YMMV / The Secret Garden (1993)

• Adaptation Displacement: A couple of details that were invented for the film lead to fans mistaking them for book canon:
  • Mary's parents dying suddenly in an earthquake. They die slowly of a cholera epidemic in the book.
  • Mary's mother being Lilias Craven's twin sister. In the book, Lilias is related to Mary's father.
  • Medlock being a Knight Templar caretaker. In the book her antagonism fades much earlier.
  • In the book, Colin's father was simply Mr Archibald Craven, presumably a wealthy landowner; however in the movie he is referred to multiple times as "Lord Craven", implying he is part of the nobility.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: There's a scene in the third act when Colin is taking a photo of Mary and Dickon on the swing in the garden. When they look into each other's eyes lovingly for a bit too long, Colin interrupts them with an angry "hey!", implying he's jealous. A love triangle between Mary, Dickon and Colin is never explored, Mary doesn't show romantic interest in either boy again and the incident isn't mentioned again. The very next scene has the children playing happily together (presumably only a few minutes later).
• Broken Base: Medlock's Adaptational Villainy rubs a few book fans the wrong way, since she was only initially antagonistic and quickly warmed to the children. Many find this turns her into the Designated Villain too. Others argue that having her as an antagonist works for the film's running time, and it helps that she's an Anti-Villain who just wants Colin to be safe and is genuinely happy when she sees him walking.
• Canon Fodder: Just who is meant to be in the final scene in the garden? It shows a woman dancing around, and fans speculate that it's either Lilias's spirit or an adult Mary.
• Fandom Rivalry: There are frequent comparisons of this and Alfonso Cuarón's adaptation of A Little Princess. Both films were based on novels written by the same author and came out within a couple of years of each other, and the latter was clearly following this film's influence; both films were also produced by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment. Also a case of Friendly Fandoms, as many people are fans of both movies.
• Fridge Brilliance: Medlock threatens to box Mary's ears but never actually does. The reason comes when Colin finally tells her off; Medlock is their servant. Despite her authority over the rest of the household, Mary still outranks her as Lord Craven's niece.
• Fridge Horror: Mary in this version doesn't appear to know that her aunt had died. Given that Lilias died giving birth to Colin, that means her mother never told her in ten years that her own sister had died. And maybe Mary had been hoping she might get a second chance and a new mother. Only six months after losing her parents, she discovers she's lost an aunt as well. It's also very likely that she didn't know her mother and aunt were twins until she arrived in England.
• Funny Moments:
  • Mary's deadpan reactions to Martha the maid's enthusiasm. Most notably, when Martha deliberately leaves Mary's turtleneck unfolded over her face.
  Mary: Let me out of here.
  She pulls the neck down.
  Mary: What do you think you are doing?
  Martha: Ah there you are, Miss Mary. I wondered where you'd gone.
  Mary: You knew perfectly well where I was.
  • And then Martha puts a hat over Mary that falls into her eyes. Mary deadpans "I can't see."
  • When Mary first holds up her arms expecting Martha to put her dress on her, Martha drops the dress and quickly gives her sides a tickle instead, causing Mary to very sharply clamp her arms down to her sides.
  Mary: Stop it! What are you doing?
  Martha:I thought all girls like to be tickled?
  • After selecting a dress (one of the many that are all black) she goes to dress Mary who backs away scaredly, expecting to be tickled again. Martha has to promise not to tickle her before Mary cautiously raises her arms once more. At the very end of the scene, as Martha finishes dressing Mary and hints that maybe Lord Craven does want to see her, she briefly gives Mary another tickle to the ribs causing Mary to drop her arms again with a small scowl, and Martha just looks completely unapologetic as she grins up at the very obviously ticklish Mary.
  • When Mary is finally about to meet Lord Craven for the first time a bit later on in the film, Martha gives her a gentle tickle around the waist to coax a smile from the girl before she walks into Craven's study.
  • It's both funny and Awesome when Mary tells Colin off because no one else has. He tries to justify his Wangst by saying he's ill, but Mary remarks "no one ill could scream like that."
  • Near the end when Medlock hears that Lord Craven is coming back, she starts freaking out because she's still got an apron on. She starts screaming "get me out of it!" in a panic.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Artwork of Edward VI is displayed in Colin's room, and the hallway leading to it. Edward was a sickly boy king who lost his mother at birth and eventually died young, with many parallels to Colin.
  • Mary's room contains tapestries from a cycle known as "The Hunt For The Unicorn". In this cycle, the unicorn is lured from the wild and into new life by a young virgin - which foreshadows Mary's role as the innocent who will restore Misselthwaite to new life.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The fact that in this adaptation and the 2020 one, Medlock is played Minerva McGonagall and Molly Weasley, respectively.
• Moe: The film has a dream scene where a toddler Mary is abandoned by her mother in the garden. It's pretty heartbreaking when she cries as her mother walks off. Mary's narration even states that it was the first time she had dreamed of her mother since coming to England.
• Tear Jerker:
  • In the beginning when the Indian earthquake orphans are at the station. We see a few being reunited with family members. When Mary's name is called, no one comes to claim her. It's much later by the time Medlock arrives, and Mary is in the exact same position she was told to wait in.
  • The above-mentioned dream scene where Mary is abandoned by her mother. There's also some Fridge Sadness that the only time Mary is able to cry at this point is in her dreams.
  • There's Medlock's Villainous Breakdown as Lord Craven discovers that the children have gone outside. She immediately says she'll resign - and it's clear that it's because she believes she's failed Colin as a caretaker. Martha is even moved to comfort the poor old woman.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The entire garden was built from scratch at the back of Pinewood Studios. Real flowers and plants were blended in with artificial ones, and the trees were then stripped bare to film the winter scenes.