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The Education of Little Tree

Play trailer Poster for The Education of Little Tree PG 1997 1h 52m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
63% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
During the Great Depression, 8-year-old Native American Little Tree (Joseph Ashton) loses his mother and father. Little Tree is sent to live in the Smokey Mountains with his grandparents (James Cromwell, Tantoo Cardinal), who show the young boy how to live in the wilderness. They introduce him to Willow John (Graham Greene), a medicine man who teaches Little Tree about his Cherokee heritage. But when the local government makes the boy attend a state school, his world is turned upside down.
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The Education of Little Tree

Critics Reviews

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Emanuel Levy Variety 06/26/2006
3/4
Earnest but evocative, and in moments touching, chronicle of the turbulent childhood of a Cherokee orphan during the Depression. Go to Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
The Education of Little Tree is another fine family movie that will no doubt be ignored by the fine families of America. Go to Full Review Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com 03/08/2009
3/4
Builds an honest, natural poignance that would not have been achieved through hollow melodramatics. Go to Full Review Robert Roten Laramie Movie Scope 05/05/2006
B
A compelling, mostly positive story, despite Little Tree's bad luck. Go to Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 02/18/2005
2/5
Daniel M. Kimmel Worcester Telegram & Gazette 07/28/2004
3/5
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The Education of Little Tree

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Cast & Crew

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Richard Friedenberg

Director

James Cromwell

Granpa

Tantoo Cardinal

Granma

Joseph Ashton

Little Tree

Graham Greene

Willow John

James Rae

Revenuer No. 2

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The Education of Little Tree

The Education of Little Tree (1997) The Education of Little Tree (1997) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis During the Great Depression, 8-year-old Native American Little Tree (Joseph Ashton) loses his mother and father. Little Tree is sent to live in the Smokey Mountains with his grandparents (James Cromwell, Tantoo Cardinal), who show the young boy how to live in the wilderness. They introduce him to Willow John (Graham Greene), a medicine man who teaches Little Tree about his Cherokee heritage. But when the local government makes the boy attend a state school, his world is turned upside down.
Director
Richard Friedenberg
Producer
Jake Eberts
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount
Rating
PG
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1997, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 12, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$320.7K
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Surround