An Avonlea Christmas (1998)

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Blistering performances.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I adored the series so much! I was so sad when it ended. Although it finished with a few loose ends I was more then satisfied and didn't feel more was necessary. Of course when I heard a reunion movie was in the works, I was excited. I looked forward to seeing all the cast back together again and revisiting the beautiful town of Avonlea. I had such high expectations and hoped that the movie would provide all the same delightfulness the series offered. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The first thing that I was terribly upset about was that 2 key characters were missing, no Gus Pike or Jasper Dale. They were such a huge staple in the series especially towards the end. What were the creators thinking not including them. At least 10+ characters were missing and some without any explanation. The pettibone's were not included. No Muriel Stacey, and not even a mention of Davey and Dora. The most disappointing was that Sara Stanley's whereabouts wasn't mentioned at all either. She was the biggest part of the series in the first 4 seasons, how could they not include her in this reunion. Another thing I enjoyed most about the series was the beautiful scenery and exterior and interior sets. They were such a big part of the series. The rolling hills, the roads, the bridge, the pond frozen over for skating, lighthouse and mostly the village. None of which were present in this reunion, not even the king farm or rose cottage. The worse was that the movie was filmed in summer and fake snow was added to give the illusion that it was actually winter. All the interior sets were different expect for the king farm interior. This film did not capture the world of Avonlea at all. The story telling was lacklustre at best, very dark and depressing. If you enjoyed the series and was satisfied with the end, please avoid this mess. Yes, it was nice to see some of the cast back together again, but not worth tarnishing the magic and greatness the series provided.

So when "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea" hit PBS way back in the late 80s and early 90s, I was very much impressed with how well shot a miniseries both films were. I was not a "fan" as such, as I had only heard of the books in passing, and didn't know much beyond Sullivan's visual interpretation. But like a fine film by Kurosawa or Coppola, I felt compelled to watch both.And then there was a TV series called Avonlea or Road to Avonlea, and apparently all but Megan Follows' Anne are present. Well, tempting as it was, I begged off on watching the series. But after Thanksgiving of this year I was in the mood for a Christmas movie, and so I took a chance on this film.I mean it had the supporting cast from the two Anne films a couple decades back, and I recall them being pastorally upbeat in an old-fashioned turn-of-the-century kind of way, so why not take a chance? Eh, I don't recognize more than two of the characters, I don't understand the whole connection with the war, the young woman from the shop apparently has issues, and I'm just lost as to who, what, where, when and why.I was expecting a 1900's frolicking romp of a film with people overcoming small interpersonal challenges that are fun though seem to rouse passions in a very everyday sort of way a-hundred years back.But that's not what this "film" is about. It's essentially another episode installment of the series though it's billed as a stand alone film.The production values are top notch, but the spirit of young boys and girls and their parents interacting with one another in a very positive and explorative way, is lost. Anne of Green Gables may have been somewhat sugar coated, but it was a good kind of sweetener that uplifted the spirits as Anne broke her chalk slate over Gilbert's head, or when Marilla discovered Anne had dyed her hair green. Here we get a lot of pathos and angst regarding world events (the First World War is afoot) and abrasive manifestations of the previous world that Sullivan had created.Still, it's a window into another time, although I think the problem here is that for all the attempts to keep things normal during wartime, people didn't have the perpetual highs and lows demonstrated in this piece. I think if Sullivan wanted to create a grittier or more true-to-life historical drama, then the Norman Rockwell clean sets need to substituted for sets that more accurately reflect a non-idealistic post-Edwardian township. Take away a lot of the adornments, shoot using natural light, tone down the performances, and use a few more dramatic close and long shots.As it is now we have this odd mix of styles that tries to hold onto the façade of "things are good, even in wartime, and even with people under stress" presentation. Buildings were not always clean, nor the roads, mud, slush, dead animals, burnt pieces of broken wood, and everything that goes with life in the 1900s might have added more of the atmosphere that mister Sullivan was searching for.An interesting effort, but I think you need to see the series before watching this film.

About 20 characters from RTA vanished without even the slightest attempt to explain their whereabouts (including half the siblings in one family),and plot twists totally contrary to what RTA had explained. While it had a few good moments (and good perfomances by Jackie Burroughs as Hetty King and a shining cameo by Zachary Bennett as Felix King) to help it towards the end, they were not enough to offset the dreary tone throughout (with a disappointingly lackluster performance by Gema Zamprogna as Felicity Pike- who had done far better on the series) and overall, it wasn't worth the anticipation! Strictly for RTA fans willing to check their memory cells and logical reasoning at the door!

As a devoted fan of "Road to Avonlea", to say I was looking forward to this movie is putting it mildly!Once again, Avonlea didn't let me down. The same colourful characters were charming as always and the scenery was beautiful (although it wasn't the Avonlea I remember- those of you who have seen it will know what I mean. But of course, Avonlea will "remain in our hearts forever" so it doesn't really matter).However, Avonlea just wasn't the same without Gus, Jasper, Davey and Dora, to mention a few. Also, I found this movie to be somewhat "darker" than the show ever was. I suppose this was to be expected since it's set in wartime, I guess even idyllic Avonlea can't help but to be influenced by the war."Happy Christmas Miss King" tied up a few unanswered questions that were left in the finale episode of "Road to Avonlea"- "So Dear to my Heart", but it created a whole bunch of new unanswered questions!! I think this calls for another Avonlea reunion, right???