Matti and Sami and the Three Biggest Mistakes in the Universe

Summer vacation.

I'm in Finland.

For the very first time in my life.

Everything is just the way I imagined it.

That's my brother Sami. He's five.

He wanted to stay in Germany with his frog friend from kindergarten,

but now he's happy to be here too.

As you can hear.

Sami only does that when he's really pleased.

When are we going home?

I want to see Timo!

That's Mama. In Finland she can relax and escape the stress her boss causes her.

1 think Finland will help Mama see the nice side of life.

And that's Sulo, my papa. He's a genuine Finn.

Here, Papa doesn't have to drive a bus. He can finally be a games developer.

Everything is perfect and this could turn out to be the best summer ever.

What were you thinking, Matti?

Where are we supposed to sleep?

We have no money.

We have no car.

The next village is ten kilometers away. - Four and a half, the guidebook says.

I'm Matti, by the way.

I'm ten.

Apparently it's my fault we're stuck in Finland.

But I'm not so sure that's true.

I was just trying to put the universe in order.

MATTI AND SAMI AND THE UNIVERSE'S THREE GREAT MISTAKES

Everything began one Saturday a few months ago.

Papa, have you heard? Swisher is coming! A real dolphin!

Matti, read it out!

"Because the zoo has too many dolphins

Mayor Meyer has offered a home in our town

to one of the many excess dolphins.

At 10 am Swisher will move in to our duck pond."

We need a present!

Won't Swisher be sad living in our pond?

No, our duck pond is much bigger than Swisher's old aquarium.

It'll be fun for him.

Sami, leave that be.

It's for Swisher! - Dolphins don't eat pickled herrings.

You're not coming?

I have a class.

Oh, come on, honey!

The three of us will have fun, yeah?

Behave yourselves, boys.

I want Swisher!

Sami, get off the railing. - Then I can't see!

Oh, stop your whining. - Sami!

That's a Turkish name, isn't it?

You don't look like you're a Turk.

Sami is also a Finnish name.

Do you know the soccer player Sami Hyypia?

No.

Everyone knows him in Finland.

Matti!

Leave the lady in peace.

Excuse us.

But she...

Gernot,

I think it's time for us to go.

It's getting rather too... crowded here.

When is the dolphin coming?

A dolphin?

Here in our duck pond?

Don't you know that today is April 1st?

Who's dumb enough to fall for that?

Swisher not showing up was pretty bad.

But the real problem was much bigger than that.

Oh, Sulo, the dolphin story was an April Fool's joke.

I know. - You knew?

Of course. - Why didn't you say?

Can you imagine what I've had to put up with all afternoon?

The Dolphin Lie was the universe's first great mistake.

It got everything all mixed up.

And when the universe gets mixed up terrible things can happen.

The planets can go out of orbit and crash into each other.

Others get lost in the depths of space.

In the worst case, the sun gets extinguished.

I doubt that it's easy to set the sun alight again.

Sulo, can you pick Sami up from kindergarten?

I have a double shift.

No, Sulo!

I have a first-aid course. I can't get away early.

And I have a double shift. - Just great!

Man!

Mama?

There.

It's gone now. Don't worry.

I can ask Uncle Kurt to pick up Sami and I'll take care of him.

My big boy!

That's Turo, my best friend.

Terve, Sulo!

Turo is half Finnish, like me,

Terve, Matti! - Terve, Turo.

We were in kindergarten.

Oh, what's with your arm?

Oh, nothing much. My family and I went mountain biking.

They don't just mountain bike.

I got you something. - What?

Every year his family go on vacation to Finland.

This came in the mail.

I'd never been there.

You say it "Kokkola jah imparistto."

Kokkola and its surroundings. That's where our vacation house is. Look.

Here's a photo of it.

You can see the tip of our boat.

You have a speed boat? - No.

A row boat. We go out fishing on the lake every day.

Oh, Turo!

I really want to go to Finland.

It's vacation soon. Come with us.

I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind.

Yeah, and we'll take my mama and papa too!

Our vacation house has plenty of room for everyone.

Hey, you slapheads from Slapland, want a slap?

How many times?

Good morning, Olivia!

Matti, it'd be so cool if that worked out.

Ask your parents tonight, yeah?

Yeah, I'll do that.

Good morning, children. - Good morning, Ms. Thiele.

A little more oomph.

Good morning, Ms. Thiele!

Very nice.

Ready to go, Matti? - Sure am, Uncle Kurt!

Oh, we have to get Sami from kindergarten. - Roger!

We can do that!

A dolphin in the pond?

That's pretty hard to imagine.

It was in the newspaper!

It was a big, fat lie. I mean, Sami was so looking forward to it.

Things like that have to be put right again.

Who decides what's right?

You just know it.

People can have different opinions. - Baloney!

Of course!

For example, one person thinks it's right to fly to the moon,

but someone else thinks that it's wrong and believes

we should explore the deep sea instead.

It's hard to know what's wrong and right. - I know right away.

Everything would be fine if the paper hadn't lied.

Don't take the dolphin story to heart. Adults lie now and then.

Hey, it was a pretty funny April Fool's joke, right?

An April Fool's joke about dolphins isn't funny!

Sami, can't you give up the bad mood?

Not until we have a dolphin in our pond.

Irrawaddy dolphins don't dive for long.

They come to the surface to breathe around once a minute.

The WWF estimates that only 85 individuals remain in the Mekong River.

Please donate to stop the Irrawaddy dolphin dying out.

Matti, we have to help the dolphin, or it'll die!

Nobody's going to die.

Mama and Papa donate money every month for animals with problems.

What is donating?

Mmm... It's like making a payment.

Hey, sweeties!

Did you have a good day? - Uh-huh.

Where's Papa? - In his study, I think.

Living in this house is driving me crazy!

Sulo Pekkanen, didn't it occur to you to wash the dishes?

Annette, I have to work. - Sulo, I need your help.

How can I manage all alone? - Please! I have to concentrate.

I've just about had enough of...

Mama. - What's that?

I've had an idea.

Tell your father about it. He needs some ideas.

Hey, are you working on a new game?

WIN A DREAM HOME IN SCANDINAVIA

And are you making good progress?

What's up, Matti?

Look at this.

How about we vacation in Finland?

Ask your mother.

So how was your first-aid thingamajig?

Don't ask. If we're not quick enough, Dr. Casper screams at everyone.

Maybe we all need a vacation.

Oh, yes! It'd be great to get away from here.

We could all go to Finland together this summer.

Oh, Matti, we can't afford a vacation.

No, it isn't expensive.

This is Turo's parents' house. He said... - Matti!

I'm exhausted. I can't discuss anything right now. Okay?

Mama?

Yes?

How much money do you donate to the animals?

The man on TV said dolphins are dying out

so I told Sami you donate money to help animals.

Hey, honey!

Don't worry. We give them so much money they'll be fine forever.

Matti...

do you really think we donate money every month?

We only told you that so that you'd stop worrying about the animals.

A little fib is okay if it's well meant, right?

Matti?

Are you okay?

"All of them are on the Red List of Threatened Species."

The Donating Lie was the universe's second great mistake.

And it was much worse than the first one.

Now it wasn't only about Swisher, this affected all dolphins.

And if 300,000 of them really die every year,