Anne of Green Gables (1985)
Cast and Credits
Produced by Anne of Green Gables Productions Inc. in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, PBS/Wonderworks, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, TV-60 Film Production/ZDF, City-TV, and with the participation of Telefilm Canada. Production Services provided by Sullivan Films Inc. and Ventura Pictures Inc. [Cut from reissues after 1995]. Running time: 2 episodes x 95 minutes or 4 episodes x 45 minutes. CBC airdates: 1-2 Dec. 1985. PBS airdates: 17, 24 Feb., 3, 10 Mar. 1986. ZDF airdates: 2, 9, 16, 23 Nov. 1986. City-TV airdates: 18-19 Dec. 1989.
Megan Follows (Anne Shirley), Colleen Dewhurst (Marilla Cuthbert), Richard Farnsworth (Matthew Cuthbert), Patricia Hamilton (Rachel Lynde), Rosemary Radcliffe (Mrs. Barry), Schuyler Grant (Diana Barry), Marilyn Lightstone (Miss Stacey), Charmion King (Aunt Josephine Barry), and Jackie Burroughs (Mrs. Amelia Evans).
A Kevin Sullivan Production. Based on the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Screen Adaptation: Kevin Sullivan and Joe Wiesenfeld. Associate Producer: Trudy Grant. Executive in Charge of Production for CBC: Nada Harcourt [Cut from reissues after 1995]. Executive Producer: Kevin Sullivan. Produced by Kevin Sullivan and Ian McDougall. Directed by Kevin Sullivan.
Commentary and Synopsis
The first of an ongoing series of dramatic programs by Sullivan Entertainment, a Toronto company founded in 1979 by Kevin Sullivan and Trudy Grant as Sullivan Films. Budgeted at $3.4 million, this two-part, four-hour miniseries averaged 5.6 million viewers when it premiered in Canada in 1985, making it the highest-rated dramatic program in the history of the CBC. For the most part, this miniseries is a faithful adaptation of the original novel; omissions aside, most of the changes made are more structural than creative, some of them closely paralleled to Nicholls’ direction of the 1934 talkie. Ultimately, however, Sullivan and Wiesenfeld continue the tradition of refocusing the plot on Anne’s relationship with Gilbert. Most of the scenes invented by the screenwriters serve to emphasize their budding relationship: as Susan Drain concludes in her detailed review of the television miniseries, “the film, by concentrating on the love story, is in some ways more old-fashioned, or even narrower, than the book. The film is an exquisite romance, but the novel is a Bildungsroman. That reduction is, finally, a loss” (72).
The success of this miniseries prompted a sequel (1987), a spin-off series (1990-1996), a second sequel (2000), and an animated series, all from Sullivan Entertainment. This Anne of Green Gables adaptation won nine Gemini Awards (including Best Dramatic Miniseries), an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program, a Peabody Award, and numerous other international awards and accolades.
Merchandise
Novelization
The Anne of Green Gables Storybook. Based on the Kevin Sullivan Film of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Classic Novel. Screenplay by Kevin Sullivan & Joe Wiesenfeld. Storybook adapted by Fiona McHugh. Willowdale, ON: Firefly, 1987.
Soundtrack
Anne. Original Music Score for the Sullivan Films Emmy Award Winning TV Presentation of Anne of Green Gables [and Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel]. Composed and Conducted by Hagood Hardy. Toronto: Attic Records, n.d. [Issued first as a cassette, then later as a CD.]
Home Video (English)
Anne of Green Gables. A Kevin Sullivan Production. Toronto: Junior Home Video, n.d.*
Anne of Green Gables. Walt Disney Home Video Presents Wonderworks. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Home Video, n.d.*
Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment Presents. Toronto: Sullivan Releasing, [1995].*
Home Video (French)
Anne…La Maison aux pignons verts. Une production de Kevin Sullivan. Toronto: Junior Home Video, n.d.*
Anne…La Maison aux pignons verts. Sullivan Entertainment présente. Toronto: Sullivan Entertainment, n.d.*
Anne…La Maison aux pignons verts. 4 volumes. Montréal: Imavision Distribution, [2000]. [Volume 1: Anne...La Maison aux pignons verts, episodes 1 and 2; Volume 2: Anne...La Maison aux pignons verts, episodes 3 and 4; Volume 3: Anne...La Maison aux pignons verts, La suite, episodes 1 and 2; Volume 4: Anne...La Maison aux pignons verts: La suite, episodes 3, 4, and 5.]
DVD (English)
Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment Presents. Toronto: Sullivan Entertainment, [2000].*
Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan Entertainment’s. Toronto: Sullivan Entertainment, [2000].* [Includes behind-the-scenes footage, missing scenes, previews, and miscellaneous materials. Has been reissued since.]
Anne of Green Gables: Five-Disc Collector’s Edition. Toronto: Sullivan Entertainment, [2006].
Further Reading
Scholarship
Berg, Temma F. “Anne of Green Gables: A Girl’s Reading.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 13.3 (1988): 124-28.
Dickinson, Peter. “Introduction: Reading Movies.” Essays on Canadian Writing 76 (2002): 1-45.
Drain, Susan. “‘Too Much Love-making’: Anne of Green Gables on Television.” The Lion and the Unicorn 11.2 (1987): 63-72.
Hersey, Eleanor. “‘It’s all mine’: The Modern Woman as Writer in Sullivan’s Anne of Green Gables Films.” Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture. Ed. Irene Gammel. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2002. 131-44.
—. “‘Tennyson Would Never Approve’: Reading and Performance in Kevin Sullivan’s Anne of Green Gables.” Canadian Children’s Literature / Littérature canadienne pour la jeunesse 105-106 (2002): 48-67.
Howey, Ann F. “‘She look’d down to Camelot’: Anne Shirley, Sullivan, and the Lady of Shalott.” Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture. Ed. Irene Gammel. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2002. 160-73.
Lefebvre, Benjamin. “Stand by Your Man: Adapting L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables.” Essays on Canadian Writing 76 (2002): 149-69.
Poe, K.L. “Who’s Got the Power? Montgomery, Sullivan, and the Unsuspecting Viewer.” Making Avonlea: L.M. Montgomery and Popular Culture. Ed. Irene Gammel. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2002. 145-49.
Wiggins, Genevieve. L.M. Montgomery. Twayne’s World Authors Series 834. New York: Twayne, 1992. [See 40-41.]
Popular Press
Adilman, Sid. “Anne’s pastures greener in Ontario.” Toronto Star 22 June 1985: J1+.
—. “Green Gables movie delighted 4,908,000 viewers.” Toronto Star 18 Dec. 1985: B1.
—. “Green Gables 2-hour movie to play Japan.” Toronto Star 19 Nov. 1988: G1.
—. “Two producers vie for Anne Of Green Gables.” Toronto Star 23 Feb. 1984: F1.
Bawden, Jim. “Green Gables charms jaded American critics.” Toronto Star 13 Dec. 1986: D5.
Boone, Mike. “Missed Anne of Green Gables on CBC? You have another chance on ad-free PBS.” TV Times 16 Feb. 1986: 3.
Conlogue, Ray. “Anne of the silver screen.” Globe and Mail 27 July 1985: E1.
Enchin, Harvey. “Sullivan files suit against public TV.” Globe and Mail 25 Aug. 1994: B6.
Firth, Margaret. “Celebrating ‘Anne Of The Silver Screen’ at Westfield Heritage Centre.” The Lucy Maud Montgomery Album. Comp. Kevin McCabe. Ed. Alexandra Heilbron. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1999. 388-91.
Fisher, Jennifer. “A messenger of optimism and sunshine.” TV Guide 30 Nov. 1985: 4-12.
Hall, Lucie. “The stubbornness of Kevin Sullivan.” Cinema Canada Oct. 1985: 8-11.
Heilbron, Alexandra. “Anne of Green Gables, the Sullivan Adaptations: An Industry Begins.” The Lucy Maud Montgomery Album. Comp. Kevin McCabe. Ed. Alexandra Heilbron. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1999. 346-49.
Kohanik, Eric. “Anne Set Aside for a While.” Calgary Herald 19 Dec. 1993: C4.
Mackay, Gillian. “Bringing a classic to the screen.” Maclean’s 2 Dec. 1985: 78.
Saunders, Don, and Gayle Macdonald. “Anne’s scary stepparents.” Globe and Mail 16 Oct. 1999: C1+.
Wren, Christopher S. “Canada’s Beloved ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Crosses the Border.” New York Times 16 Feb. 1986: 2:31+.
