The Disney version of "Squanto" in the movie, Squanto: A Warrior's Tale is an larger than life character. The movie is a story of his life from the time he was captured to the first Thanksgiving. The movie dramatizes Squanto's life to make it a good, family movie . Set in the early 17th century, Squanto is captured by English settlers. He is then taken to England but escapes with a group of men, along with Epenow, a Nauset from Martha's Vineyard who was also captured by the English.

When the English ship arrives in Plymouth England, Squanto and Epenow are considered as slaves after meeting the employer of the crew, Sir George. As a welcome, Squanto gets thrown in a ring with a giant bear. Their battle becomes a spectacle for the English.

Squanto is able to escape, and soon after escapes in a row boat. When he's discovered, he's lying unconscious on a rocky shore, and soon found by a trio of monks who had been fishing. He is taken into their monastery, in spite of the reluctancy of head Brother Paul. The monk who offers the most open arms, Brother Daniel, becomes a mentor and friend to Squanto. From Brother Daniel, Squanto learns English, and at the same time, he imparts some knowledge about his world to his new housemates, introducing them to moccasins and popcorn. Brother Paul remains skeptical of 'the pagan' and in any possibility of a "New World".

Meanwhile, Sir George firmly believes that Squanto belongs to the Plymouth printing company, and he has men on the hunt. In another cinematic sequence, Squanto pulls off an improbable escape to accompany Epenow and the crew setting sail back to America.

What Squanto returns to devastates him. His tribe has been entirely killed off by illness that the Europeans brought. Epenow wishes to turn violent against the English who mistreated them. The Englishmen and Nauset tribe are ready to do battle, but Squanto manages to settle things peacefully. The last scenes of the film portray the first Thanksgiving celebration.

    Historians don’t really know much about Squanto's  early life. Historians don’t know of the age of Squanto either, but it is believed, when he died, he was in his twenties or thirties. Squanto belonged to the Patuxet tribe, who spoke an Algonquian dialect which was shared with many other natives that lived nearby. This meant that they were able to communicate with each other. The Patuxet tribe divided labor by sex, which was seen with most of the North American Indians. Men were supposed to hunt and fish. Not only did Squanto do this, but he was also a prince in his band. As mentioned in the movie, he was chosen during childhood and had rigorous diets and training to prepare for his position. This position required courage and the ability to call the deity Hobbamock. This deity was able to inflict pain and kill those who did not favor him and he came in many forms.

    The land was very different before the Puritan colonists came to settle the land. According to records of what Squanto told colonists, there were about 2000 Indians living in Plymouth before the English came, brought diseases and pushed them off their land. The population of the surrounding area in contact with the Patuxet was between twenty to twenty-five thousand native inhabitants.

    The year Squanto was born marked the beginning of European exploration. Traders began to move south of Canada. The Patuxet were not actually dependent, like northern Indians, on the Europeans for trade because there had been so few visits. By 1614, John Smith had discovered the Patuxet tribe through trading with other tribes. The Patuxet had a surplus of fur and became aquatinted with the Europeans, unlike what the movie portrays. (In the beginning of the movie, when the ship sails up to the shore, the Indians are scared. Why would they be scared if they are aquatinted with these people who have not harmed them yet?) Trading with Samuel de Champlain, Smith, and other traders taught Squanto some about European trade, diplomacy, and military.  This is where the movie begins in Squanto's life.

    Smith had left for England, leaving Thomas Hunt in charge of the fishing crew to complete the voyage. According to history, Hunt used the friendly relationship of Smith and the Indians to lure twenty Patuxet men, including Squanto, onto the ship. Then they sailed on to Nauset and stole seven more Indians and sailed to Spain. Thomas Dermer tried to change Hunt's mind and treat the Indians kindly so they could help the Europeans adjust to the land and trade with the Indians. Hunt refused Dermer's wishes. The Indians were brought to Malaga, Spain, where Hunt tried to sell them as slaves. Some were sold while the other were taken by Friars to learn the Christian faith. What happened to Squanto during the next three years is not known. We do know that by 1617, Squanto was residing in a London home owned by John Slany who was the treasurer of the Newfoundland Company. This is where Squanto learned or improved his English. Slany lent Squanto as a guide to an unknown person who was making voyages to Newfoundland and Massachusetts. This unknown person lent Squanto to Governor John Mason of Newfoundland, who then lent him Thomas Dermer. This is the second time Squanto had met Thomas Dermer. Dermer was so impressed with Squanto that he brought him to Sir George. Sir George employed Squanto as a guide in New England. In March of 1619, he and Dermer left for New England. When they reached Patuxet lands, Dermer dropped Squanto offf. Soon afterward, he was killed in an Indian ambush just like in the movie.

    In the movie, instead of capturing twenty Indians, Hunt lured only a handful of Indians, five, and Squanto was the only one that was captured. Also, when Squanto came onto the ship, the Europeans had already been to the Nauset tribe and picked up only one Indian, not seven, who was named Epenow. When Squanto and Epenow, Squanto's new friend, arrived in England (not Spain), they were put on display for the commoners. Squanto was thrown in a pit with a grizzly bear to fight. In the middle of the fight, Squanto begins to sing and calms the bear down, then lets the bear loose into the crowd. Squanto and Epenow run for their lives, but Epenow is caught. Squanto steals a boat and sails away.

    The next day, monks find Squanto beached, take him in, and heal his wounds. Squanto stays there and learns English and the ways of the monks. In return, Squanto teaches the monks ways to plant and introduces popcorn to them. During this, Sir Gorge, who owns Squanto, has had men looking for him because Squanto is his favorite Indian. Dermer tries to convince Sir Gorge to change his mind and make the Indians their friends so they could trade and get aid from them. Sir Gorges refused, believing that Indians are just "noble savages". They raid the monks' house, after months of looking, but Squanto hides and the monks lie and say they have never seen him.

    After the months of hiding, Father Daniel hears of a ship leaving for Plymouth. Knowing that that is Squanto's homeland, the brothers decide to sneak him onto the ship. Father Daniel and Squanto ride into town and are heading towards the ship when they see Epenow. Epenow is thrown into the pit and fighting four men. Squanto, being the hero he is, goes and saves Epenow, and in the meantime is captured. Epenow is being sent back to the New Land because he is not courageous like Squanto, who Sir Gorges adores. The day comes when the ship is sailing back to Plymouth, and Squanto happens to escape that day. He escapes by having rats, because the movie portrays him like a Beast Master, come and chew the ropes off his hands. With the help of Father Daniel, Squanto escapes from Sir Gorges' men and jumps onto the boat while on horseback and the ship is sailing away.

    The first stop in New England is the Nauset land. The Indians and the English had a feast together and that night, while the English were sleeping, the Indians burned their ship killing all. Squanto is disgusted by the Nausets' behavior and begins a quarrel. That is when Epenow tells Squanto to go see what the English have done to his homeland. Squanto runs home. When arriving to his homeland, the village is abandoned. Most of his tribe had died from diseases and the others had flocked to nearby tribes. Squanto lived on his own until the Puritans came to the land and settled it. When the Puritans did arrive, Indian huts were still standing, so they knew that someone had lived there before and debated on whether or not they should stay. They decided to stay and the Indians and the Puritans had a confrontation. Squanto tried to stop it by yelling, "Hasn't there been enough bloodshed!" During Squanto's speech Epenow's son, Pequod, runs towards the English and is shot. The Puritans healed him, which began a friendly relationship with the Indians. Since the Puritans did not know how to survive on this land, the Indians showed them how to hunt and garden. This lead to the first Thanksgiving, which is the ending of the movie.