Under the family Christmas tree, a young girl discovers she has received a collection of new toys. Delighted, she gathers them into her arms and discards her old rag doll. That night, the girl dreams that the abandoned rag doll, left on the floor, silently comes to life to amuse her. The rag doll dances across a piano and skates atop a table. The new toys, also animated, join in the playful antics. As the rag doll switches on an electric fan, it is blown about and nearly topples a vase while trying to avoid falling off the table. The girl rises from her bed, saves the vase, and cradles the doll in her arms. She awakens to find her rag doll still lying on the floor. The film marked Karel Zeman's first experiment in blending stop-motion animation with live-action footage, a technique he further developed in his subsequent feature films, starting with *Journey to the Beginning of Time* (1955) and *The Fabulous World of Jules Verne* (1958). The pioneering animator Hermína Týrlová is also reported to have contributed to the production. In the United States, the film was released by Universal-International in 1948. An abbreviated version for home projection, edited from the American release, was sold by Castle Films from 1949 until 1965. This American version replaces the original wordless Czech soundtrack with new audio, including a voice for the rag doll; it also incorporates additional footage in which Santa Claus magically appears to send the Christmas dream to the girl.