History YMMV / Pollyanna1960

* TearJerker:
** It's a sobering moment to see Pollyanna snap at Mrs Snow for thinking only about dying all the time. Put yourself in the perspective of this young girl who's lost both her parents, who by all rights should have grown old and lived full lives; to see a fairly healthy old woman with more time thinking of nothing but her own death must be agonizing.
** It's low key but the way Pollyanna is treated when she first arrives in Harrington Falls; no one shows her any kindness and treats her more as an annoyance, all while Pollyanna is desperately trying to make the best of the situation (bear in mind she's here because she's lost her parents and has had to move across continents). It's not until she covers for Nancy that she gets her first friend.
** When Aunt Polly's façade breaks after Edmund has told her "you can give anything but love." It's the only time in the movie we see her cry.
** Not to mention Polly's HeelRealization after the accident. She even calls back to the above line.
--> "Hope? What that child really needed was love. And that's something I never gave her."
** Aunt Polly vainly tries to reach Pollyanna after her accident, declaring that she does love her as if she were her own child. But it's too little too late, and Pollyanna turns away from her aunt. Afterwards, Polly says in anguish to Reverend Ford that she wishes the girl had never come here. The guilt of how she mistreated her niece is crippling.
** The scene after the accident is quite sobering too. It's just a simple shot of Angelica slowly opening the curtains, but it's obvious even she's trying to hold it together.
** The look on Nancy's face when Polly gives everyone the news that Pollyanna's paralyzed. You can tell she's kicking herself for not bringing Pollyanna home herself or doing anything that might have prevented the accident. She was Pollyanna's first friend, and she's taking the accident the hardest.
** In the otherwise heartwarming finale, there are a couple of sad moments:
*** Tilly the cook bids Pollyanna goodbye in tears, saying the house will be "miserable" without her.
*** Mrs Snow does put on a show of calling everyone "a bunch of ninnies, thinking a person couldn't get well" but her face falls as soon as Pollyanna turns away from her - showing just how much this has affected her. And as noted above, all she has to hear about the accident is "she fell trying to grab her doll" and she'll be killing herself with guilt.

** Nancy too gets a wonderfully dorky moment where she vainly tries to pass off George as her cousin; a ruse that wouldn't fool anyone, let alone a twelve-year-old (not helped by George still kissing her). Nancy then becomes adorable in her own right when she starts {{Squee}}ing the Pollyanna about George after the jig is up. They then get a scene where they sing "Early One Morning", testing how high their voices can go.

* HeelFaceTurn: Several characters get them: Aunt Polly, Mrs. Snow, Angelica the maid, Mr. Pendergast,.Ida Tarbell, and Reverend Ford among them.
** Mrs. Snow's heel face turn is undoubtedly the biggest second to Polly and Ford, as it starts in her very first scenes. Pollyanna softens her heart first with the prisms in the window, and later her piercing tirade at Snow's planning her funeral. She is physically taken aback by Pollyanna's rant. After the girl leaves in a huff, she dismisses the funeral director and immediately begins working on the quilts for the bazaar. Millie walks by with towels and Snow gives her a very mugging if not sarcastic smile.
** She acts grumpy and miserable, but occasionally has her soft moments. The very first time she meets Pollyanna, she even asks when the girl will be returning.

** One critic noted that a notoriously saccharine children's book in the hands of "the master of schmaltz" had the potential to be TastesLikeDiabetes - only to turn out "to be his best live action film ever."

* CharacterRerailment: Some readers find Pollyanna of the book to be [[TastesLikeDiabetes too saccharine]] or plucky when it come to trying to defrost people. Director David Swift sought to downplay some of that - making Pollyanna a shyer girl whose optimism is merely for herself. Hayley Mills also makes the girl {{Adorkable}} and slightly more flawed - to make her come across as a more realistic person. This is actually more in line with Eleanor Porter's vision of the heroine - seeing her less as a blindly optimistic saint, but more someone who would "greet the unknown with a cheer."

* HilariousInHindsight:
** George at one point calls Pollyanna "snookie", which brings to mind [[Series/JerseyShore something different]] for modern audiences.
** Reta Shaw would star as a cook in another Disney film set during the same time period four years later - ''Film/MaryPoppins''. Both films are about an aloof parental figure needing to learn AnAesop about caring for a child.

* HilariousInHindsight: George at one point calls Pollyanna "snookie", which brings to mind [[Series/JerseyShore something different]] for modern audiences.

* TearDryer: Pollyanna has reached a DespairEventHorizon, being told she may never walk again and unable to be glad about anything. She even rejects Aunt Polly's attempts at love, with Edmund saying he's especially worried that this attitude won't help her chances at walking again. Cue the ''entire town'' turning up on Aunt Polly's doorstep, the latter welcoming them all into the house and Pollyanna realising just how grateful everyone is for all she's done.

** When Aunt Polly's facade breaks after Edmund has told her "you can give anything but love." It's the only time in the movie we see her cry.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** Although the quote from Abraham Lincoln was never said by him, it doesn't stop it being a good lesson; look for the bad in people and you'll find it. But look for the good in them, and you might find it as well. Pollyanna showing kindness to others - even when they didn't show it to her - did help them and herself in the long run.
** A negative mind will never give you a positive life. Bad things will happen to everyone in life - Pollyanna lost both her parents and ended up with an aunt who barely showed her any love - but adopting a positive attitude and facing hardships with optimism will benefit in the long run. Even more powerful by having the film end without confirming whether Pollyanna is able to walk again - as the important lesson is to face her uncertain future with that positive attitude.
** The film has some strong points to make on the nature of false charity; Aunt Polly gives money all the time out of a sense of obligation, as opposed to genuinely wanting to help. It's illustrated that this is just another way of her exerting her influence over people, and asserting her dominance. It's arguably comparable to WhiteMansBurden.

* JerkassWoobie: It's hard not to feel sorry for Aunt Polly after [[spoiler:Pollyanna's accident]].

* GirlShowGhetto: Creator/WaltDisney attributed the movie's relatively disappointing performance to the possibility that the title attracted more female moviegoers than male ones. A la ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'''s underperformance turning Disney's ''Literature/{{Rapunzel}}'' into ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' 50 years later, [[Film/TheParentTrap1961 the next movie]] Hayley Mills did for Walt didn't feature its heroines' names in the title, then ended up making much more money than ''Pollyanna'' did.

* NarmCharm: One critic noted that a notoriously saccharine children's book in the hands of "the master of schmaltz" had the potential to be TastesLikeDiabetes - only to turn out "to be his best live action film ever."

** When Aunt Polly's facade breaks after Edmund has told her "you can give anything but love."

* TearJerker: When Aunt Polly's facade breaks after Edmund has told her "you can give anything but love."

* GirlShowGhetto: Creator/WaltDisney attributed the movie's relatively disappointing performance to the possibility that the title attracted more female moviegoers than male ones.

* GirlShowGhetto: Walt Disney attributed the movie's relatively disappointing performance to the possibility that the title attracted more female moviegoers than male ones.