''Sagan om Karl-Bertil Jonssons julafton'' (lit., ''The Tale of Karl-Bertil Jonsson's Christmas Eve'') (Christopher's Christmas Mission) is a 1975 Swedish animated short film and television film directed by

Per Åhlin Per Johan Axel Åhlin (born 7 August 1931) is a Swedish artist and director of animated films. He is known for his collaborations with the comedy duo Hasse & Tage and for his own projects such as the feature film '' The Journey to Melonia''. Ca ...

, adapted from

Tage Danielsson Tage Danielsson (; 5 February 1928 – 13 October 1985) was a Swedish author, actor, comedian, poet and film director. He is best known for his collaboration with Hans Alfredson in the comedy duo Hasse & Tage. Career After graduation from ...

's short story of the same name, telling the tale of a boy who steals Christmas gifts from the wealthy to give to the poor people of Stockholm while working in a post office on Christmas Eve. The short story is also published in English with drawings by Per Åhlin by Trollboken AB 2018. The film has gained huge popularity in Sweden, and is broadcast every Christmas Eve on Swedish and Norwegian national television. It is also often shown on Christmas Eve by FST in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The film was dubbed into English in 1987, with

Bernard Cribbins Bernard Joseph Cribbins (29 December 1928 – 27 July 2022) was an English actor and singer whose career spanned over seven decades. During the 1960s, Cribbins became known in the UK for his successful novelty records " The Hole in the Groun ...

as the voice-over.

Plot

14-year-old Karl-Bertil Jonsson lives with his father Tyko and his mother Mrs Jonsson. Karl-Bertil works at the Swedish postal service, sorting and delivering items. One Christmas Eve, Karl-Bertil, who highly admires

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

, secretly decides to sort Christmas presents addressed to rich people into a separate bag and instead deliver them to many different poor people. After being asked by Mrs Jonsson about a porcelain plate meant for Tyko that had been delivered to another family, he decides to be open and honest to his parents about what he has done. This makes Mrs Jonsson cry and makes Tyko seriously upset at him, calling him a communist and sending him to bed early that night. The next day Tyko forces Karl-Bertil to visit all the people whose presents he had misdelivered to apologise. When he and Tyko visit these rich people the following day, they are met with positive reactions from everyone. Karl-Bertil is eventually celebrated as a hero by the various negatively-affected people by being tossed into the air in the midst of cries of ”

hip hip hooray Hip hip hooray (also hippity hip hooray; ''Hooray'' may also be spelled and pronounced hoorah, hurrah, hurray etc.) is a cheer called out to express congratulation toward someone or something, in the English-speaking world and elsewhere. By a sol ...

”. The short film ends with Tyko proclaiming Karl-Bertil a good person.

Cast

as narrator * Per Andrén as Karl-Bertil Jonsson *

Toivo Pawlo Toivo Pawlo (25 December 1917 – 14 June 1979) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1978. At the 12th Guldbagge Awards he won the award for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Hello Baby''. Selected filmog ...

as Tyko Jonsson, Karl-Bertil's father *

Marianne Stjernqvist Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed ...

as Mrs Jonsson, Karl-Bertil's mother *

Åke Fridell Åke Fridell (23 June 1919 – 26 August 1985) was a Swedish film actor. He was born in Gävle, Sweden and died in Stockholm. Selected filmography * ''The Old Clock at Ronneberga'' (1944) - Legal clerk at the mayor's party * ''Flickan och ...

as H.K. Bergdahl *

Catrin Westerlund Catrin Westerlund (10 April 1934 – 18 September 1982) was a Swedish actress. She appeared in more than 40 films and television shows between 1953 and 1982. Selected filmography * ''Marianne'' (1953) * '' A Night in the Archipelago'' (1953 ...

as Mrs Bergdahl

Criticism

A Swedish debate about the tale's morality has arisen every few years ever since SVT started broadcasting it annually, with critics arguing that it is too political and that stealing is not really up to par with a traditional Christmas spirit, whereas others defended the story. Danielsson himself was embarrassed by too serious analysis of the tale.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sagan Om Karl-Bertil Jonssons Julafton 1975 animated films Swedish animated short films Films directed by Per Åhlin Swedish animated films Swedish Christmas films 1970s Swedish-language films Swedish short films 1975 television films Swedish television films Christmas television films Animated Christmas films 1975 films Robin Hood 1970s Christmas films 1970s Swedish films 1975 short films Animated films set in Sweden

Plot

Cast

Criticism

See also

References

External links