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The Magic Crystal is absolutely necessary to Santa Claus as he gives out gifts to all the children around the world. Thanks to the Crystal, Santa Claus is able to reach each house where the children await his visit.

But Santa has a twin brother, Basil, only 20 minutes younger than he is. Basil is deeply envious of the attention his older brother gets. Basil yearns to be a hero like his brother, one whose arrival all the children in the world await. In order to become such a ruler Basil hatches a cunning and wicked plan to steal the Magic Crystal with the intention of using it himself. With the Crystal Basil plans to depose his brother and control all children with the method he believes in: strict discipline and austerity.

But Basils plans go awry due to the intervention of the brave leader of the Red Caps -patrol, Yotan. Instead of multiplying by the Crystals magic as intended, Basil only manages to break the Crystal into 26 fragments. The fragments scatter all around the world, thus beginning the race to collect all the missing Crystal fragments to make it whole once more and restore it to working condition.

The different episodes of the animated series tell the tale of finding the pieces of the Magic Crystal. In each episode the members of the Red Caps -squad journey in Poro's super-sled to various countries and to different locations around the world: the Amazon rainforests, the Pacific ocean, the African savannah, a small village in Pakistan - and always toward new adventures. As they search for the Crystal fragments they meet local children and solve different problems relating to their lives. Often the adventures highlight different threats targeted at the childrens living environment, such as the destruction of the rainforests or fishing waters contaminated by oil. And because the Red Caps -squad is from Korvatunturi and they're Santas trusted aides, it goes without saying that childrens rights, happiness and welfare are their central goals. Due to this fact UNICEF supports the Red Caps animated series.

The members of the Red Caps are still children themselves, and play, humour, excitement and the friendship among the group are as important to them as to other children. It doesn't matter that Yotan is the only human in the group. The other four members, Jaga, Didi, Smoo and Alpo, come from the race of elves and gnomes. In the spirit of the Red Caps, all members are equal. More important than background or qualifications is the nature of the member him- or herself.