Did you know? The Christmas calendar closely follows the format

The initial code is the same down to the font. © SAKS FILM/MTV3

The Christmas Calendar enjoys a cult reputation in Finland, but it does so elsewhere as well. The beloved and flashy Christmas calendar is based on the 1991 Danish The Julekalender format and closely adapts it. The Norwegians made their own version in 1994.

In the Finnish version, one thing was radically different from its predecessors, and it annoyed the show’s creator Hans-Erik of Saxony.

– This is very creepy and dangerous in the original versions. In the Finnish version, the character represented more comedy. It was the director’s choice, but it has always annoyed me a little, Saks reveals to Iltalehti.

The Christmas calendar started when Saks heard that a new Danish TV channel (TV2) wanted a Christmas calendar for adults. He presented the idea with the De Nattergale group to the channel, but the answer was no.

Saks and the comedy trio continued to develop ideas, but all proposals were rejected. Finally, they got their idea through and filming was able to begin.

– The entire production phase was stressful due to the tight schedule. The episodes were delivered last week, half of them in mid-December. However, it immediately became a great success in Denmark, Saks recalls.

Among other things It’s Hard To Be A Nissemand -song (Finnish: It’s hard to be an elf) became a big hit.

Saks’ dream of making a Norwegian version came true. The farmhouse was modified in a slightly more Norwegian direction. Not much was expected from the Norwegian version.

– It was assessed as a disaster in focus group tests, Saks says.

It was the other way around. According to Saks, it became a big hit – bigger than in Denmark.

Later, Saks met the vice president of MTV3 Tauno Äijön in Cannes. Finland was also excited about its own version. The Christmas Calendar was filmed at the Saks studio in Denmark. The outdoor scenes were filmed in Ruka, Finland.

Karonka is not forgotten

Saks was involved in the filming of the Finnish version as a producer. Worked as another producer Pirkko Leisti.

– I remember that the Finnish director (Jukka Virtanen) and the Actors were very friendly and professional. What I remembered the most was the karonka with the Finnish boys. Wow, they really knew how to party, laughs Saks.

Jukka Virtanen Finnished the Danish manuscript into a suitable Finnish mouth.

– At first we had a Danish director. He read the script word for word, and every time we said something different than what was written in the script, he yelled “stop, not like that”. We thought nothing will come of this, we’ll still be here 10 years from now, actor Kari Lehtomäki recalls to Iltalehti.

Soon Jukka Virtanen jumped into the director’s place. Lehtomäki says that after that things started to roll. The actors also got to add their own verbal talent to the mix and the long scenes were finally canned.

Those who played Hande the elf and Santa Claus played in the series Raimo Smedberg said earlier in an interview with MTV that there was a plan to make a sequel to the Christmas calendar, but copyright and licensing issues came up.

Saks doesn’t remember that there was talk of a sequel. The only part remained alive.

The Christmas calendar daily 1.12. from until Christmas Eve on MTV Katsomo and Sub. The program can also be viewed on C More. See program information on Telku.