Original thread found here.
Okay! I think it’s FINALLY time to get back into this!
Remember last year when I started my project to read and analyze LM Montgomery’s catalogue and the adaptations based on those works but then I had a hard summer and then the holidays happened and then I broke my spine?
Probably you don’t! (Editing Laina: You might have figured it out from the recently uploaded fashion posts, but I wrote this first.)
If you need to catch up, you can find my masterlist of posts here if you need to catch up. I also suggest checking out the post where I talk specifically about fashion in Anne specifically, and maybe check out the 1934 Anne adaptation, if you want.
Since this adaptation is two parts and about three hours long, we have 10 threads covering it totally, so there’s gonna be a lot of posts here, lol.
Warning in advance that these will be pretty image heavy as obviously I take a lot of screencaps because movies are a visual media. This is also why I don’t combine the posts – they’d be murder on mobile and slow connections. And with that I think it is time for us to begin talking about the 1985 adaptation of Anne of Green Gables!
Let’s discuss!
First, some background. Anne of Green Gables 1985 is actually a two part mini-series. It aired on December 1st and December 2nd, 1985 on the CBC. It was among the highest rated programs to ever air on a Canadian TV channel. It also aired on PBS in the US and was released theatrically in Iran, Isreal, Europe, and Japan.
And this is a 3 hour mini-series! I wonder if they showed it in two different showings or had an intermission, or if people just really needed to pee at the end. Like I’m down for a 3 hour movie if it’s well-done, but I really would need a break to pee in the middle. And a popcorn refill if we’re actually in a theatre would be nice, too.
(I have a note here that just says “spine sigh” because I wrote this when I couldn’t sit up for that long but now I can sit for longer periods… and there’s a pandemic. I miss going to the movies.)
Anyways!
Anne 1985, as we’ll be referring to it, was written and directed by Kevin Sullivan and produced by his company Sullivan Entertainment for the CBC. It was filmed in Canada and actually stars mostly Canadians, unlike Anne 1934.
Fun? fact, Montgomery’s heirs actually sued him over this series. I don’t fully understand this, but there seems to have been some slightly shady business going on – on both sides. There are court cases in several countries. (Japan and Canada being the main ones as far as I know.)
As I understand it, Sullivan owns the rights to this specific universe, which in my opinion is kinda fair? Transfomative works and all that, good precident. However, her published works entered public domain after 1992. You can legally make versions based on it all you want, but Montgomery’s heirs established the Anne of Green Gables Licencing Authority and it’s unusual not to get their permission. Apparently.
Again, not a law expert so I don’t fully get all this.
There also was apparently an off-Broadway version of the Anne musical that remade the long-running Canadian one. They did not ask the AoGGLA for approval, and people were unhappy. It seems to have gotten fine reviews, but it didn’t make much of an impact as far as I can tell.
The AoGGLA did warn them not to sell merchandise, though.
Stay with me here – I’m almost to the actual adaptation but I think this is interesting/kind of funny.
There was also this website called Anne’s Diary that got in a bit of trouble for using Anne imagery without permission. It isn’t the same anymore – I think it kind of died – but it was like a children’s chatroom that used fingerprint scanning for security? WEIRD idea, imo. I did, however, check it out using the Wayback Machine and it seems pretty basic. The idea of a social network for children using biometrics is just so weird.
And by early 2013, it had been taken over by URL squatters.
Soooo that tangent aside, let’s talk about Anne 1985!
Amusingly, this starts by immediately going off book. Anne is walking through the woods reading Tennyson’s The Lady of Shallot.
There’s a very nice shot where we get a good look at her, though.
They made the interesting choice to actually show Anne at the Hammond’s place. Mrs. Hammond is awful, this one kid is crying so miserably that I’m slightly worried for the actual kid, and I swear at least one of these kids is older than Anne.
Mrs. Hammond then takes inspiration from the evil stepmother in Ever After and burns Anne’s book. Anne is understandably devastated.
Also, I hate her.
Anne goes to bring dinner to Mr. Hammond and he promptly collapses of a heart attack.
He ded, folks.
Anne talks to her reflection/imaginary friend Katie and blames herself for Mr. Hammond’s death because she was late with lunch. Poor kid.
Then we get a scene that you could edit to be a really funny meme. This woman (Mrs. Hammond’s… sister? Friend? It’s not clear) is rubbing her shoulders and tells Mrs. H to sell the mill and come live with her. Her voice is absolutely flat, and in another version of this story, she totally killed Mr. H.
They talk about sending Anne back to the orphanage. Mrs Hammond also blames her because she tooks lunch to Mr H an hour late, calls her trash, and seriously this part is darker than I think people remember. They call her trash and are NASTY.
Mrs Hammond has apparently given her children away to any relative who would take one by the time she takes Anne back to the orphanage. She seems… very super incredibly not at all broken up about it.
Mrs Hammond also tells us that Anne just turned twelve in March and gives us a little backstory on her parents. Hezekiah is now the name Anne doesn’t like. Despite the orphanage being overcrowded and the director saying they can’t take Anne for at least another month, Mrs Hammond just says “Peace, bitches” and fucks off, leaving Anne there.
Anne spends 6 months in the orphanage before the director tells her two families have requested two girls to come live with them in PEI and Anne is to be one of them. And I think this happens in winter and she has to wait a bit? They say “after Christmas”. That’s just a timeline note.
I wanted to be a bit more specific talking about the first 10 minutes as none of this is directly shown in the book. They took the chapter Anne’s Backstory and instead of having Anne just tell Marilla all that, they showed it.
And I think that’s a great idea! It’s all 100% book canon, but it’s showing it instead of telling it. To me, that’s a great way to expand on Anne of Green Gables. It also works much better in the visual medium versus written word to show it.
Anne arrives at Bright River and then we cut to a pretty yellow house where Someone is Watching Nosily. Also the lilacs are beautiful. I kind of missed the lilacs this year because I couldn’t do a lot of walking yet.
Thomas (Mrs Rachel’s husband) suggest Matthew might be “going courting” which Mrs Rachel calls “utterly ridiculous”. This scene follows the book exactly, as does the next where we meet Marilla. Mrs Rachel is also confirmed to be a Lynde, and not a Barry. I truly can’t get over the choice to combine those two characters in the 1934 one.
This Marilla is great, also. She gives this smile like she’s trying as hard as possible to make Mrs. Rachel leave.
And when I say this follows the book, most of the dialogue is directly fom the book. And the dynamic between Mrs. Rachel and Marilla is great.
Rachel and Marilla really seem like old friends with a complex relationship.
Oh, small but smart choice – they say Matthew is “getting along in age” instead of putting a number on it. Even in 1985, we didn’t see 60 as *quite* as old as when Anne was published.
It’s honestly really cool seeing how much of this scene is directly from the book.
Also cool is the Bright River set. (And cue the first of many times of Luce squeeing over the horses.) (Yes I force them to watch all these with me.)
MUCH to my relief, this Matthew is not immensely creepy like 1934 Matthew. There’s a very cute scene where he peeks around the corner of the station and then hides in panic upon seeing Anne. His face is just the picture of “Oh, crap”.
He doesn’t speak very much to her and he always seems just a little uncomfortable with himself, and unsure in general.
Last year, I asked if y’all who are austistic read Matthew as autistic, and I actually wonder that a bit more in this? He very much seems like a man who has a set routine that he doesn’t vary much from and changes in that routine really throw him. I could also see him having social anxiety (or both!) but I dunno. It would be kind of cool, I think, if he was autistic.
Everything is super pretty in this movie, as it should be.
Overall, Matthew seems very thoughtful and like he’s really listening to her and not creepy, which again is an improvement over Anne 1934. They really have a great dynamic.
Also I discovered a mistake I made previously. Anne actually does say her eyes are green in the book on the drive to Green Gables, but every other time it comes up, they’re described as grey. So, 1934 (…the other mistake I’ve been making) I apologize. 1934, you, as with this version, were using the book’s dialogue.
I legit went and searched this – her eyes are said “to look green in some lights and moods and grey in others”. But they’re always described as grey after that first time. That one’s on the book
They made a cool choice in letting Anne do most of the talking on the drive. True to book, but it’s also a good way to get a sense of her character and also how Megan Follows actually plays her.
And this is a good Green Gables.
This isn’t the real Green Gables in PEI but is very similar besides being larger. Ironically, the gables are not actually green. (Gables are the triangle portion of the outside walls under the roof.)
(Green Gables photo via wikipedia.)
Did you notice the fence that suddenly appears as we get closer to Green Gables? The Sullivan Company brought that – it wasn’t the house’s – so it doesn’t appear in some of the establishing shots that were shot before the rest of the filming started.
Inside, we see the parlour, a glimpse of the (previously seen) kitchen, a formal dining room, and maybe a less formal sitting room? Like a family room?
Many places to sit in this house.
Great sets across the board, really. The house looks great.
When Anne realizes they didn’t want her, she looks like this.
I think she also tears up – looks that way to me, at least. Anyone who says Anne isn’t very upset in this scene is ignoring how heartbroken Follows looks in this scene.
There’s a small moment I really like here – Marilla tells Anne not to cry as it’s not Anne’s fault. Considering how much Anne already has on her shoulders, it’s nice to have an adult finally say something like that.
Otherwise, this scene goes just by the book, pretty much. And the actress playing Marilla continues to be great. She has this wry, slightly sarcastic way of speaking. Very no-nonsense. She cracks me up.
Anne’s room!
And more of the kitchen!
Matthew wants her to stay, Marilla is all “I’m not suffering for company” and the dynamic is great. Marilla goes to say goodnight to Anne and says, “Goodnight, Anne with an E” and the small indulgence is really sweet. She doesn’t exactly get WHY it matters to Anne, but it does, and it doesn’t hurt anyone, so why not?
The next morning’s scene is also a cool choice adaptation-wise – they have Mrs. Spencer come out to meet them at her house, and Mrs. Blewett walks up there. This accomplishes two things – one, pretty outdoors scenery, as it’s gorgeous, and two, fewer scene cuts.
Marilla’s body language is great, too – she clearly doesn’t like Mrs. Blewett but still has to stay polite.
We find out Anne is 13 here which lines up with my earlier timeline note. This is older than she is in the book (she’s only 11 when she comes to GG in the book) but I don’t mind this at all. Follows plays a believable 13 for being a bit older than that in real life, and it’s an age where her more fanciful moments still work. They’re a little dramatic, but, like. 13 year olds can be dramatic.
And, since this is a mini-series and not like a longer adaptation, it would obviously very difficult to have Follows play Anne at both 11 and 16 so it’s a change that makes sense. It’s younger than they made Anne in the 1934 version which was not as well done
Blewett’s actress is great being unpleasant, also.
When Anne asks to stay, Marilla looks at her like this.
And that’s it for today! Part 2 next week.
Laina Has Too Much Spare Time 
