March 1930. Jennifer, whose parents were killed in a tragic airship accident, is taken to Rose Garden Orphanage in a remote part of the English countryside.

There she finds a dilapidated building and a group of children who call themselves the Aristocracy of the Red Crayon. The residents kidnap Jennifer and take her into the dark heart of an impossibly large zeppelin, bound for a distant land.

With the help of a canine companion named Brown, Jennifer must find valuable gifts for the Aristocracy or face fatal punishment for her insolence.