So I will have a separate list of Native American films but this is more just for fun along the Thanksgiving theme.
Reggie is a turkey who has always feared Thanksgiving because turkeys have always been on the menu, but his incessant attempts to warn his flock have made him an outcast. When the other turkeys finally realize what is happening, they thoughtlessly throw Reggie outside in an attempt to save themselves. To his surprise, he is named the “pardoned turkey” by the President and is subsequently taken to Camp David. Although initially hesitant, Reggie soon eases into a routine of doing nothing but enjoying pizza from the “Pizza Dude” and watching Mexican telenovelas.
Reggie is kidnapped by Jake, a member of the Turkey Freedom Front, who tells him that “The Great Turkey” told him to find Reggie and take him back to the first Thanksgiving with him to take turkeys off the menu. They steal a time machine controlled by an A.I. named S.T.E.V.E. (Space Time Exploration Vehicle Envoy) from a Government facility. Jake instructs S.T.E.V.E. to time-travel back to the same day in 1621, three days before the first Thanksgiving. Once there, they are ambushed by colonial hunters led by Myles Standish, but they are quickly rescued by native turkeys led by Chief Broadbeak and his two children, Ranger and Jenny.
Broadbeak explains that the turkeys in the area have been forced underground since the settlers came and that they cannot risk fighting back without the settlers taking them. The next day, Broadbeak orders Jake and Ranger to spy on the settlers while Reggie and Jenny spring all the humans’ hunting traps. Despite initial hostility, Ranger and Jake find out that the settlers have already begun preparations for Thanksgiving and where they keep their weapons. Meanwhile, Jenny is unconvinced Reggie is from the future, but is impressed with his accidental unorthodox way of springing the traps. However, they are soon intercepted by Standish and Reggie is forced to send her into orbit aboard the time machine, validating everything he said. Reggie asks Jenny to go back to the future with him once everything blows over, but she refuses to leave the flock no matter how much she likes him. Jake then drags Reggie away and tells him he has a plan to attack the settlers. However, Reggie has become tired of Jake’s improbable stories and threatens to leave.
Desperate, Jake tells Reggie that this trip was more about him making up for his failure to save turkey eggs while escaping a factory farm when he was young, maintaining that the Great Turkey convinced him to go through with this. While still reluctant to believe what he said, Reggie still goes along with the plan. They blow up the weapons shack, but Jake inadvertently leaves a gunpowder trail back to the turkeys’ hideout. Standish and his men flush the turkeys out from underground, capturing enough for the feast; Broadbeak sacrifices his life to help the remaining turkeys escape. Disgraced, Reggie returns home, where he discovers from S.T.E.V.E. that he is the Great Turkey. He travels back in time to send the young Jake on his mission. Jenny is sworn in as the new chief and orders the remaining turkeys to prepare an attack on the settlers.
Jenny, Jake and Ranger lead the turkeys in an attack on the settlement just as Chief Massasoit and his tribe arrive. Inspired, Reggie goes back in time to stop the attack, inadvertently trapping Standish in the time stream. Through S.T.E.V.E. and the Pizza Dude, Reggie convinces the settlers and Indians that pizza is a more acceptable food than turkeys, taking them off the Thanksgiving menu entirely. Reggie stays with Jenny while Jake takes S.T.E.V.E. in order to look for new adventures.
As part of the Thanksgiving holidays, a recently divorced man named Ron Emmerson (Jay Harrington) takes his children Tim (Graham Verchere) and Annie (Genevieve Buechner) to the farm of Ron’s eccentric Aunt Cly (Mary Steenburgen) in the town of Turkey Hollow which has no technology. Tim and Annie find themselves caught up in searching for the “Howling Hoodoo,” an elusive 10 ft. monster that has been considered a legend to the citizens of Turkey Hollow while also coming across the plot of the scheming neighbor Eldridge Slump (Linden Banks) and his farmworker minions Buzz (Gabe Khouth) and Junior (Peter New) that involves illegal turkeys activities and a plot for Eldridge to claim Aunt Cly’s farm. With the aid of some new creature friends named Squonk, Zorp, Burble, and Thring, the Emmersons must expose Slump’s plot and save the day.
The special opens with Lucy again enticing Charlie Brown to kick a football she is holding – which again ends up with Charlie Brown missing the ball and landing flat on his back once again. Later, Charlie Brown and Sally are preparing to go to their grandmother’s for Thanksgiving dinner when Charlie Brown gets a phone call from Peppermint Patty, who invites herself over to Charlie Brown’s house for the holiday dinner. Two quick subsequent phone calls from Peppermint Patty add Marcie and Franklin to the guest list, but since Charlie Brown cannot get a word in edgewise with Patty, he quickly finds himself in a quandary with no easy solution, at least not until Linus shows up. Linus suggests to Charlie Brown that he could have two Thanksgiving dinners. It’s revealed that the first one can be for himself, Peppermint Patty, and her friends, while the second one can be at his grandmother’s house for his family. Charlie Brown says he cannot make a Thanksgiving dinner. He says that all he knows how to make is “cold cereal and maybe toast”. Regardless, Linus recruits Snoopy and Woodstock to help.
The guests arrive and make their way to the backyard for the Thanksgiving feast. Linus leads the group in prayer that details the First Thanksgiving in 1621, and then Snoopy serves up the feast which includes buttered toast, pretzel sticks, popcorn, jelly beans, and an ice cream sundae. Patty’s initial shock at the unconventional Thanksgiving feast quickly turns to outrage, and when she loudly berates Charlie Brown he timidly leaves the table. Patty’s tirade continues until Marcie quietly reminds her that she had invited herself along with Marcie and Franklin. Coming to her senses, Patty asks Marcie to apologize to Charlie Brown on her behalf; Marcie reluctantly agrees, but Patty soon follows and apologizes to him herself. Following this, Charlie Brown is reminded that he and Sally are due at their grandmother’s house for dinner, so he calls her and explains his situation. When he mentions his friends are there, and that they have not yet eaten, his grandmother invites them all to Thanksgiving dinner, which is welcomed with cheers from everyone.
After the kids leave singing, Snoopy and Woodstock go to the doghouse and cook up their own traditional Thanksgiving meal. They then pull the wishbone which Woodstock wins. Over the end credits, the two friends each devour a large piece of pumpkin pie then sit back with contented smiles as Woodstock pats his full stomach.
Garfield and Odie scare Jon out of bed with military music and drill sergeant attitudes as he demands pancakes the size of Australia and plenty of coffee for breakfast. After the meal, Garfield decides to take a nap but changes his mind to kick Odie off the table. Along the way, Garfield checks the calendar date and discovers to his horror that he has an appointment with the vet that day. When he removes the date hoping to make Jon forget, he then notices that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and instantly demands Jon to buy the Thanksgiving food. On the way home from the supermarket, though, Jon remembers the vet appointment, and this causes Garfield to scream all the way to the office.
While at the vet, Dr. Liz Wilson examines Garfield while Jon attempts to talk her into going out on a date with him. Liz reports Garfield is too fat and must be put on a diet, even though he is healthy. She tells what the diet is composed of. After this moment Garfield enters a panic, and then he screams. Jon threatens to suffocate his way through the rest of the visit until Liz says she’ll go out with him. When Garfield and Jon simultaneously faint, an exasperated Liz agrees to the date out of annoyance, and Jon invites her to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.
Back home, Jon is excited that Liz is coming over, but Garfield is absolutely miserable at being put on a diet. After eating half a leaf of lettuce for lunch, Garfield tries to raid the refrigerator but is stopped by Odie, whom Jon has assigned to make sure the cat himself doesn’t try to cheat on his diet. Later, Garfield weighs himself on his talking weight scale and destroys it for comparing him to Orson Welles, then is repeatedly foiled by Odie when he tries to steal cookies, flour, salt and sugar. Garfield wonders if the lack of food is making him hallucinate.
The next morning, Garfield is even grumpier than usual, but Jon pays him no mind as he begins preparing the Thanksgiving meal. However, Jon doesn’t have a clue on how to prepare such a dinner because he didn’t thaw the turkey overnight, doesn’t bother to make stuffing, rubs butter on his skin instead of the turkey, and roasts it at 500 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 325. Garfield helps ruin the meal further by putting garlic powder in the vegetables. Jon shaves and picks a suit, just in time for Liz to arrive and notice he’s not wearing pants. As Jon leaves to check on the meal, Liz spends a bit of time to inspect Garfield and wonders if perhaps she was a bit too hard on him with the diet. After Garfield pretends to be suffering from every single withdrawal symptom Liz casually mentions, she eventually decides that the diet is too strict for Garfield and lets him off, instantly cheering him up… until he remembers about Jon’s horrible cooking of the feast.
In the kitchen, Jon is faced with a still frozen turkey and the realization that he doesn’t know how to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner, and he has no idea what to do now. Garfield manages to convince Jon to call Grandma, who arrives seconds later and shoos Jon out of the kitchen. As Jon distracts Liz by giving her a history lesson about Thanksgiving, Grandma proceeds to cook the meal: she cuts the turkey into slices with a chainsaw, adds white sauce then batters and deep fries the slices into what she calls her famous turkey croquettes, prepares sweet potatoes by covering them with butter, brown sugar and marshmallows, and finishes with “split-second cranberry sauce” and pumpkin pie. Once everything is ready, Grandma tells Garfield that Liz couldn’t have found a better man than Jon and that she’d better not blow it, then asks Garfield to eat a piece of pie for her as she leaves.
Garfield tells Jon, who has put Liz to sleep with his boring stories, that everything is ready, and they all proceed into the dining room to eat. Afterwards, Liz declares that it was a wonderful meal and agrees to come back next year, then thanks Jon for inviting her with a kiss on the cheek. Once Liz leaves, Jon, Garfield and Odie declare it was a great day and they’re thankful for Grandma. They decide to head out for a walk to work off the meal, but Odie is too bloated from overeating to get off the couch. Jon immediately puts Odie on a diet, and Garfield gleefully torments Odie into doing push-ups as payback for yesterday.
When an old man (Sebastian Cabot) spies the department store Santa Claus getting drunk before taking part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, he immediately locates and complains to Karen Walker (Jane Alexander), the parade director. She promptly fires her Santa Claus and the old man, who turns out to be named Kris Kringle, volunteers to take his place for the sake of the children. Kris does so well during the parade that he is immediately hired to be the store’s main Santa for the holiday period. At the same time, Karen’s daughter, Susan (Suzanne Davidson), an intelligent but cynical six-year-old, meets her new neighbor, Bill Schafner (David Hartman), a lawyer, and decides to try and hook him up with her mother.
Kris, out of goodwill and to the horror of Mr. Schillhammer (Jim Backus), begins to send customers of Macy’s to other stores if they can’t find what they’re looking for. In spite of Schillhammer’s initial fear, the public embraces his actions as a goodwill marketing campaign and sales skyrocket, leading the profit obsessed Mr. Macy (David Doyle) to pursue the campaign in earnest. However, Karen and Shellhammer learn that Kris believes himself to actually beSanta Claus, a fact they frantically try to hide from their boss.
The store’s psychiatrist, Dr. Sawyer, (Roddy McDowall) initially takes Kris on as a fascinating case study, but Kris’ belief that it is Sawyer who has the problem leads to him becoming an enemy instead. Kris finds a kindred spirit in the janitor, Alfred (Barry Greenburg), who gets joy out of dressing as Santa at the local YMCA every year. He also learns that Susan has been raised not to believe in Santa Claus or possess an imagination, two things he intends to correct. Susan herself is further convinced of his authenticity because he possesses a real beard and in particular when he speaks Spanish to a young girl who doesn’t speak English.
Through their friendship with Kris, who becomes Bill’s roommate, Bill becomes closer to Karen, who is overworked and looking for companionship, and Susan begins to learn the value of imagination. She eventually asks Kris to get her a new house for Christmas to prove that he’s Santa Claus, and later for help in ensuring Bill becomes her new father. Kris eventually passes the word on to Bill, who arranges for a real estate contract for Karen for a similar house and insists she buy the house for Susan’s sake.
Sawyer’s anger with Kris leads him to antagonize him and Alfred to the point that Kris throws a pie in his face during an encounter in the lunchroom. Reluctantly, Karen agrees to allow Sawyer to evaluate him again. After Kris helps Alfred with his yearly Santa Claus routine, Dr. Sawyer confronts him and lies to Kris and tells him that Karen believes him to be a menace. In light of this, Kris deliberately fails every one of his tests at Bellevue, leading to the hospital to recommend his commitment.
Kris reveals to Bill that he intends for Bill to get him off, making Bill realize that Kris wants the confrontation for the sake of proving to the world that he is the one and only Santa Claus. An angered Bill agrees, and a commitment hearing begins in which Judge Henry Harper (Tom Bosley) and D.A. Thomas Mara (James Gregory) reluctantly move forward with the case despite the terrible press it’s giving their political ambitions.
During the course of the hearing, Mr. Macy is placed on the stand and upon contemplating the terrible press and lost sales if he declared his own Santa a fraud, he declares he believes in Kris and fires Sawyer before he leaves the courtroom. Similarly, Harper and Mara are eventually pressed to declare that Santa Claus is real when Bill points out the terrible press, but the D.A. demands that Bill prove Kris is the one and only Santa Claus.
Bill and Karen are about to give up on the case as hopeless when Susan gives Bill a letter to pass on to Kris, and Bill realizes that hundreds of children write to him every year. He quickly manipulates the court to recognize the authority of the Postal Service, and arranges the post office to deliver all of Santa’s mail to the court. As Bill papers the court room in Kris’ mail, Judge Harper dismisses the case in Kris’ favor (as he quietly slips a letter of his own into the pile).
At the celebration at the memorial home, Susan loses faith in Kris when she doesn’t get her house. However, on the way back into New York, Bill and Karen drive her past the house she asked for, leading Susan to rush inside and find it even has the swing she asked for. As Karen and Bill discover Kris’s distinct cane, they realize he made the arrangements and declare their love for each other.
It’s Thanksgiving in the Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh and his friends bring food for the big dinner. Piglet brings haycorns (acorns), Pooh brings honey, Owl brings biscuits, Tigger brings ice cream, Gopher brings lemonade, and Eeyore brings thistles. But things change when Rabbit informs them that Thanksgiving is a special time of year that should include special items, so Pooh and the gang set off to find those very items.
Winnie the Pooh Seasons of Giving
The film begins with Tigger wanting to ski, but Winnie the Pooh and Piglet point out that there’s no snow. So they go ask Rabbit what day of the year it is. Rabbit’s calendar pages blow away in the wind that blew inside the house, but Rabbit doesn’t realize it and claims that it’s February 2 – Groundhog Day. In an effort to find out if there are two more weeks of winter or if spring comes tomorrow, they ask Gopher if he sees his shadow. Gopher angrily points out that he’s a gopher, not a groundhog, so they have Piglet pretend to be a groundhog. Piglet’s hat fell over his eyes, so he didn’t see anything. Everyone thinks that spring has come, so they all prepare for spring by airing out their houses, planting gardens and spring cleaning. But later that day, it snows. A very discouraged Rabbit confronts Piglet and tells him that it’s all his fault, and goes home to see that his calendar pages are blowing away, and realizes that it’s not Groundhog Day; it’s only November 13. Feeling awful for what he said, Rabbit goes to apologize to Piglet, only to find a note from Piglet saying that he’s gone to look for a real groundhog. Rabbit frantically goes looking for Piglet. Meanwhile, Piglet can’t find a groundhog, so he decides to go home after a pile of snow falls on him, and he leaves his hat behind on the pile of snow. Rabbit follows Piglet’s footprints and finds the pile of snow. Thinking that it’s Piglet frozen solid, he rushes to Pooh’s house, where he, Tigger and Pooh melt the ice. Thinking that Piglet has melted, Rabbit sobs and apologizes for everything, only to realize that the real Piglet is behind him. He realizes that the “frozen Piglet” was really just a pile of snow. Rabbit tells everyone that it’s November 13. So, they decide to get ready for Thanksgiving.
When Thanksgiving arrives, Pooh is at his house when Christopher Robin arrives, and they talk about the celebration at Rabbit’s house later that day. Pooh then dances around the Hundred Acre Wood singing about Thanksgiving. Everyone except Christopher Robin arrives at Rabbit’s house with food that they each brought. Rabbit tells everyone that what they brought is not a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. He assigns Tigger and Eeyore to pick cranberries, Gopher to make the pumpkin pie, Owl to wash the dishes, and most importantly, Pooh and Piglet are to get the turkey. Gopher literally blows up a pumpkin to make the pumpkin pie. Tigger and Eeyore gather up cranberries, while Tigger sings a silly song about berries. But on their way back to Rabbit’s house, they realize that there’s a hole in their sack and go to pick some more cranberries, only to accidentally fall into Pooh and Piglet’s turkey trap. Thinking that they’ve captured a turkey, Pooh and Piglet take the sack to Rabbit. Gopher arrives with the pie and sits it on the table next to the sack that Tigger and Eeyore are in. Everyone is scared to open the sack, but Tigger and Eeyore break out. When Tigger and Eeyore try to escape, the pie is accidentally thrown off the table, but then Rabbit catches it, only to have Tigger scare him, and the pie hits Rabbit in the face. Owl stumbles backward carrying dishes, which break on top of Eeyore. Piglet is thrown into the air and grabs onto the hanging turkey decoration. Pooh tries to save Piglet, but the streamers break. Convinced that Thanksgiving is ruined, everybody disappointedly goes home. Pooh realizes that if they all share the food they originally brought, they can still have a great Thanksgiving. So he gathers up everyone, and they surprise Rabbit with the Thanksgiving dinner they’ve set up. They are joined by Christopher Robin, who proposes a toast, with lemonade, to the best Thanksgiving celebration ever. Everyone sings about what Thanksgiving is really about – friends, not food.
A month later, on Christmas Eve, everyone except Christopher Robin and Gopher are at Rabbit’s house decorating. Pooh and Piglet make a (rather short) popcorn string. Eeyore gets tangled in a string of lights. Roo is worried that Santa won’t like his cookies, but Kanga assures him that Santa will love his cookies. Tigger arrives with a special delivery from Kessie, a bird that Rabbit took care of. Roo is curious and asks who Kessie is. So Rabbit tells him the whole story. Rabbit, Tigger, Piglet, and Pooh are desperately trying to save a carrot during a blizzard. They hear a cry for help, and see a baby bluejay hanging onto a tree. Rabbit begins to panic, and rushes to his house to get a ladder. But because of the wind, Rabbit, Piglet, Tigger, and Pooh end up flying on Rabbit’s front door. Rabbit catches the bluejay in Pooh’s honey pot, and they crash into Rabbit’s house. Rabbit decides to take care of the baby bluejay, who calls herself Kessie, himself. The next morning, Rabbit tries to take care of Kessie like a baby, but when Pooh and Piglet arrive, Rabbit leaves Kessie in their hands. After a mishap with a bath that Pooh and Piglet gave her, Kessie winds up in a bubble, and when it pops, Rabbit catches her, and tells her to never go up so high again. In the summer, Rabbit teaches Kessie how to weed carrots, and Rabbit finds a potted carrot in the garden. It was the very first carrot that Kessie planted. Tigger then comes and offers to take Kessie out to play. Kessie holds onto Tigger’s back while he bounces over a large tree and then onto a tall snag, which falls, leaving Kessie and Tigger hanging on for dear life. Rabbit arrives to help, but Kessie slips from Rabbit’s hand, and plummets off the cliff. Rabbit tries to go after her, but Tigger manages to get off the tree and stop him, telling Rabbit that Kessie is gone.
Meanwhile, Kessie is still plummeting and Owl arrives and tells her to flap her wings. Back on top of the hill, Rabbit sadly says that he never told Kessie that he loved her. Kessie and Owl arrive, and Kessie and Rabbit hug. Kessie tells Rabbit that Owl is going to teach her how to fly. Rabbit refuses to let her fly, and with that, they go home. In the fall, Rabbit is reading Kessie a story about a princess and a knight. Kessie looks out the window to see other birds flying south for the winter. She announces that she’s going to go outside. For days, she tries to fly, but is caught by Pooh, who promises not to tell Rabbit. Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet have an idea on how to get Kessie south for the winter – a giant slingshot. When Kessie is about to take off, Rabbit arrives, and stops her. He yells at Pooh, and tells Tigger to let go of the slingshot. Tigger lets go, and Rabbit is hit and falls off the same cliff that Kessie had fallen off that summer. Kessie quickly swoops down, grabs Rabbit, and brings him back to the top. Now that Kessie can fly, she plans on going south the next day. That night, Rabbit is sadly looking at Kessie’s stuffed bunny. Kessie asks Rabbit to read her one last bedtime story, but Rabbit claims that Kessie doesn’t need him for anything, and goes to bed. Kessie cries all night. The next morning, Owl, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger say goodbye to Kessie as she prepares to fly South. Meanwhile, Rabbit is in his garden feeling sad, and bumps his head on the potted carrot that Kessie had planted. He rushes to say goodbye to Kessie, but finds he’s too late and she is gone. However, he is happy when Kessie comes back to say goodbye. Later that day, Pooh and Piglet are relaxing by Christopher Robin’s favorite tree talking about how Rabbit loved Kessie, and how they can’t wait to see her again and Rabbit is sitting nearby, waiting for Kessie to return.
Back in the present, Rabbit tells Roo that he hasn’t seen Kessie since then, as Tigger sobs. Rabbit looks at his clock to see that it’s getting late, and hurries everyone outside to decorate a tree. Christopher Robin arrives to help decorate. After the tree is done, Rabbit realizes he forgot the most important part, a star to go on top of the tree. Rabbit is really sad, but then sees a falling star. Everyone gathers to make a wish, only to realize that it’s not a falling star; it’s Kessie holding a star, which she puts on the tree. Rabbit and Kessie hug, and Kessie wishes Rabbit a Merry Christmas, ending the film.
Alvin and the Chipmunks- Alvin’s Thanksgiving Celebration
Celebrate Thanksgiving with these fun-filled Alvin episodes! In A Chipmunk Celebration, Alvin, Simon and Theodore sign up for a community Thanksgiving play, but when the assignments are all scambled, the boys are freaked out that they’ll bomb! In Food for Thought, Theodore is going to fail the class unless he can ace his American History final. Simon discovers that the key to Theodore’s brain is through this stomach. In Cookie Comper III, The Chipmunks adopt a stray kitten that meets with an accident. They learn about the loss of a loved one through grace, humor and compassion. And in Dave’s Getting Married, The Chipmunks are in favor of Dave’s new fiance until they discover that she has three impossible kids of her own! It’s a music-filled laughfest that your whole family is sure to eat up!
Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Everyone’s getting ready for the big Thanksgiving Day parade and dinner, but when the Pirate Piggies accidentally float away on Dora’s boat float, it’s up to Dora and Boots to race all the way to Pumpkin Rock to rescue them and save Thanksgiving Day.
n 1607, the Susan Constant sails from London to the New World, carrying English settlers from the Virginia Company. Along the way, the Susan Constant is caught in a North Atlantic storm and Captain John Smith, who dreams about adventure, saves young, inexperienced crewmate Thomas from drowning. As they approach the New World, the settlers, including John, talk of adventure, finding gold, fighting “Injuns” and potentially settling in the new land.
In the Powhatan tribe in Tsenacommacah, North America, Pocahontas, the beautiful daughter of Chief Powhatan, fears being possibly wed to Kocoum, a brave warrior whom she sees as too serious for her own free-spirited personality. Powhatan gives Pocahontas her mother’s necklace as a present. Pocahontas, along with her friends, the raccoon Meeko and hummingbird Flit, visit Grandmother Willow, a spiritual talking willow tree and speaks of a dream involving a spinning arrow and her confusion regarding what her path in life should be. Grandmother Willow then alerts Pocahontas to the arriving English.
The voyage’s greedy leader Governor Ratcliffe, who seeks gold as part of his plan to bring him wealth and status, has Jamestown built in a wooded clearing and immediately has the crewmen dig for gold. John departs to explore the wilderness and encounters Pocahontas. They quickly bond, fascinated by each other’s worlds, and end up falling in love, despite Powhatan’s orders to stay away from the Englishmen after Kocoum and the other warriors engage them in a fight. Meanwhile, Meeko meets Percy, Ratcliffe’s pet pug, and becomes the bane of his existence. When John tells Pocahontas that he and his men are here to find gold, she tells him that there is no gold. Pocahontas introduces John to Grandmother Willow and avoids two other crewmen, but Pocahontas’s best friend Nakoma discovers her relationship with John and warns Kocoum. Ratcliffe also learns of John’s encounters with Pocahontas and angrily warns John against sparing any natives he comes across on pain of death.
Later, John and Pocahontas meet with Grandmother Willow and plan to bring peace between the colonists and the tribe. John and Pocahontas share a kiss, while Kocoum and Thomas, sent by Ratcliffe to spy on John, witness from afar. Furious, Kocoum, screaming a battle cry, attacks and attempts to kill John, but Thomas intervenes with his musket and kills Kocoum, who destroys Pocahontas’s necklace in the process. John orders Thomas to leave before the tribesmen arrive, capture John, and retrieve Kocoum’s body. Enraged at Kocoum’s death, Powhatan declares war on the English, beginning with John’s execution at sunrise.
Thomas reaches Jamestown safely at night and warns the English settlers of John’s capture. Ratcliffe then rallies his men to battle, using this as an excuse to annihilate the tribe and find their non-existent gold. That same night, Powhatan also orders his men to prepare for battle. A desperate Pocahontas visits Grandmother Willow, where Meeko hands her John’s compass. Pocahontas realizes John’s compass was the spinning arrow from her real-life encounter, which leads to her destiny. Morning comes, and Powhatan and his tribe drag John to a cliff overlooking a clearing for execution. Meanwhile, Ratcliffe leads the armed colonists to the cliff to fight Powhatan’s warriors. Just as Powhatan is about to execute John, Pocahontas intervenes and finally convinces him to end the fighting between the two groups and spare John’s life. Everyone accepts gratefully, and John is released; when the unmoved Ratcliffe orders his men to attack, they refuse to. Enraged, Ratcliffe fires a musket at Powhatan, but John shields him and is hit instead. The settlers, livid at Ratcliffe, turn on him and arrest him for hurting their comrade.
John is nursed back to health by the tribe but must return to England for further treatment to survive. Ratcliffe is also sent back to England to face punishment for his crimes against the settlement. John asks Pocahontas to come with him, but she chooses to stay with her tribe to help keep the peace. Meeko and Percy, now friends, give Pocahontas her mother’s necklace completely fixed. John leaves without Pocahontas, but with Powhatan’s blessing to return anytime he likes. The film ends with Pocahontas standing atop a cliff, watching the ship carrying John depart.
Pocahontas II: Journey to the New World
In London, John Smith is ambushed by a group of soldiers with a warrant for his arrest and presumed dead in the ensuing confrontation; Governor Ratcliffe has lied to King James (being a personal friend of the King) and framed Smith as the traitor from the first film in a plot to declare war against the Powhatan Nation and get hold of the gold he still believes them to possess, all while avoiding punishment for his own crimes. In order to prevent war, the King sends a young diplomat, John Rolfe, to bring Chief Powhatan to England for negotiations. In the New World, Pocahontas, Powhatan’s daughter, mourns John Smith’s death but is eventually able to move on. John Rolfe soon arrives, greeted by English civilians (who by now have settled in Jamestown) and a curious Pocahontas. Rolfe eventually speaks with Powhatan, but he refuses to accompany him to England, so Pocahontas goes in her father’s stead, believing that she can bring about peace between the two nations. Powhatan sends a bodyguard, Uttamatomakkin (Uti) to accompany Pocahontas. Rolfe and Pocahontas have a rocky start, but gradually warm up to each other.
In England, Rolfe leaves Pocahontas at his mansion and meets with King James and Queen Anne, but James refuses to meet with Pocahontas despite Rolfe’s pleas. Instead, per Ratcliffe’s suggestion, James invites both Rolfe and Pocahontas to an upcoming ball and promises that if Pocahontas impresses him by acting “civilised”, he will prevent the armada from sailing to Jamestown, but if she does not, he will declare war. Knowing that Ratcliffe deliberately manipulated the King, Rolfe and his maid, Mrs. Jenkins, educate Pocahontas in the ways of British etiquette to prepare her. At the ball, Pocahontas wins over the King and Queen with flattery and almost manages to prevent war, but a bear-baiting arranged by Ratcliffe and greatly enjoyed by the snobbish nobility infuriates Pocahontas and she openly accuses the King of savage behaviour. With Ratcliffe whispering in his ear, James angrily orders Pocahontas and Uti imprisoned in the Tower of London, and declares war on the Powhatan tribe.
At his home, a despondent Rolfe is approached by a hooded stranger who helps him break Pocahontas and Uti out of the tower and take them to an inn, where the man reveals himself to be John Smith. Smith implores Pocahontas to stay hidden with him, but she instead takes Rolfe’s advice and decides to try and stop the war one last time. She openly confronts the King in the palace and reveals Smith, thus proving that Ratcliffe had been lying the entire time. Realizing Ratcliffe’s treachery, James sends a battalion (among them Pocahontas, Smith, Rolfe, Uti, and their animal friends) to stop the armada and detain Ratcliffe. They are successful in stopping the ships before they can set sail, but Ratcliffe refuses to give up and tries to kill Pocahontas. Smith appears and fights Ratcliffe one-on-one until Ratcliffe draws a gun, but before he can fire, Rolfe hits him overboard with the ship’s mast. Ratcliffe makes it back to the port, where he is arrested by the King.
Smith receives a royal pardon and his own ship from the King as a sign of apology. Pocahontas and Rolfe, meanwhile, appear on the verge of admitting that they love each other. Before they can, Smith appears and implores Pocahontas to accompany him on his new journeys around the world, but Pocahontas chooses otherwise and she and Smith part ways as friends. As Pocahontas later prepares to return to Jamestown, she finds Rolfe waiting for her on the ship, having chosen to go and live with her in Jamestown (with Uti remaining in London in his stead). They kiss as the ship sails into the sunset.
Squanto and the First Thanksgiving
Discover the moving, true story of the Native American named Squanto, who is captured from his beloved Pawtuxet tribe, taken to Spain, and sold into slavery. Years later, Squanto regains his freedom and embarks on a miraculous journey back to his homeland where he teaches the Pilgrims how to survive the difficult early years in the Plymouth colony–culminating in the first Thanksgiving celebration. A touching drama about trust, faith and renewal. Music by Paul McCandless. Illustrated by Michael Donato.