- On September 3, 1973 a fly lands on a street… and is squished.
- A sperm fertilizes an egg.
- Nine months later, Amélie Poulain is born.
- Roll the credits, which show Amélie as a young girl doing a variety of young girl things, like spinning a coin like a top, pulling dried glue from her hands, or going hardcore Curly Sues on some raspberries.
- We're introduced to Amélie's father, a doctor who has "tight lips and a hard heart" and wears socks with sandals. He likes cleaning and organizing things.
- Now we see Amélie's mother, Amandine, with her "facial twitch [and] weak nerves." She also likes cleaning and organizing things.
- Amélie's father isn't a hugger, and he only touches his daughter when giving her a checkup.
- Because this rare proximity to her father makes her heart race, Amélie fails the checkup and is homeschooled. All by herself. She creates a lot of imaginary friends.
- After Amélie's fish, her only real-life friend, tries to commit suicide, her mother dumps it in the river, which is sad. She also dumps the fishbowl, which is just rude.