It gets you with a name. A doll in a basket says Candy, a snowstorm gives her White, and a baby left on the steps of Pony Home has an identity assembled from the two accidents that nearly erased her. That's the whole engine of this thing, and it's why the tree-climbing, scrape-hunting, absolutely ungovernable version of Candy lands so hard: the loudest kid in the orphanage is the one with the least to hold onto. The movie runs short, so it hits the sweet quiet of Pony Home and then lets tragedy walk in without softening the landing. No irony, no wink, just a girl who keeps deciding to be cheerful on purpose. Fans don't remember the plot beats. They remember crying at a doll's name.

Candice White is left as a baby on the doorstep of the Pony Home, an orphanage. The sisters who find her take her first name from a doll in her basket labeled Candy, and her surname from the snowstorm she was saved from. She grows into a lively girl who loves climbing trees, gets into scrapes and can hold her own in a scuffle. Life at the home is mostly calm and happy, or as calm as it can be with Candy around. Then tragedy begins to strike. The film is a drama with slice-of-life touches.