There are certain gateways – books, music, film – that have a remarkable power to whisk us back to our childhood. To a time when simple joy permeated our days and life’s complexities were yet to cast their shadows over our hopes and dreams. For me, Sullivan Entertainment’s adaptation of the Anne of Green Gables series is one such gateway, a nostalgic portal that reconnects me with the innocence and wonder of my youth.
Drawn from the prolific writings of Canadian novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne is a beacon of resilience and self-belief. It was something that I – as a queer kid in Montana – desperately needed growing up. Many have tried to adapt her, but – in my opinion – Sullivan did it best.
An orphan, Anne embodies a rare strength, a child who recognizes her own power and steadfastly refuses to let the world around her diminish it, even in the face of numerous challenges.
The series opens with Anne (Megan Follows) reading Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott. Captivated by his poetic words, she loses track of time and ends up bringing lunch late to her foster father, Mr. Hammond, who, that very moment, dies of a heart attack. She’s then returned to an orphanage and mistakenly sent to Prince Edward Island to live with elderly siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, (played by Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst) who had requested a boy.
Upon her arrival at Green Gables, Anne’s vibrant spirit breathes new life into the Cuthbert’s home and the entire community of Avonlea. Though her first interaction with the town gossip Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton) was anything but warm, she eventually won her over. She also won the respect of of Gilbert Blythe (Jonathan Crombie), when she tied with him for first place in the class ranking.
While her curiosity and adventurous spirit did get her into trouble (dying her hair green, falling off a roof) she didn’t let that stop her. She even saved the life of a young Minnie May Barry. She was a hero.
Megan Follows won the titular role of Anne, beating out three thousand other girls, including Katharine Hepburn’s niece, Schuyler Grant, who was eventually cast as Anne’s bosom friend Diana Barry. Her portrayal of Anne was not just a performance but a transformation. ‘She became Anne, and Anne became her,’ Sullivan said of Follows.
The two-part television drama aired on CBC Television on 1 December and 2 December, 1985. Both parts of the film were among the highest-rated programs of any genre ever to air on a Canadian television network. The miniseries made its US debut on PBS in February 1986, as part of the series WonderWorks. In Japan, the mini series was released as a feature film.
The miniseries was so success full two others were produced, in addition to the spin-off series Road to Avonlea which ran for seven seasons from 1990–1996 and aired on The Disney Channel in the United States.
Almost forty years after its initial release Anne is still just as magical as ever and the series can now be viewed via the Gazebo TV app (for rent or purchase).
More Anne of Green Gables soon so…
Stay Tuned!
Life In Cartoon Motion 