{"id":30563,"date":"2026-05-22T10:11:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?post_type=movies&p=30563"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:47:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:47:28","slug":"ella-and-friends-operation-otter","status":"publish","type":"movies","link":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/","title":{"rendered":"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Timo Parvela’s beloved children’s book series <\/span>Ella and Friends<\/span><\/i> celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella’s adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, <\/span>Operation Otter<\/span><\/i> follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.<\/span><\/p>\n

When a nasty businessman tries to buy the forest to serve his capitalist ends, Ella and her friends rise in resistance on behalf of the otters. The kind-hearted family film steers towards the theme of nature conservation, which is one of the key motifs in Parvela’s books\u2014and in Finnish children’s films in general. The social critique is presented through playful humour, and the overall experience becomes refreshing not only because of its sound moral core but also thanks to the talented cast and inviting shots of nature. The film’s lush colour palette deserves a special mention.<\/span><\/p>\n

Topi E. Timonen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Timo Parvela’s beloved children’s book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella’s adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"featured_media":30561,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30563","movies","type-movies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filters-films-for-children","filters-finnish-films","filters-new-finnish-films","filters-puhuttu-tai-tekstitetty-suomeksi-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nElla and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T14:47:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@msfilmfest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/\",\"name\":\"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T07:11:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-22T14:47:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Ella ja kaverit \u2013 Operaatio Saukko, Kuva: Cata Portin, Don Films Oy 2024\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Etusivu\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Movies\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Movie Categories\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/movie-categories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Finnish Films\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/finnish-films\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"New Finnish Films\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/new-finnish-films\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":6,\"name\":\"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"name\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"description\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"width\":957,\"height\":77,\"caption\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival","og_description":"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.","og_url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/","og_site_name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","article_modified_time":"2026-05-22T14:47:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@msfilmfest","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/","name":"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter — Midnight Sun Film Festival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-22T07:11:44+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-22T14:47:28+00:00","description":"Timo Parvela's beloved children's book series Ella and Friends celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025, a milestone also marked by the arrival of the third film adaptation of Ella's adventures. Directed by Elin Gr\u00f6nblom as her debut feature film, Operation Otter follows the group of friends at the end of their second school year as they and their teacher discover a family of otters in a nearby forest.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Ella-ja-kaverit-2-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Ella ja kaverit \u2013 Operaatio Saukko, Kuva: Cata Portin, Don Films Oy 2024"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/ella-and-friends-operation-otter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Etusivu","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movies","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Movie Categories","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/movie-categories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Finnish Films","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/finnish-films\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"New Finnish Films","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/new-finnish-films\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"Ella and Friends: Operation Otter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization","name":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","width":957,"height":77,"caption":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/movies"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30609,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/30563\/revisions\/30609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}