12-year-old Mariana and her stepbrother Marcus end up in a home-built rocket. Behind the rocket construction are Albert, a slightly crazy scientist, and his helper Lemming, a talking lemming.

The orphan Jonna is longing for a mother. One day, an old car stops outside the orphanage and out steps a gorilla that picks Jonna for adoption. It soon becomes clear that they have more things in common than they initially thought. When they start becoming a family, Tord from the local authorities shows up and threatens to send Jonna back to the orphanage.