Anne of Green Gables is a 1985
television movie based on the novel
Anne of Green Gables 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.
Sequels and spin-off
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
Rilla of Ingleside - 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.