| Anne of Green Gables | |
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| Genre | Drama |
| Directed by | Kevin Sullivan |
| Produced by | Ian McDougall Kevin Sullivan |
| Written by | Lucy Maud Montgomery (original novels) Kevin Sullivan (adaptation) Joe Wiesenfeld (adaptation) |
| Starring | Megan Follows Colleen Dewhurst Richard Farnsworth Patricia Hamilton Marilyn Lightstone Schuyler Grant Jonathan Crombie |
| Music by | Hagood Hardy |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | CBC |
| Release date | December 5, 1985 (Canada) February 17, 1986 (U.S.) |
| Running time | 199 minutes (approx.) |
| Followed by | Anne of Avonlea |
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.
The film aired on CBC Television as a two-part miniseries on December 1, 1985. Both parts of the film were among the highest-rated programs of any genre ever to air on a Canadian television network. On February 17, 1986, the film aired on PBS in the United States on the series WonderWorks.
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Anne of Green Gables is the first film in a trilogy of movies based on the titular character. In 1987 the film's sequel, Anne of Avonlea, was released. (It was subsequently retitled Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel on home video.) In the US the final movie, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story, was aired on July 23, 2000, and aired on March 5, 2000 in Canada. The final film passed over Anne of Windy Poplars - the corresponding Anne novel - in favor of a plot not featured in Montgomery's series, and did not receive the same critical praise as the first two films.
The first two Anne films generated a spin-off television series which aired from 1989 to 1996 and starred Sarah Polley. The Road to Avonlea series featured characters and episodes from several of Montgomery's books. Anne herself did not appear in the episodes, but Gilbert Blythe, Marilla Cuthbert, and other characters from the Anne books were included.
In 2008, the fourth in the series, titled Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning was completed. The film stars Barbara Hershey, Shirley MacLaine, Rachel Blanchard and it introduces Hannah Endicott-Douglas as the new Anne Shirley. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to Sullivan's trilogy.
The film swept the 1986 Gemini Awards, winning the following:
The film was also nominated for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series and Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series.
The series also won an Emmy Award in 1986, for Outstanding Children's Program.
Other Awards
The Anne of Green Gables series was released on DVD in a collector's edition set on February 5, 2008 in the U.S., April 29, 2008 in Canada and Japan and on September 22nd, 2010 in Hungary. The set is the most comprehensive edition of all three movies ever released. In addition to the series, it also includes several DVD extras such as feature length commentary from director Kevin Sullivan and Stefan Scaini, 2 New Documentaries: L.M. Montgomery's Island and Kevin Sullivan's Classic featuring new cast and crew interviews, missing scenes, lost footage and a condensed, 10-minute version of the missing "Road to Avonlea" episode "Marilla Cuthbert's Death".
Sullivan was sued by the descendants of and heirs to the novel's author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. Their contractual agreement with Sullivan said that he would pay them a flat $425,000 (CAD) fee for the right to adapt the first book (and another $100,000 to do the second movie, Anne of Avonlea), plus 10% of the profits of Anne 1 and 5% of the profits of Anne 2. The contract also gave them the right to examine Sullivan Entertainment's financial records. However, when Sullivan claimed that neither of the movies had earned any money and (the heirs assert) refused to allow them to audit his books, they took him to court. Sullivan counter-sued for libel, insisting that the heirs should pay him $55 million because they had defamed his character. A Superior Court of Ontario judge dismissed his suit on January 19, 2004, saying that Sullivan's claim that the movies had never turned a profit was "a joke" and that Sullivan was "one of the most evasive witnesses [she had] encountered." [1][2][3] The Montgomery heirs subsequently dropped their claim for Sullivan to pay them any royalties however. Kevin Sullivan's works were initially based upon the works of LM Montgomery, but many questions have been raised in court as to the author’s heirs’ rights in her copyright. In a Japanese court decision which addressed the heir’s challenge to the validity of Sullivan’s ownership of Japanese trade-mark’s in the movie property, the Japanese High Court commented on the heirs' entitlement to reversionary copyright which formed the basis of the rights that the family claimed to have sold to Sullivan. The Court stated that the heirs' reversionary copyright was non-existent and that there was no need for Sullivan or any other entity to account to the heirs for the use of the trademark in Japan.[4][5]
The Court stated: "It is not clear from a legal point of view why permission from the heirs of the author or its related entity the Anne of Green Gables Licensing (AGGLA) authority was necessary."[4]
The Japanese Court also extensively scrutinized whether the copyright in the book “Anne of Green Gables” had ever devolved to the heirs and called for extensive filing of evidence on this point. Sullivan filed an original 1919 agreement between Montgomery and L.C. Page & Co. which specifically excluded the heirs’ reversionary claims. Montgomery sold all of her publishing and copyright to the her series of novels, in perpetuity, to her original American publisher in 1919, to the exclusion of her heirs.[4][5]
The Court further questioned whether the heirs' licensing authority was engaged in activities of sufficient public interest as to qualify as a controlling body of LMM's works. The Court stated: " ....the possibility cannot be denied that the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority is the heirs' private profit-seeking enterprise as far as the activities with which the heirs of the subject case are involved are concerned. It is not proved from the evidence submitted in the subject case that the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority is involved in activities of public interest that are sufficient for the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority to be qualified as the owner of the registration of the subject mark as a controlling body of the subject literary work.
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Kevin Sullivan adapted the novel story into his own screenplay, collaborating with industry veteran Joe Wiesenfeld, and developed a co-production between the CBC and PBS in order to film Anne of Green Gables. Sullivan amalgamated many of Montgomery’s episodes into the film's plot that diverged from Montgomery’s original, but relied on strong characterizations and visuals in order to render the story for a contemporary filmic audience.
Primary locations for filming the movie included Prince Edward Island, Stouffville, Ontario and Westfield Heritage Village in the Hamilton, Ontario neighbourhood of Rockton, over a consecutive ten week shoot. Sullivan used several locations as Green Gables farm and combined them to appear as one property.
The original film and sequels (with Road to Avonlea and the animated Anne films and series being 130 hours of production) have been seen, thanks to satellite, in every country in the world that broadcasts. The films have now been translated and seen in more places around the world than even the original novels.