The old man PETTSON and his cat FINDUS live on a small farm way out in the countryside in Sweden. Christmas is approaching, and Pettson has given Findus the rash promise that THE TOMTE will come around with gifts for him at Christmas Eve. Pettson does not believe in the Tomte, but in order not to disappoint his cat, he decides to build an artificial Tomte - a mechanical TOMTE MACHINE. Pettson has a hard time keeping the project secret from Findus and getting the machine to actually work in due time. But somehow a mysterious magical force interferes...