Anne Adaptations: Anne of Green Gables (1985) – Part 2

(Link to original thread here.) Before we start, just a small reminder that I have recapped the book and a movie previously so sometimes there may be things I’ve already discussed that I won’t repeat. You can find those posts in my Anne masterlist.

We open on Matthew and Marilla in the barn as he feeds a baby cow and it’s absolutely adorable

Marilla recaps what happened in the last scene for Matthew, KEEPING her line about not giving a dog she liked to Mrs. Blewett which I am delighted about (Editing Laina: It’s a Matthew line in the book – why am I convinced this was a Marilla line?), and basically talks herself into keeping Anne without Matthew saying much of anything.

Then we get Anne’s prayer scene and the religion is actually really toned down. Goes by the book, with some good character building moments. Marilla is very patient with Anne and also kind of trying not to laugh. It’s cute.

Random, but this hutch is gorgeous

This is one of a couple things they actually use from the 1934 movie – Marilla again suggests they do a trial period for Anne staying. I really don’t understand why adaptations keep adding this element! There is a really cute moment, though, when Marilla says “You may not be happy with two old grumps like us.”

This shot of Rachel is great and Marilla just goes “Oh good Lord” at the sight of her, which is hilarious. It’s so petty XD

Anne tries to be polite but Mrs Rachel can’t help but insult her. I mean, really, meet a new person and call them ugly to their face two seconds after you’re introduced and see how far that gets you.

A thing I do not like – Anne still says, “How would you like to be told you’re fat?” But that doesn’t work as well when the actress playing Mrs Rachel isn’t actually fat. Solid meh. Editing Laina: I believe I’ve said this before, but Anne actually IS skinny and freckled and red-haired. Rachel is kind of only saying true things about her, and Anne replies with true things about Rachel. When Rachel isn’t actually fat, this means Anne is just using fat bodies as an insult, and implies that being fat is an inherantly bad thing to be. Which it is not.

Goes very by the book, though. And this adaptation does really do a good show how similiar Anne and Mrs Rachel can be in their rather dramatic personalities.

Marilla is very sympathetic in the scene where she tells Anne to apologize. It’s firm but caring. Matthew goes up to Anne’s room and DOESN’T make me worry Anne is in danger of being Bad Touched.

Thank you again for not being creepy, Matthew.

In an odd choice, this is another of the things this movie draws from the 1934 version with Anne saying she’s leaving and Matthew trying to get her to stay. Remember, in the book he just misses eating breakfast with her because she’s grounded to her room. Besides that change, it goes very by the book and I really like their dynamic. He’s just so clearly very fond of her.

Here’s a cool thing I noticed. They show a Farmer’s Almanac with a date. It’s smudged a bit but it’s definitely 1890-something.

This does not prove my Anne Timeline wrong! I would honestly kill to find that specific alamanac online, but I couldn’t. If you recognize it, please tell me!

…also is it normal to have a rivalry with the author of an article published the same year I was born? Because I think I have one. 1880, what nonsense.

The next day, as Anne’s agreed to apologize, Marilla puts on her amazing visiting clothes. Nice touch as she points out they are GOOD clothes. Marilla isn’t an overly fashion-caring person, but there’s an etiquette to these things.

The apology very much follows the book. Follows is very dramatic and it’s hilarious. Marilla is so done with both Anne and Rachel.

This is why I love her actress XD

In this, version Mrs Rachel actually tells Marilla here to take Anne to the church picnic so she can meet some “civilized children her own age”. They move scenes around a little, like this is when the bosom friend talk happens, but it’s just for better flow or to put scenes that were inside outside, because it’s gorgeous scenery constantly outside and that’s just better visually.

Marilla makes Anne some good, sensible dresses that Anne says she’ll pretend to like.

(Which is kind of hilarious to say to someone, let’s be real. Imagine saying that on Christmas.)

Anne asks for puffed sleeves and gets turned down HARD.

Then Marilla realizes her amethyst brooch is missing and Anne admits to trying it on. This scene really is very by the book. Marilla sends Anne to her room and bans her from the picnic. She also looks kind of heartbroken over the loss of the brooch and I get the feeling she’s very hurt by the belief Anne is lying to her. This actress is really good at being reserved, but still showing the more hidden emotions she’s feeling.

Hey, neat costume thing – Marilla is wearing her same nice clothes again here. She WOULD likely only have one set of fancy clothes.

She seems reasonable, honestly. She talks about moving the bureau and that it’s worse that Anne lied to her than that she took it. She says they can’t keep Anne if she’s a liar and a thief which is quite off book. In the book, she takes responsbility for Anne right away and considers it her, like, moral duty to deal with this kind of thing.

When Anne confesses to taking it, Marilla tells her to pack her bags and she’ll be going to live with Mrs. Blewitt. DEFINITELY not my favourite change. I like that Marilla sets her mind to keep Anne and “bring her up” right.

Matthew also finds the brooch on Marilla’s shawl. The 1934 movie did this too, but I hate the change less because they aren’t cramming him into every single Anne and Marilla scene. And he’s not creepy.

Marilla goes up to talk to Anne and I like her line here. “I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.” It’s from the book but her delivery is so great. She realizes she made a mistake. Adults don’t apologize like this to kids enough, in my opinion.

I’m going to go into fashion more in a separate thread but this is a great shot.

Anne really does look a bit more drab than everyone else, especially for a Sunday picnic.

She’s so nervous and trying so hard to be polite.

We meet the reverend’s wife, Mrs. Allen, and fun fact, this actress is German, as is the actor playing the reverend! There are actually several deleted scenes wth her on the DVD, adding up to 9 additional minutes of footage, shot only for the German dub. The Germans I asked did not know who either of these people were and were mildly offended I asked XD

Mrs. Allan does a much better Canadian accent than the Reverand Allan, fyi. And has a cool hat.

Diana, Mrs Barry and Minnie May introduce themselves! Fun fact, Minnie May is Megan Follow’s niece and Diana is played by Katharine Hepburn’s granddaughter.

I’m full of trivia today!

Also, this shot works really well to show both a girl Anne’s age, and a much younger child’s clothes.

Anne and Diana bond quickly and Anne sees other kids doing a three-legged race. Anne suggests they join, but Diana is hesitant as there aren’t any other girls doing so. Anne says Diana is a “sturdy-looking girl”, lol, which is as close to Diana being chubby as we’ll get from this.

AND GUESS WHO ELSE IS IN THE RACE?

Technically this is off-book but the book doesn’t super go into detail about what happens at the picnic anyways so it’s a good place to expand on what DOES happen, and it’s definitely in spirit.

Plus, it’s outside in the pretty.

Gilbert asks who Anne is and I already like this actor better than the 1934 one. And this scene is a really fun way to set the stage for Anne and Gilbert’s future rivalry. Both actors have great expessions looking at each other.

Anne and Diana win and this suave bastard gives Anne a “nicely done” look and a WINK

This is just pretty

Anne and Gilbert’s meeting is basically the same as in the book with a slight scenery change. It’s also just cute. I actually get why Anne likes him in this one! Gilbert has been aged up to 16 but Anne is like 13 so it’s not that different from Anne being 11 when he’s “nearly thirteen”.

Now if you want creepy, Mr. Phillips is still a creep towards Prissy Andrews.