Based on the journals of Samuel de Champlain, film animator Robert Doucet used coloured-pencil drawings to create this tribute to the explorer's vision. The narrative flashbacks focus on Champlain's dream of finding a western route to China. He abandoned this dream in 1615 when, upon reaching Lake Huron, he discovered not the fabled western sea, but fresh water beyond which lay yet more wilderness. But his dreams of a land continued, as he dedicated his life to developing a prosperous colony.