A series of made-for-TV movies by Kevin Sullivan, adapting the classic novel Anne of Green Gables and some parts of its sequels. It stars Megan Follows as the titular Anne Shirley, alongside Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla Cuthbert, Richard Farnsworth as Matthew, Schuyler Grant as Diana, Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert, and Patricia Hamilton as Rachel Lynde.
In the first film, young, redheaded orphan Anne Shirley is mistakenly adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who run Green Gables Farm near the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island. Anne's high spirits and dreamy imagination win over Matthew and eventually Marilla. Anne eventually comes of age in Avonlea, helped along by her 'bosom friendship' with her classmate Diana Barry, and her rivalrous relationship with Gilbert Blythe.
The 1985 film was followed by three sequels, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel in 1987 (also known as Anne of Avonlea, it adapted parts of the second, third and fourth books) and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story in 2000, and Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning, a finale in 2008. Films three and four do not follow the plots of the subsequent novels; Barbara Hershey took over the role of Anne for A New Beginning. There is also a spinoff television show, Road to Avonlea, about the town's residents.
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Marilla can be seen smirking when Anne admits she smashed the slate over Gilbert's head "very hard I'm afraid" - and says that Anne's trial is over now and she can stay at Green Gables.
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The third film is an original film with an original script, as Sullivan had reportedly lost the rights to adapt the other books in the series. This film moves the timeline up 30 years and involves Gilbert volunteering to fight in World War I and Anne going to Europe to look for him after he's reported missing in action.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: It sounds weird, given Gilbert's reputation as a Dogged Nice Guy in the book series, but he is a much more sympathetic character in the first film than he is in the first novel. This might be due to the Age Lift he's given in the adaptation; he's 16 in the film to 13 in the book, and his actions (particularly the way he "ruthlessly torments" the girls in class), might have come off as too immature for a 16-year-old.
- Adapted Out: The second film omits pretty much all of the secondary characters from Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island.
- Adaptation Amalgamation: The second film combines the story arcs of Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, and Anne of Windy Poplars into a single mini-series. Story arcs are sometimes portrayed out of order so it makes sense within that narrative, but it's still a fairly faithful adaptation.
- Age Lift: Anne is 13 at the beginning of the first miniseries, whereas she was 11 at the beginning of the original novel.
- Armor-Piercing Question: While the scene is nearly identical to the one from the book (only with Davy replaced by Minnie May, since Davy does not exist here), this trope is combined with a Birth-Death Juxtaposition since Anne and Diana are admiring baby Fred — and laughing — when Minnie May innocently asks Anne if she's heard that Gilbert is dying when pressed for more interesting news than growing an inch. It's effective in achieving the same 180-degree Mood Whiplash as the book.
- Ask a Stupid Question...: The scene in which Gilbert rescues Anne after she nearly drowns while re-enacting The Lady of Shalott is tweaked a bit to be funnier to a modern audience. In the book, he asks what happened, and she tells him. In the film, as he comes upon her soaked and clinging to a bridge:Gilbert: Anne Shirley, what in the heck are you doing?
Anne: [acidly] Fishing for lake trout. - Canon Foreigner: Roy, Anne's college boyfriend and near fiance, is replaced with Morgan Harris, who serves the same function in the narrative but enters at a different time than Roy does in the book series.
- Composite Character: Mrs. Lynde took on many of the characteristics of another irascible neighbor, Mr. Harrison, in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, partially as a result of Pragmatic Adaptation. Other plot functions of Mr. Harrison's were given to Gilbert (for example, he is the one who gives Anne advice on her writing now). Emmaline Harris in the same movie is a combination of "little Elizabeth" Grayson and Sophy Sinclair, with a touch of Paul Irving.
- Culturally Sensitive Adaptation: The casual xenophobia and racism portrayed in the book series is omitted.
- Dance of Romance: Gilbert and Anne share one in Anne of Avonlea. It's one of the first signs that Anne may have feelings for Gilbert; they dance for a few moments before she gets flustered and pulls away, apologizing and blaming it on her "two left feet".
- Darker and Edgier: ''Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story" miniseries, and the musical, which, while still very lighthearted, has a decidedly darker edge to its humour, mostly derived from Deliberate Values Dissonance.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Matthew's death scene in the film is much longer and more emotional than how it is portrayed in the book.
- Deadpan Snarker: Marilla's sharp wit is the source of much humor.Anne: (after saying her prayers) Did I do alright?
Marilla: Yes, if you were addressing a business letter to the catalogue store. - Dying Declaration of Love: Gilbert confesses his love to Anne while suffering from typhoid fever. Cue the waterworks.
- Held Gaze: Gilbert and Anne share a passionate look when the two reconnect in a gazebo in the second miniseries. After having held each other's gaze at least twice in the first miniseries, during important tests at school.
- Longing Look: Gilbert does this a lot in Anne of Green Gables (1985). One scene in particular has Anne and Diana wistfully gazing at each other, and then Gilbert in the background casts a Longing Look in Anne's direction. Naturally, she doesn't notice.
- Love Informant: Marilla informs Anne that Gilbert is in love with her in Anne of Avonlea.
- Mythology Gag: When Anne is informed of what Mrs. Blewett is looking for in adopting a home child, and guesses that she has twins, Mrs. Spencer asks how she knew that. Anne resignedly says that "twins seem to be my lot in life", which is funny for anyone who has read the book series and knows she grows up to have twins.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: You can hear that Schuyler Grant, who played Diana, is not Canadian.
- One Head Taller: Gilbert and Anne, when played by Jonathan Crombie and Megan Follows in the Sullivan production.
- Pragmatic Adaptation:
- In the first film, the producers didn't want Anne to give up her academic dreams at the end, so a throwaway comment of Anne's in the book that she's planning to keep up her studies turns into a full-blown correspondence course.
- In Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne is appointed principal of a school immediately following graduation from college. She is qualified because she has a B.A., even though Katherine Brooks has many more years' experience. Since this would have seemed odd to a 1980s audience, the Sullivan adaptation Anne of Avonlea flips it so Anne is the teacher and Ms. Brooks is the principal.
- Title: The Adaptation: Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story and Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning.
- Train-Station Goodbye: Anne and Gilbert part at a train station in the third film, as Gilbert is sent to fight in World War I.
