[1] At the beginning of the 1970s, the production company Filminor had already planned a family film based on Finne's children's book, but at that time the project fell through because the topic was reserved for Yleisradio.

After Risto Jarva's death in 1977, Filminor gave the directing opportunity to Antti Peippo and Timo Linnasalo, whose films had a rather weak public success, and the subject of Finne was taken up again: Matti Kuortti, a long-time Filminor native since the late 1960s as a sound engineer and editor in the company, directed That Kiljunen Family as his debut film.

[1] The film was a commercial hit when it came out in theaters, and it gathered more than 200,000 viewers,[2] which was the second most viewed in 1981 after Uuno Turhapuron aviokriisi.

[1] Due to the film's success, it received a sequel, The New Adventures of That Kiljunen Family, in 1990, which was also directed by Matti Kuortti.

One sunny day, the Kiljunen family receives a letter in which they read that they have won a prize trip to Helsinki in a quiz.