The film opens with Ai, an 11-year-old young girl, moving into the Animal Village during the summer. After being put to work by Tanukichi to deliver goods, Ai befriends four of the village's residents: Bouquet, Sally, Albert, and a human boy named Yū, participating in several activities. Ai begins to find a series of anonymous messages in bottles that state that a miracle will occur during the upcoming Winter Festival if pine trees are planted in specific points of the village. Ai complies with the messages and begins planting the trees, half-believing that the messages may have been placed by aliens.