport through a locked door, and magic creatures. They take a hot air balloon (the setting is kinda historical, but may only be inspired by vaguely 1800/1900 technology and fashion, I am not convinced that it is true to any specific pre-modern era--it is much more of a fantasy story).
I am really enjoying watching the story as it unfolds. I am told that it isn't available outside of Sweden, in which case, too bad for those of you who would enjoy it. Then again, if you don't understand Swedish it wouldn't make much sense. Somehow I doubt they translate it.
*Of course I heard of "Tusen år till julafton"--that year each episode was from a different time in history, and the actors dressed in appropriate costumes for the time, lived in the correct style house, and ate the right sort of food for the time, so everyone in the SCA was talking about it. However, I only actually saw one or two episodes of it, the ones set in the Middle Ages.