Heidi

Heidi arrives in the village of Dörfli to live with Uncle, her grandfather. On the train taking them to Dörfli, Heidi hears about her grandfather for the first time and the depiction is somewhat scary. Once in the village, the rumours about “Uncle” grow as Barbel, the blacksmith’s wife, warns Dete about her choice; no one should leave a child to this grumpy old bear!

Grandfather has asked Peter, who he calls “Goat General”, to take Heidi with him for the day. Peter is not happy about this decision but doesn’t have much of a choice. So Heidi spends her first day in the mountains with Peter, who is still not talking to her, not very happy at having to take care of the “town girl”.

Little Bear has healed and Heidi goes back to the meadow with Peter. They gradually adapt to each other, and Peter shows off a bit when Karl and his gang (Theresa and William) show up to bully them. They catch Heidi and promise to release her only if Peter gives them his goatherd money. To save Heidi, Peter challenges Karl: the first on top of Jackdaw’s Cliff wins!

A few days later, Heidi saves a goldfinch from a jackdaw’s attack but the goldfinch is wounded. Against Grandfather’s advice, Heidi decides to save the wounded bird and she needs Peter’s help for that. At his place, Peter is gone for the day in the woods and Heidi meets Peter’s Grandmother, an old and blind woman. She tells Heidi she can save the bird with Artemisia, a mountain herb.

The next day, Peter is convinced Heidi saw his treehouse and he sulks. He decides to go to the meadow on his own and Heidi is left with Grandfather. They both go to the blacksmith in the village, where Heidi surprises Karl and his gang as they plan to find and attack Peter’s treehouse. Concerned, Heidi runs in the woods to find Peter.

After Peter tells her how much he hates school and how unbearable it is, Heidi is scared that Grandfather will force her to go to school next winter. At the same time, Grandfather receives a letter from Dete saying that she’ll come back next spring to take Heidi away. Grandfather is upset and clams up when Heidi asks him if she’ll have to go to school.

As winter is approaching, Grandfather and Heidi go to the village to get supplies for the cold season. As she stops at Peter’s place, Heidi realises that Grandmother’s favourite thing is fresh bread. But the old woman can’t afford to buy some every day so Heidi promises Grandmother to bring some back.

Winter has arrived and now Heidi is stuck in the cabin. She asks Grandfather to go to the village to see Peter after school. Grandfather agrees and she goes down to the village on Grandfather’s sled. She peers inside the classroom and observes Peter. After school, Peter and Heidi are attacked with snowballs by Karl and Theresa, who blame Peter for having being punished by the teacher.

A she-wolf wanders in the village and almost attacks Sweetheart, Theresa’s goat. Mr Keller, Theresa’s father, organises a hunt in the woods with the blacksmith. The teacher, who thinks, instead of killing the wolf, they should find out why she’s there in the first place, goes with them. In the meantime, Heidi finds a cub in the woods.

Spring is back and Peter and Heidi are ready to reopen the treehouse, which had been closed all winter. But Peter realises that his treasure, that he kept in the shed near his cabin, has disappeared. Sure it’s Karl and Theresa again, he rushes to the village with Heidi. But as usual, Karl and Theresa deny any involvement.

One afternoon, Karl contemplates Peter’s treehouse and he decides to attack it, so the next morning, Karl, Theresa and William invade the treehouse before Heidi and Peter arrive. When they realise that, Peter and Heidi are furious, and Peter wants to fight. But Heidi would like to find a more peaceful solution.

Peter and Heidi are back in the meadows and Heidi is now so good with the goats that she asks Peter to become a Goat General just like him. But Peter refuses, as he feels sad today; Sweetheart doesn’t give milk anymore and the Kellers have decided to get rid of the goat. As she’s very fond of Sweetheart, Heidi decides to save the goat and find a way for her to milk again.

As Heidi comes down from the meadow, happy to now be a Goat General, her happiness is short lived when she finds Dete and learns that she has to go to Frankfurt. She refuses at first, but when Grandfather doesn’t fight to keep her and Dete tells her it’s only for a few days, Heidi agrees to follow her.

In Frankfurt, Clara Sesemann, a young girl in a wheelchair, waits impatiently for her new companion Heidi. But when Heidi arrives, Miss Rottenmeier, the governess in charge, wants to make sure that Heidi is suitable for Clara before she can meet the young girl. Clara and Heidi will change Miss Rottenmeier’s plan and will know at first sight that they are meant to be great friends.

Heidi decides to go up the bell tower at the cathedral to see the mountains and asks Clara to cover for her during nap time. But Heidi comes back later than expected and she only avoids Miss Rottenmeier’s anger thanks to Sebastian, who pretends she was asleep in the attic. Heidi couldn’t see the mountains at the tower, but she brought back two kittens, that they have to hide from Miss Rottenmeier.

Miss Rottenmeier is allergic to cats and when she discovers the two kittens brought by Heidi, she gets really angry. She punishes Heidi and forces her to spend the afternoon in the cellar while she sends Sebastian to drown the kittens in the canal. To save the kittens, Clara helps Heidi getting out of the cellar and Heidi runs after Sebastian for him not to drown the kittens.

Heidi helps Clara as she trains to stand from her wheelchair. When the girls learn that Mr Sesemann, Clara’s father, will arrive later that day, Clara is motivated to show her progress. But an accident just as Mr Sesemann arrives gets Heidi in trouble and Clara is afraid her new friend will be sent away.

Clara’s teacher comes back after the holidays, and he also has to teach Heidi. But he realises that she doesn’t even know how to read and write. When the girls are threatened to have separate classes, which means they won’t see each other at all during the day, Clara helps Heidi learn her alphabet.

The arrival of Mr Sesemann’s mother, “Grandmamma”, changes the atmosphere at the Sesemann household. She decides to perform a play with Heidi and Clara. Grandmamma also immediately dislikes the teacher, thinking he’s too academic for Heidi to blossom. When she realises he only makes the little girl learn by heart difficult texts to show off, she puts her foot down.

By the end of winter, Heidi knows how to read. To celebrate, Grandmamma takes her and Clara to the park for a stroll. Also, Clara has made progress and can almost stand on her own. But she’s still frail and she feels discouraged every time she tries and doesn’t succeed.

Grandmamma and Heidi are worried about Clara; since she fell in the park, she doesn’t want to leave her room anymore. Heidi and Grandmamma try to cheer her up and even build a swing in the garden. But when Heidi tries to push Clara on the swing, Clara rebuffs her and the two girls argue. Heidi feels betrayed to see that Clara has given up on walking and, distraught, she locks herself in her room.

Miss Rottenmeier has to leave town to see her sick sister and Dete and Sebastian are left in charge. Heidi convinces them to take her and Clara back to the park. At the park, Heidi and Clara see some goats in an enclosure and Heidi notices that one of the baby goats is sick and needs attention. She decides to take the baby goat back at the Sesemann house to cure it before Miss Rottenmeier is back.

Heidi is about to take the baby goat back to the park when Miss Rottenmeier comes back earlier than expected and finds the goat in the house. It’s too much for the governess and she decides to resign and leave the house. Clara is distraught and Heidi knows that there is only one way to keep Miss Rottenmeier: for her to leave.

Clara can now stand without any help and it’s a great achievement. Heidi thinks she’ll soon be able to go back to the mountains, but Mr Sesemann wants Heidi to stay anyway; he wants to adopt her. When Heidi understands that it means for her to spend the rest of her life in the city, she finds shelter up the big tree in the courtyard.

As summer comes, Heidi feels like a bird in a cage. She misses the mountains more than ever before and doesn’t sleep well. At the same time, Miss Rottenmeier, who was working late at night in the library, hears noises and convinces herself that they have a ghost in the house. Her allegations scare Clara slightly and Mr Sesemann decides to stand guard the following night to clear the air.