Deciding that his sleigh is too old to use for delivering presents, Santa Claus gets a helicopter but finds after several mishaps that his sleigh and reindeer are still the most reliable transportation.

During World War II, seven-year-old Merry Primrose Ramsay is sent from England to live with relatives in the United States, where, despite missing her parents and feeling homesick, she has many adventures while going to school and learning to fish and knit.