POLLYANNA--A STORY OF INNOCENCE

Why did I read and view Pollyanna recently? What got me interested in resurrecting her story in my mind? And heart?


A few weeks ago, I had an overwhelming desire to re-read Pollyanna. Deciding to get a paperback I could keep (rather than a library book), I went to amazon.com. In the review section, someone said there was a Masterpiece Theatre edition of the DVD. I had heard of—and even seen a few clips of—the Disney version on TV starring Haley Mills. But knowing of the quality and excellence of Masterpiece Theatre's productions, I immediately ordered both the paperback and the DVD.


The Masterpiece Theatre edition of the DVD thrilled me. My husband and I watched it together. Amazingly, this sports nut who never used to watch anything unless it had something to do with a ball, now enjoys watching movies with me. And Pollyanna was as good as Anne of Green Gables and Sarah, Plain and Tall. It held our interest; it had pathos and drama and humor and…well, you'll just have to see it.


When I opened the book Pollyanna, I eagerly read the foreword by Newberry author Marion Dane Bauer. (See some quotes from Bauer in my post on Friday.) Bauer said reading Pollyanna was "like opening a window to let in a breath of fresh air."


Amen. I'm in agreement.


She said Pollyanna "transforms the adults around her, adults who have been worn down by worldly disappointments, with nothing more than her own joie de vivre."


Bauer said when Pollyanna was first published in 1913, "the public responded by buying over a million copies."


Eegads! In 1913? That's a lot of books for that era. For any era, I might add!


Bauer said, "The world that stood trembling on the brink of the Great War—later to be called World War I when it was discovered not to be the last 'Great War'—clearly wanted to believe in the transforming power of 'the glad game,' if only for the space of a book."


The "glad game" was what Pollyanna's late pastor-father taught her to play when life threw her disappointments. He told her to look for something to be glad about. For instance, on the day the missionary barrel arrived, Pollyanna was in high hopes of receiving a doll. But the only thing in the barrel that Pollyanna could have was a set of crutches. "Well," she said, after she thought about it for a minute, "I guess I can be glad that I don't need them."


Bauer said the author, Eleanor H. Porter, followed up Pollyanna with Pollyanna Grows Up. Pollyanna's popularity was so great that after Porter's death, four other writers were commissioned to write 12 stories about Pollyanna. "Americans weren't the only ones who responded," writes Bauer. "The book about the irrepressible girl was published in many languages, even Turkish." There was a Pollyanna calendar, a play version in 1915, and a movie in 1960. Glad clubs sprang up across the country. "Clearly," Bauer says, "the public was hungry for this innocently cheerful little girl and her message of hope."


"Perhaps we are even more hungry for her today," Bauer adds.


That's partially why I decided to re-read Pollyanna and watch the DVD. I was hungry for a story of innocence.


Why? More tomorrow…