It is an animated remake of the 1974 children's propaganda film Sparkling Red Star, which was made during the Cultural Revolution.

The film concerns a boy who helps the Red Army fight a greedy landlord in his village.

In Liuxi Village in Jiangxi, an innocent and cheerful child, Pan Dongzi (潘东子), spends his carefree childhood.

Hu Hansan, the tyrannical landlord of the village, finds out about this, and Pan's father is captured.

After regaining control over the village, Hu plans to make a profit by buying and selling weapons, presumably to the enemies of the Red Army, though it's not clearly stated.

"[1] The filmmakers did not make the theme as politically revolutionary as the original film, and chose to focus more on family and friendship, although there are still numerous propagandistic elements.