When Heidi's parents die and she can no longer live with her aunt, she must stay with her ill-tempered grandfather who lives alone in the Swiss Alps.

The townspeople worry that such a young girl has been left with a bad-tempered hermit. But Heidi thrives in the mountains and loves living with her grandfather. She is happiest playing with the mountain goats, picking wildflowers, and making friends. Then Heidi is taken away to serve as a companion to a lonely woman.

Will she ever get back to the people and the mountains she loves so much?