Based on the best-selling novel by Forrest Carter, "The Education of Little Tree" is a magical story set in 1935 against the majestic Smoky Mountains. Its protagonist is Little Tree (Ashton, Where The Red Fern Grows), an 8-year-old Cherokee boy. He learns about the history of his dying American-Indian culture and the serenity of living with nature from his Granpa (Cromwell, Dantes Inferno, The Queen) and Granma. However, the remote tranquillity of the mountains is not immune to the intrusions of society, and Little Trees world is disrupted when the government authorities shatter his idyllic existence. Produced by Academy? Award-winning producer Jake Eberts, this is an uplifting journey to another time and place. It is a tale of what we have lost in the destruction of Native American cultures and of what we might gain from a better understanding and appreciation of the environment.
此片改編自佛瑞斯卡特（Forrest Carter）1992年發表的得獎小說《少年小樹之歌》，描寫1935年，發生在煙山附近的一個感人故事。主角是個失去雙親的八歲混血印地安男孩"小樹 "（喬瑟夫亞許頓），從小在祖父母（詹姆斯克勞威、坦圖卡汀娜）的教導下長大，學習到他們沒落的印地安文化歷史，以及與大自然和平相處的法則。但他們寧靜的生活卻遭到現代文化的入侵，政府當局強迫小樹進入印地安學校就讀，導致小樹原本與世無爭的生活遭到了破壞。由曾獲奧斯卡獎的傑克艾柏斯（「與狼共舞」、「火戰車」）擔任製片，導演李察佛瑞登柏格也曾因「大河戀」一片，獲奧斯卡最佳劇本獎提名，此片是他首度自編自導之作，帶領觀眾展開一段時空迥異的旅程，看完此片後，我們將對大自然有更深的瞭解與體認。