“I don’t like lights, I don’t like decorations, and I don’t like people.” declares a young pine tree. As he grows, his determination not to grow into a Christmas tree gnarls his branches so that he becomes a twisted, spooky old tree.

When some inventive children discover him, he begins to change his mind, but discovers it’s too late to fulfill a Christmas destiny. Then the parents threaten to cut the ugly tree down and the children save him in a way that makes everyone—including the tree—happy.