From Oz to Oslo

• Santa Claus lookalike chuckling while a little girl jumps up and down saying 'mamma': An allusion to Disney’s Santa’s Workshop that airs in Norway ever Christmas Eve, in which a cheerful Santa Claus inspects the voices of the new toy dolls.
• A deer sliding across the ice and rabbit hopping around him: Of course refers to the famous scene in Walt Disney’s Bambi (see right) in which the bunny Thumper tries to teach the deer Bambi to skate on the ice. (Incidentally, Bambi’s performance on the ice is not much worse than mine.)
• Man tripping over a toy tiger: A homage to the Christmas staple Grevinnen og Hovmesteren (or 'Dinner for One') explained last time, in which the increasingly sloshed butler trips over the tiger-skin rug on no less than nine occasions.
• Young woman holding nuts and leaving a shoe behind: A reference to Tre Nøtter til Askepott (in English, 'Three Nuts for Cinderella'), a Czech version of the Cinderella story that airs in Norway every Christmas Eve at 11am on the NRK network. The Czech version of the story is slightly different to what I am used to; instead of a fairy godmother helping Cinderella, old Cinders receives three nuts as a gift and each one grants her a wish (see right). The film is so popular that NRK uses the slogan “No Christmas without Three Nuts for Cinderella”.
• Man carrying a Christmas tree as the conductor says “God dag”: A nod to the Norwegian children’s Christmas song Du Grønne, Glitrende Tre, God Dag ('You Green, Glittering Tree, Good Day' in English).
• Conductor mopping and man carrying a sack of firewood: Another Norwegian children’s Christmas ditty that begins “Nå har vi vaska golvet og vi har børi ved” (“Now we have washed the floor and carried the firewood”), about preparing the house for Christmas.
• Train passing ‘Klappeland’ station: Yet another children’s song, where in one verse the singer intones that Klappeland ('Clapping Land') is called home by everyone who can clap. (Other verses have stomping, waving and hopping with corresponding actions and of course corresponding lands.)
• Girl talking on mobile phone: A homage to Christmas Eve cartoon favourite Clown of the Jungle. This sees Donald Duck plagued by the ‘Aracuan bird’, which pops in and out of frame, making similar sounds to the girl in the ad.
• People making snow angels: I thought it was just a reference to the winter pastime of mucking about in the snow, but the person who posted the video claims it links to a line in the Norwegian version of Silent Night which says “Engler daler ned i skjul” ("Angels float down in hiding" - and, no, I have no idea what that means either).
• A dog barking at two chipmunks in a tree: Taken from yet another Christmas Eve viewing staple Pluto’s Christmas Tree, in which Mickey Mouse and his dog Pluto haul home a Christmas tree, only to find it inhabited by the chipmunks Chip and Dale, who torment Pluto until the tree lies in ruins.
• An ice hockey game with a fox darting by: Back to songs, this one entitled Reven Rasker Over Isen ('The Fox Runs Across the Ice').
• Three men arriving at a stable: I would have thought that Norway is a touch too secular for an actual Christmas reference at Christmas, but this seems to simply refer to the three wise men.
• Star twinkling in the sky: You might think you can guess this one after the three wise men nod, but it’s actually a shout-out to a Norwegian Christmas Eve film called Journey to the Christmas Star, about a princess who becomes lost in the woods following the Christmas star.

Phew! That’s a crazy number of Christmas references to squeeze into one minute. The ad concludes with a voiceover saying: “Cherish the Christmas spirit. Travel environmentally-friendly next year, too. Merry Christmas!” It's a clever and well-made commercial, and one which I think Norwegians love for its nostalgia, warmth and Christmas spirit. It may be January, but I hope that this post helps you continue your holiday cheer!