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Friday, January 14, 2011

The Movie and Book: Anne of Green Gables

L. M. Montgomery Reading Challenge
It has been years since I had watched Anne of Green Gables.  I was ever grateful for TWO friends offering to loan both Anne of Green Gables and the Sequel to me!  My friends had read my introduction to the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge and my desire to watch the movie...and generously offered to help!  (It is also wonderful to know that a few people I know in real life enjoy reading this blog!)

Just in case you are not familiar with the story of Anne of Green Gables, I'd be happy to share a bit.  Anne is an imaginative, loquacious, red-haired, 11 (13 in the movie) year old orphan girl that has been adopted by Matthew and Marilla (brother and sister).  They had wanted to adopt an boy, but mistakenly get sent a boy.  They decide to keep her after all, and their lives are never the same!  She makes many, many mistakes, but she never makes the same mistake twice!  The story takes place on Prince Edward Island in Canada


Anne of Green GablesAnne the Book and Anne the Movie.  Both good!  What do I love specifically about the movie Anne of Green Gables?  Hmm.  LOTS, since it's so close to the book!  (Unlike many book-turned-movies.)

1. Megan Follows is incredible.  (Pronounced Mee-gan.)  I cannot imagine any other Anne!  I was definitely interested in a recent post about Megan Follows, including casting information.  She played 13-16 year old (11-16 in the book though) Anne perfectly, as well as the school teacher Anne in Anne of Green Gables the Sequel, though she was age 16 when she was acting in the first movie.

2. The producer, Kevin Sullivan kept to the storyline very well.  He also cast the characters marvelously!  All of them!

3. The characters often quoted word-for-word from the book.  It seems that is a rare thing.  There are minor changes from the book to the movie, but they are quite minor.

4. The beauty of Prince Edward Island.  Often Anne and Diana view the beauty of the water surrounding Prince Edward Island.  The movie gives a little peek into PEI.

Anne of Green GablesWhat do I love about the audio unabridged audio recording of Anne of Green Gables?  Well, it's Anne, word for word, but I can just wash my dishes and chop carrots while listening to the wonderful voice of Barbara Caruso!!  I listen to A LOT of audio books.  Though some books are in the car, most of my audio reading happens in the kitchen!  Barbara Caruso feels like a dear friend, I have listened to so many of her books!  In addition to all of the Anne books, she is also the voice for unabridged books by Karen Kingsbury and Beverly Lewis.  I recognized her voice (and name) when I was listening to Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott last year.

One big difference between the book and movie is that in the book there was no "trial period" for Marilla and Matthew to decide if they will keep her in the book.  I didn't care for the trial period in the movie, because, really, Anne knows how to find trouble!  There seems to be a bit more drama (as in teenager drama) and whining in the movie, but still lovely and wonderful.

There were many minor differences, but another one that stood out to me was Mrs. Allan, the Reverend's wife, had incredible positive influence over Anne's teenage years, but she was barely in the movie.

I love Anne for her imagination, passion, and love of life.  The books are excellent, and this movie is just as wonderful and delightful.  I can't wait to add  Anne of Green Gables to my own movie collection.

This post is for the Lucy Maud Montgomery Reading Challenge!  It's not too late to join in the fun!  I am currently reading Anne of Ingleside while I wait for Lucy Maud and the Cavendish Cat to arrive.

5 comments:

Carrie said...

Great post! I loved reading what you loved about both the book and the movie. I am hoping to watch the movies as well here in the near future. They are just so fun! (At least, the first two.) Follows was only one year older when they started filming The Sequel. (So, 17 when she acted in The Sequel.)

I used to listen to the audio version which was recorded by Megan Follows. I loved that because then I could hear the book and the movie simultaneously. That was sure fun!

Anyway, thanks for sharing! Loved hearing your thoughts.

Miller Moments said...

I love love love Anne of Green Gables! I remember reading the whole series for the first time in jr. high and doing a report on one of the books. At the end of the report my teacher said "my, you really enjoyed that book didn't you!". I loved them! And the movies too! I think I heard recently that they had remade the movies or added to them or something...but I haven't found them, so I'm not sure.

An Almost Unschooling Mom said...

Now I want to watch the movie again :)

Shonda said...

I watched the movie so much growing up and loved it! Didn't know her name was pronounced that way. That's the way my cousin's name is. Also, then I read the book at some point, but I just love the movie.

Mark said...

I liked the movies - the first two. The third isn't worth watching in mu opinion - doesn't go with the books, but the first two are awesome

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