Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel is a 1987 Canadian television miniseries film and the second in a series of four films. It is the sequel to the 1985 miniseries Anne of Green Gables, based on Lucy Maud Montgomery's novels Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island and Anne of Windy Poplars.

Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel
DVD cover
Genre
Based onAnne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Written byKevin Sullivan
Directed byKevin Sullivan
StarringMegan Follows
Colleen Dewhurst
Wendy Hiller
Frank Converse
Jonathan Crombie
Marilyn Lightstone
Schuyler Grant
Rosemary Dunsmore
Kate Lynch
Geneviève Appleton
James O'Regan
Music byHagood Hardy
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes4
Production
ProducersKevin Sullivan
Trudy Grant
CinematographyMarc Champion
EditorsJames Lahti
Mairin Wilkinson
Running time57 minutes (approx.) per episode
228 minutes total
Production companyKevin Sullivan Entertainment
DistributorBuena Vista Television
BudgetUS$4.8 million[1]
Release
Original networkDisney Channel
Original release19 May (1987-05-19) –
9 June 1987 (1987-06-09)
Chronology
Preceded byAnne of Green Gables (1985)
Followed byRoad to Avonlea (1990–1996)

The miniseries aired in four hour-long installments, in May and June 1987, on the Disney Channel as Anne of Avonlea: The Continuing Story of Anne of Green Gables, and in two 150-minute installments, in December 1987, on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), and in March 1988, on PBS, as Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel.[2] The film was also shown theatrically in Israel, Japan, and Europe as Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel and has been released on DVD under that title.

Finally, in 2017, the miniseries was officially retitled Anne of Avonlea for its North American Blu-ray Disc release by Sullivan Films, as part of the Anne of Green Gables Collector's Set.

Plot

Having concluded two years of teaching at the Avonlea school, Anne Shirley wishes to be a writer, but her story "Averil's Atonement" is rejected by a magazine. Leaving the post office one day, she runs into Gilbert Blythe, who tells her that her best friend Diana Barry is engaged to Fred Wright. Anne is bewildered by Diana's decision, calling it impulsive. Meanwhile, Marilla's eyesight has greatly improved in the last two years and she believes she can manage the farm on her own. She plans to board a girl from the Piccard family in Rustico so Anne can follow her old dreams, which have been on hold since giving up the Avery Scholarship.

Anne's misadventures in Avonlea continue. Unbeknownst to her, Diana submitted "Averil's Atonement" into a contest to introduce the new Rollings Reliable baking powder to the public, and it wins first prize. Anne is grateful to her friend for trying to boost her spirits, but finds the widespread recognition humiliating. While driving with Diana, she sees her jersey cow Dolly in Rachel Lynde's potato field, which she had promised would never happen again. Anne and Diana run through the muddy field and try unsuccessfully to get Dolly back to her pasture. Exasperated at everything that has happened that day, Anne hastily sells the cow to Gilbert and his father. On the way home, Gilbert gives his honest opinion about Anne's writing and she loses her temper. Back at Green Gables, she laments about her "Jonah day" to Marilla, who offers encouragement and plum puffs. However, things only get worse after Anne realizes she has accidentally sold Rachel Lynde's cow instead of her own. When she and Marilla pay a visit to the Lyndes to explain the situation, Rachel's ailing husband Thomas passes away, which Rachel fears will force her to sell her farm and leave Avonlea.

At a clambake for Fred and Diana's engagement, Anne and Gilbert wander off to a bridge, where Gilbert proposes. She rejects his offer, convinced that their marriage would be unhappy and unsuccessful. While driving late at night, she almost crashes into Morgan Harris, a traveling businessman whom she had previously met at the beach. Morgan shows an interest in getting to know Anne better and offers her a ride home, but she refuses. At Diana's wedding, she sees Gilbert with a young woman named Christine Stuart. Gilbert insists they are just friends, and offers to wait for Anne, but she affirms she will never marry. Gilbert suspects there is someone else, despite Anne's assertion that she cares about him more than anyone. Upon returning home, Marilla reveals that Rachel will be moving in with her at Green Gables instead of the Piccard girl. Anne decides to accept a job offer from her former teacher Miss Muriel Stacey as an English literature teacher at Kingsport Ladies' College in New Brunswick.

Anne initially finds her new position difficult. Kingsport is dominated by the wealthy and conceited Pringle family, who resent that Anne received the teaching job over one of their own. The Pringle students in her class, led by Jen Pringle, delight in causing disruption to make Anne look like a bad teacher. Anne must also endure the cold and sarcastic principal of Kingsport Ladies' College, Katherine Brooke. However, she grows close to Emmeline Harris, a student in her class who also happens to be Morgan Harris's daughter. Emmeline's mother Adelaide Pringle ran away after she was born and died of consumption, which the Pringles blame on Morgan due his reputation as a philanderer. After Anne and Emmeline get on Katherine Brooke's bad side, Morgan withdraws both his daughter and his financial support from K.L.C. He sends Emmeline to live with her stern grandmother Margaret Harris and repressed aunt Pauline in their mansion, Maplehurst. Anne convinces Mrs. Harris to let her tutor Emmeline at Maplehurst, with the help of some old diaries given to her by Miss Stacey which contain sensitive information about Margaret's late husband Josiah. She is also able to persuade Mrs. Harris to let Pauline attend a friend's wedding anniversary in Fredericton overnight, where she meets an old beau named Isaac Kent. Meanwhile, Anne and Miss Stacey organize a play to raise money for the school, with Jen Pringle playing the lead role of Mary, Queen of Scots. When Jen calls off sick on the day of the show in an obvious attempt to hurt Anne's reputation, Anne convinces Morgan to let Emmeline star in the play, which they have been rehearsing during tutoring sessions. The show is a success and Anne finally wins the Pringles' support. She later takes a trip with the Harris family to Boston, where Morgan owns a spacious house. Back in Kingsport, she runs into Gilbert and finds out that he is engaged to Christine Stuart. Inspired by his suggestion, she publishes a series of short stories entitled Avonlea Vignettes. During a hospital benefit ball, Morgan asks her to marry him, which she declines.

After Mrs. Harris dies, Pauline accepts Isaac Kent's proposal and Morgan decides to sell Maplehurst and return to Boston with Emmeline. Anne resigns from K.L.C. and persuades Katherine to come back to Avonlea with her for the summer holidays. Upon arriving at Green Gables and meeting Diana's new baby, Anne discovers that Gilbert has fallen ill with scarlet fever, which he contracted at medical school in Halifax. Finally realizing her true feelings for Gilbert, Anne visits him and brings her published book, which she dedicated to Gilbert, Matthew, and Marilla. Gilbert tells her that he has called off his engagement to Christine, saying that Anne is the only one for him. After he recovers from his illness, he proposes once more, and Anne accepts him with a kiss, declaring: "I don't want diamond sunbursts, or marble halls. I just want you."[3]

Timeline of events (1902–1903)
  • Late spring 1902 – Anne, now 18, finishes teaching at Avonlea school.
  • Summer 1902 – Diana marries Fred, Anne takes a teaching position at Kingsport Ladies College.
  • September 1902 – Anne begins teaching at Kingsport Ladies College.
  • 26 November 1902 – Production date of Anne's play at Kingsport Ladies College.
  • Summer 1903 – Katherine Brooke spends summer break with Anne at Green Gables. Anne commits to Gilbert.

Cast

Awards and nominations
  • 2 Cable Ace Awards: Best Costume, Best Supporting Actress (Colleen Dewhurst), 1987
  • 6 Gemini Awards: Best Dramatic Miniseries, Best Photography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Performance by Lead Actress (Megan Follows), Best Performance by a Supporting Actress (Colleen Dewhurst), 1988
  • Silver Award - International Film and Television Festival, New York, 1987
  • Best Family Series - TV Guide, 1987
  • CFTA Award - Best New TV Production, 1987
  • Chris Award - Columbus International Film Festival, 1987
  • Honourable Mention - International San Francisco Film Festival, 1988
  • Crystal Apple Award - National Education Film and Video Festival, 1988
  • ACT Award - Achievement in Children's TV, 1988
  • Golden Hugo Award - Chicago International Film Festival, 1987
  • Gold Award - Houston International Film Festival, 1987

Sequels and spinoffs

Road to Avonlea is a television series which was first broadcast in Canada and the United States between 1990 and 1996. It was inspired by a series of short stories and two novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Many of the actors in the Anne of Green Gables movies also appear in storylines crossing over into the long-running Emmy award-winning series, including Patricia Hamilton as Rachel Lynde, Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla Cuthbert until her death in 1991, and Marilyn Lightstone as Muriel Stacy. Jonathan Crombie returned as Gilbert Blythe in a one-time guest appearance in the finale episode of season three, which dealt with Marilla's death. Other actors from the first two Anne films portrayed different characters in Road to Avonlea, including Rosemary Dunsmore, who played Katherine Brooke in this film but returned as "Abigail MacEwan" in the television series.

Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story was released in 2000. Many cast members from the first two movies returned, including Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, and Schuyler Grant. Taking place in the midst of World War I, the movie follows Anne (now in her twenties) as she embarks on a new journey, taking her from her home in Prince Edward Island to New York City, London, and into war-ravaged Europe. This film is an original story not based on any of Montgomery's novels, nor does it align with the chronology of the books. Montgomery's Rilla of Ingleside, which also takes place during the first World War, focuses on Anne's teenage daughter and depicts Anne and Gilbert as a middle-aged couple who witness the effects of the war from the home front while their adult sons fight in Europe.

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning was released in fall 2008 (the one hundredth anniversary of the original novel), serving as a prequel to the previous films, and is not based on the books. Set near the end of World War II in 1945, the story follows a middle-aged Anne (Barbara Hershey) looking back on her life before arriving at Green Gables. Hannah Endicott-Douglas played the role of young Anne.

Production

When Kevin Sullivan was commissioned by CBC, PBS and The Disney Channel to create a sequel he started by combining many different elements of Montgomery's three later books: Anne of Avonlea (1909), Anne of the Island (1915), and Anne of Windy Poplars (1936) into a cohesive screen story. Sullivan invented his own plotline relying on several of Montgomery's episodic storylines spread across the three sequels, He also looked at numerous other nineteenth century female authors for inspiration in fleshing out the screen story.

The film succeeded in re-popularizing Megan Follows and Colleen Dewhurst in their original roles. Sullivan also cast British veteran actress and Oscar winner, Wendy Hiller, in the role of the impossible Mrs. Harris whom Sullivan created based on a composite of several matriarchs found in the series of novels.

In Canada, the film became the highest rated drama to air on network television in Canadian broadcasting history. This Sequel became known as Anne of Green Gables - The Sequel when shown around the world, and as Anne of Avonlea - the Continuing Story of Anne of Green Gables when it premiered on The Disney Channel.[4]

ACE Award nomination

Megan Follows was nominated for an ACE Award in 1988 by the National Academy of Cable Programing in the Ninth Annual System Awards for Cable Excellence for Disney's "Anne of Avonlea".[5]

Home Box Office led with 112 nominations for the ACE Award, or Award for Cable Excellence. Showtime was awarded 48, Arts & Entertainment 33, and the Disney Channel and Cable News Network 10 each, respectively. 30 categories of the 174 ACE Awards were presented on a live broadcast on HBO on January 24, 1988. The other categories were presented at a non-televised dinner in Las Vegas, on January 22, 1988. The ACE awards were established after cable programs and performers were excluded from the Emmy Awards. The National Academy of Cable Programming[6] was established in March 1985 to promote excellence in cable television programming.[5]

See also

References
  1. Johnson, Brian D. (1987-12-07). "ANNE OF GREEN GABLES GROWS UP | Maclean's | DECEMBER 7, 1987". Maclean's / The Complete Archive. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  2. "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel". L.M. Montgomery Online. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
  3. Pacheco, Adriana. "Our Favourite Anne and Gilbert Moments - A Timeline of Their Relationship". Anne of Green Gables. GazeboTV. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. "Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987 Television Miniseries)". L.M. Montgomery Online. L.M. Montgomery Online. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  5. "ACE Nominees Announced". Houston. HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 2 STAR Edition. Associated Press. November 10, 1987. p. 7. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02.
  6. "About the NCTA". National Cable & Telecommunications Association. 1996. Archived from the original on 2007-12-14.
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