The Education of Little Tree (DVD, 2002)

For years I had seen this one on the shelf, but had never watched it until this week. Wow. Excellent acting and beautiful locations,story stays a little distant, but still an excellent movie. Tackles racial prejudice and hatred head on. Shows the importance of family and individuality.Title character is an eight year old Cherokee who goes to live with his grandparents when his parents die.His hate-filled aunt causes conflict when she has Little Tree sent to an Indian boarding school.In the long run, everything works out for him, but it's quite a bumpy road.

I rate this movie as even more fraudulent than the book because Hollywood takes such liberties.
Start-to-finish the book that this film is based LOOSELY on was concocted by the author. Anyone who knows much about the Aniyunwiyv, aka Cherokee, would spot this as a fraud from the first so-called Cherokee words Carter used, & the way he described life with his grandparents.
Despite the FACT that Carter was found out, revealed for the fake he was, & the book re-classified as FICTION, has not led publishers or makers of film to state that on the books & DVDs, etc, that are still marketed today! They KNOW this was all a bunch of hogwash but do not state this! Better to let the public believe the outright lies the author told? Better for booksellers & movie companies maybe! NOT better for the People he lied about!
Wouldn't buy the DVD or the book if they came encased in gold! To buy them just fuels the misconceptions about the Original People.

This movie has a wonderful telling of the Trail of Tears and a good feel of the prohibition times when moon shining was a dangerous trade. It's a shame Paramount put this out of print because I think it's a story everyone should see.

My husband's family is a mixed bag. Mom is part Cherokee and Dad is from Scotland so this story really had a lot of meaning for us. It is a wonderful family movie that is uplifting and real.

Good family movie about growing up with the innosence of a child learning to cope with the loss of a mother and father. The grandparents take on the role of parents and teach lessons in life that are strong and loving. Good acting and great scenry combine to enhance the effectiveness of this mmovie. Great.