The day had finally come for the proud ship Susan Constant to set sail for the new land, and the dock was buzzing with activity. Three crew members -- Lon, Ben, and Thomas -- were reluctantly bidding farewell to their families, while another man, John Smith, stood alone, eager for the ship to be on its way. The last person to arrive was John Ratcliffe, the ruthless and ambitious governor of the new land. Ratcliffe brought his manservant, Wiggins, and his spoiled little dog, Percy, to accompany him. While Ratcliffe grandly marched toward the ship, several guards stood at attention, a crowd of well-wishers behind them.
 The journey was not easy for the ship’s crew. One day, far out at sea, a terrible storm struck. As the men on board scrambled in heavy winds to keep the ship afloat, a powerful wave crashed over the deck, sweeping Thomas overboard. While the rest of the terrified crew looked on, John Smith quickly secured a rope to his waist and jumped into the turbulent water. Minutes later, he and Thomas were hauled to safety.
Hearing all the commotion, Ratcliffe made a rare appearance on deck. Taking the opportunity to deliver a speech, he urged the men not to lose heart, promising that freedom and prosperity awaited them in the new land. Ratcliffe arrogantly declared that nothing, not even Indians, would stand in the settlers’ way.
After Ratcliffe had returned to the shelter and comfort of his cabin, some crew members began to worry about how dangerous the Indians would be. But Ben told them it was the Indians who should be afraid -- of the fearless John Smith.
Across the Atlantic, a party of Indian warriors was returning home from battle. Powhatan, the village’s noble leader, stepped ashore with Kocoum, his bravest warrior. Powhatan was glad to see the learned medicine man, Kekata, as well as the rest of his tribe. However, he was most interested in seeing one person -- his beloved daughter, Pocahontas.
As usual, Pocahontas was far away from the village with her friends Meeko, a raccoon, and Flit, a hummingbird. She stood high atop a cliff next to a roaring waterfall, gazing out over the breathtaking landscape.
Suddenly, her best friend, Nakoma, called to her from a canoe at the base of the waterfall, telling Pocahontas that her father had returned. Eager to see her father, Pocahontas leaped off the cliff and dove into the pool far below, where Nakoma sat in her canoe. Playfully ducking under the canoe, Pocahontas overturned the boat, with Nakoma still in it. Laughing, the two girls climbed back in and paddled back to the Indian village, with Meeko at the head of the canoe and Flit hovering alongside.
Reunited with her father, Pocahontas told him about a dream she kept having.
"I think it’s telling me that something is about to happen ... something exciting," she said.
Powhatan smiled at his daughter and told her something exciting was about to happen -- the mighty warrior Kocoum had asked for her hand in marriage. Pocahontas could not believe her ears. Kocoum was too serious, and she certainly couldn't picture herself married to him. Pocahontas told Powhatan she was not at all sure she wanted to marry Kocoum.
"Father, I think my dream is pointing me down another path," she said.
Powhatan quieted her gently. Then he gave her the necklace her mother had worn when she married Powhatan many years before. As he placed the treasured gift around Pocahontas’s neck, Powhatan told his daughter that she must settle down with Kocoum.
"Even the wild mountain stream must someday join the big river," he said.
Still troubled by the thought of marrying Kocoum, Pocahontas went to a very special glade in the forest, inhabited by the wise tree spirit Grandmother Willow. Pocahontas told Grandmother Willow about her dream, how it showed her an arrow spinning faster and faster until it suddenly stopped, waking her up without any answers. Grandmother Willow said the arrow was pointing Pocahontas down her path. But when Pocahontas asked how she would know what her path was, Grandmother Willow replied that Pocahontas must learn to listen with her heart to all the sounds around her. Then she would know the answer without even having to ask.
Just then, a breeze began to blow. As the winds grew stronger and stronger, Pocahontas climbed high into Grandmother Willow’s branches, hoping to see what they carried. She looked out over the trees and saw clouds billowing in the distance -- strange white clouds. Pocahontas ran toward the ocean and climbed a rock face near the water’s edge. There, much closer now, were the strange "clouds" she had seen earlier -- they were really the sails of the Susan Constant, flapping in the breeze. The ship was pulling toward land at last.
John Smith went ashore and climbed a tree to get a better view of this magnificent land. Unaware that Pocahontas was hidden nearby, observing him, Smith climbed closer to her.
Suddenly, just when it seemed as if Smith would discover Pocahontas, Meeko jumped into view. Intrigued by this strange animal, Smith offered Meeko a biscuit. When a bugle sounded from below, Smith climbed back down to shore. Pocahontas remained undiscovered -- at least for the moment.
Ratcliffe was triumphantly planting the British flag in the soil when John Smith re-joined his comrades. Secretly, Ratcliffe cared less about the flag than he did about the gold and other riches he thought this new land had to offer. Just to make sure nothing would get in his way, Ratcliffe sent Smith to scout the forest for Indians. Not long afterward, Powhatan's warriors reported they had spotted the settlers.
When Powhatan asked Kekata if he knew what the settlers’ arrival meant, the medicine man poured a handful of powder on the fire. Smoke rose from the fire and took the shape of armored warriors with weapons spouting fire and thunder. Then the smoky images changed into hungry wolves. Worried, Powhatan asked Kocoum to take some men to further observe the settlers. Powhatan hoped the settlers did not intend to stay.
Meanwhile, John Smith continued to scout the forest near the settlement. When he finally came to a waterfall, he knelt down to get a drink. As he looked into the water cupped in his hands, he thought he saw a reflection of someone standing behind him. But when he looked up, no one was there. Cautiously, he edged behind the waterfall, where he could just barely make out a figure on the other side of the cascading water. Readying himself for a fight, he jumped right through the wall of water -- and found himself face-to-face with Pocahontas! Startled by the harmless and beautiful woman, Smith stared at her for a long moment, then reached out his hand -- only to frighten her into running away.
Pocahontas fled back to the river, followed by Smith, who was protesting that he would not hurt her. Pocahontas could not understand what he was saying, until she remembered what Grandmother Willow had said -- to listen with her heart to the voices all around her. Suddenly, Pocahontas realized she could understand what this strange man was saying.
At the river, Pocahontas and John Smith talked, slowly getting to know each other. Meeko reached into Smith’s pouch and snatched his compass, thinking it was a biscuit! Smith smiled and allowed the raccoon to keep it as a gift.
Sharing some of her people’s ways, Pocahontas showed Smith the Indian gestures for "hello" and "goodbye." Smith told her he liked "hello" better. As Smith spoke of London, Pocahontas realized that these settlers meant to re-create their old world among her people.
When he fumbled over the right words to describe the Indians and could only come up with "savages" and "uncivilized," Pocahontas responded coolly, "What you mean is, ‘not like you.’"
Pocahontas took John Smith's hand and led him through the forest. She showed him how all the different parts of nature -- animals, plants, the wind, the clouds, even people -- were alive and connected to each other. Soon Smith could see the colors of the wind that Pocahontas saw, and feel what Pocahontas felt. He realized what she meant when she said it was important to understand people and things who were not like him.
As the settlers and Indians became more distrustful and afraid of each other, the friendship between Pocahontas and John Smith deepened. Finally, Smith went with Pocahontas to visit Grandmother Willow’s glade for the first time.
Looking at the beauty all around him, Smith confessed that the settlers really had come to this land looking for gold. Pocahontas told him that the only gold she knew of was the golden corn, which the Indians grew for food! While they were talking, Smith suddenly jumped back, as Grandmother Willow’s face appeared in the bark of the old tree.
Though Smith was startled by Grandmother Willow's arrival, he was even more confused when she began to speak to him. Soon, however, he found himself actually enjoying a conversation with the tree spirit. Grandmother Willow declared that Smith had a good soul (and that he was handsome, too!).
After Smith had left the glade, Pocahontas spoke to Grandmother Willow alone. She wondered if she should stay away from John Smith because of the growing tension between the settlers and the Indians. But something in Pocahontas’s heart told her that seeing Smith was the right thing to do. Grandmother Willow suggested that perhaps Pocahontas had finally found her path -- and that it was leading to John Smith.
When she returned to her village, Pocahontas saw that the Indian warriors were preparing to fight the settlers. While observing the settlers, Kocoum and his warriors had been discovered, resulting in a skirmish. A warrior had been wounded by the settlers’ strange guns. Now, frightened by the warrior’s painful wound and concerned about the settlers’ powerful weapons, the Indians were gearing up for battle.
Pocahontas ran to Powhatan, begging him to talk with the settlers so that he could understand them better, but Powhatan said it was too late for talking. As he turned away to meet with his warriors, he told his daughter to stay in the village, where it was safe, and not wander through the forest alone anymore.
John Smith discovered that the settlers were also preparing for battle. Ratcliffe wanted to find gold at any cost, and he thought the Indians were hiding it. Smith showed Ratcliffe the ear of corn Pocahontas had given him. He explained that there was no gold, but that the corn could be eaten, and it would make a welcome change from the settlers’ regular fare of biscuits and gruel. But Ratcliffe would not listen. He was more interested in finding his fortune than in making peace with the Indians.
While their people prepared to fight, John Smith and Pocahontas secretly met at Grandmother Willow’s glade. They wanted to try to prevent this battle. While they talked, Meeko and Percy ran into the glade, squabbling. Smith and Pocahontas tried to stop the fight but couldn't catch them. Finally, Smith decided they couldn't separate the two animals. 
"Once two sides want to fight, nothing can stop them," he said sadly.
Grandmother Willow, however, did not agree. She dipped a branch into the water, causing a small ripple, which grew bigger and bigger. When Smith and Pocahontas saw the ripples, they realized they needed to start the peace -- like the smallest ripple -- so it would grow and spread among the settlers and Indians. John Smith decided to go with Pocahontas to the Indian village and speak to Powhatan.
But, just as they were preparing to leave, Kocoum jumped out from behind some trees. He leaped at Smith, and both men fell to the ground, wrestling for Kocoum’s knife. Just then, Thomas, who had been searching for Smith, looked out from the bushes and saw Kocoum's dagger poised above Smith. Fearing for Smith’s life, Thomas fired his musket, fatally wounding the brave warrior. As Kocoum fell, his hand caught Pocahontas’s necklace, dragging it with him to the ground. It broke into several pieces, landing next to his lifeless body.
 As a party of Indian warriors descended upon them, Smith yelled to Thomas to run back to the settlement for help. Moments later, Smith was accused of murder and dragged away by Indian warriors.
Brought before Powhatan, Smith was condemned to die at sunrise the next day. Pocahontas tried to protest, but Powhatan scolded her harshly. Her father said Pocahontas had shamed him, and it was her fault that all this had happened.
Later that night, Pocahontas convinced the guards to allow her to see John Smith alone. Saddened by Smith’s fate, and believing it to be her fault, Pocahontas told him it would have been better if they had never met. Still, she couldn't say goodbye.
"I cannot leave you," she whispered.
"You never will," Smith replied. "No matter what happens, I will always be with you. Forever."
Meanwhile, Thomas had told the settlers that Smith had been captured by the Indians. They all wanted to help rescue him. Deviously, Ratcliffe took advantage of the situation and misled the settlers, telling them the Indians had rejected Smith’s gesture of friendship in order to imprison him.
Feeling lost and hopeless, Pocahontas returned to the enchanted glade. Looking at John Smith’s compass, she saw the spinning arrow and realized it was the arrow from her dream. Suddenly, it began spinning faster and faster, while the winds around her picked up speed. Finally, the arrow stopped, pointing a clear path toward the sunrise. Pocahontas knew she had to follow the arrow to save John Smith. With some urging from Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas began running through the forest.
As sunrise approached, Pocahontas ran toward the site where the Indians waited with John Smith. Across the way, the settlers gathered, ready for battle. Just as the sun appeared, Pocahontas threw herself in front of Smith. She begged Powhatan to spare Smith’s life.
"I love him, Father," she said, urging him to see the great misunderstanding that had occurred. "Look around you. This is where the path of hatred has brought us."
Powhatan did look around. He saw the armed settlers and Indians standing ready for battle. And he heard the simple wisdom of Pocahontas’s words. Powhatan lay down his weapon and released Smith. Ratcliffe urged his settlers to open fire. But they had seen Powhatan’s act of peace, and they lowered their muskets. Desperate now, Ratcliffe grabbed a gun from one of his men. Seeing Ratcliffe taking aim, John Smith threw himself in front of Powhatan. Before anyone knew what had happened, Smith lay on the ground, wounded by Ratcliffe’s bullet. He had saved the Indian leaders life at the risk of his own. As Pocahontas went to Smith, the enraged settlers grabbed Ratcliffe and took him back to the ship in chains.
John Smith was carried back to the settlement. He knew he had to return to England in order to survive. Yet, as he lay on his stretcher waiting for the Susan Constant to be prepared for the voyage back to England, he kept hoping Pocahontas would come to see him one last time. Finally, he saw her at the edge of the clearing. Behind her were Powhatan, Nakoma, and the rest of the village. The Indians had brought corn and blankets for the settlers. Cautiously, they approached and began to hand out their gifts.
Just then, Meeko, Flit, and Percy arrived together as friends. They carried Pocahontas’s broken necklace, now repaired, which they lovingly placed around her neck.
Full of hope, John Smith asked Pocahontas to return to England with him. She looked at Smith and then at her father and Nakoma. She knew she must choose her own path, but she also knew she had to stay and try to keep the peace between her people and the settlers. Her tears gave John Smith the message: She would not go with him.
"Then I will stay with you," he said.
But Pocahontas gently told him he must leave.
"No matter what happens, " she reassured him, "I will always be with you. Forever."
After John Smith was taken aboard the ship, Pocahontas ran from the shore and climbed a cliff overlooking the water. She watched sadly from her perch as the ship that once had brought him to her home carried him back out to the open sea. The End.