Rasmus lives at an orphanage. He's OK, but wants a mom and a dad, and from time to time some comes to find a child, but they always chose little girls curls. Rasmus realizes he has to run away and find parents himself.

Swedish rascal Rasmus's parents emigrated to America, leaving him in a dreary women-run orphanage, where he's popular and makes a buddy, shy Gunnar. Yet the rascal runs away, finding adoption is rather for long-curled girlish types. The rascal teams up with friendly vagabond Paradis-Oskar, who teaches him to enjoy survival without a job. They muss hide when Oskar is falsely accused of a robbery committed by career criminal Hilding Lif and his cahoot Leander. After finding and returning the loot and arranging for the fiends to be caught, Oskar arranges for a rich childless farmers couple to take Rasmus in, but the adventurous rascal prefers roaming with Oskar.—KGF Vissers