Based on “Anne of Green Gables”
Can you hear the hooves?
There's a buggy coming over the hill
It's coming, it's coming for me
Someone's going to take me away
Along the White Way
To the home of the wind
They'll take me with them
THE ROAD TO GREEN GABLES
One June, some 80 years ago, near the end of the 19th century...
...on a ferry from Canada's mainland to Prince Edward Island...
...a red-headed girl stood alone, her heart swelling with dreams...
...of a new life.
An elderly brother and sister had decided to adopt...
...an orphan boy...
...to live with them on the island at their home of “Green Gables”.
The brother, Matthew Cuthbert...
...in his ill-fitting Sunday suit, was headed for Bright River station...
...to meet the boy from the orphanage.
Matthew was the shyest man alive.
Women, even girls, were mysterious creatures to be dreaded.
At 60, he was a lifelong bachelor, probably for that reason.
His younger sister Marilla had never married, either.
Assisting her eccentric brother, she had managed Green Gables...
...bringing it safely through until this day.
Now she was busy readying the house for the boy.
At the unusual sight of Matthew going out in a suit...
...Mrs. Rachel Lynde hurried over to Green Gables...
...to ask Marilla what in heaven's name was going on.
Are you in earnest?! An orphan boy?
Yes, of course, Rachel.
What on earth put such a notion into your head?
You've said nothing to me about it.
We've been thinking about it for some time.
Mrs. Spencer was up here one day before Christmas.
She said she was getting a little girl from the orphanage over in Hopeton.
But why would you do such a thing, and at your age?
That's exactly it, Rachel.
Matthew's getting up in years. He's not so spry as he once was.
We'll get a smart, likely boy of about ten or eleven.
We'll give him a good home and schooling.
We think we can train him up to be a good worker.
- He's coming today? - Yes.
We had a telegram from Mrs. Spencer.
The train should be getting in.
Bright River!
Stationmaster...
You stay here until he comes, and don't you move.
I won't.
Thank you, ma'am! Take care, Lily!
Mind your manners and be a good girl!
I will!
Marilla, I'll tell you plain...
...I think you're doing a mighty foolish thing.
You're bringing in a strange child just on someone's say-so.
I've had some qualms myself.
But you know...
...Mrs. Spencer is a lady we can trust...
...and Matthew is terrible set on it.
But from an orphanage?
Do you know what a child from the Morrison orphanage did?
Put strychnine in the well!
The whole family was almost killed!
Only, it was a girl in that instance.
Well, we're not getting a girl.
I'd never take a girl.
Will the 5:30 be along soon?
Mr. Cuthbert? You're late.
The 5:30 left a half hour ago.
I've been waiting to go home to supper.
What?! Was there a...
Your passenger's fine.
She's sitting out there.
She said very gravely she preferred outside to the ladies' waiting-room.
There was more scope for imagination, she said.
She's a case, I should say.
A girl?
That's not right.
I'm not expecting a girl.
Mrs. Spencer was to...
That's right.
Mrs. Spencer came off the train and gave her into my charge.
But it's a boy I've come for...
Guess there's some mistake.
You'd better ask the girl.
Maybe they were out of boys of the brand you wanted.
I dare say she can explain.
I'll be on my way.
No, wait!
Mr. Matthew Cuthbert of Green Gables?
Er... Yes.
I thought so.
I'm very glad to see you.
I was beginning to fear you weren't coming for me.
I'd made up my mind...
...that if you didn't come tonight...
...I'd climb that big wild-cherry tree...
...and stay in it all night.
I wouldn't be afraid.
It would be lovely to sleep in a tree all white with bloom in the moonshine!
You could imagine you were dwelling in marble halls.
I was sure you'd come in the morning, if you didn't tonight.
I'm sorry I was late.
Give me your bag.
I can carry it.
I've got all my worldly goods in it, but it isn't heavy.
And if it isn't carried the right way...
See?
I know the knack of it, so I'd better carry it.
This Way?
Yes.
I'm very glad you've come.
Even if it would have been nice to sleep in a cherry tree.
But I'm very glad.
We're going in a buggy, aren't we?
I'm glad because I love driving!
It's so wonderful I'm going to live with you...
...and belong to you.
I've never belonged to anybody, not really.
That's the buggy?
I hated the orphanage. It was the worst.
There's no scope for the imagination.
All that's there is orphans.
It was interesting to imagine that the girl next to me...
...was an earl's daughter...
...who had been stolen away in her infancy by a cruel nurse...
...who died before she could confess.
But I didn't have time to imagine during the day.
I guess that's why I'm so thin.
I'm dreadfully thin, aren't I?
There isn't a pick on my bones.
I do love to imagine...
...I'm nice and plump, with dimples in my elbows.
Can we go?
Yes, please!
I'll take care not to fall out.
Giddy-up.
What makes the roads so red here?
Well now, I don't know.
That's all right.
It's such an interesting world!
It wouldn't be if we knew all about everything.
There'd be no scope for imagination.
But am I talking too much? Would you rather I didn't talk?
If you say so, I'll stop.
I can stop when I make up my mind, although it's difficult.
You can talk as much as you like. I don't mind.
Oh, I'm so glad!
I just know we'll get along fine.
I'm always told that children should be seen and not heard.
And people laugh at me because I use big words.
But if you have big ideas, you have to use big words.
Well now, that seems reasonable.
I asked Mrs. Spencer about Green Gables.
And she said there were trees all around it.
I was gladder than ever. I just love trees!
Is there a brook near Green Gables? I forgot to ask Mrs. Spencer that.
Well now, yes, there's one right below the house.
Fancy that!
I've always dreamed of living near a brook.
I never expected I would, though.
Dreams don't often come true.
I feel pretty nearly perfectly happy.
I can't feel exactly perfectly happy...
...because...
...what color would you call this?
It's red, isn't it?
Yes, it's red.
Now you see why I can't be perfectly happy.
I don't mind the freckles and the green eyes and being skinny.
I can imagine them away.
I imagine, “I have rose-leaf skin and lovely starry violet eyes.”
But not my hair.
I do my best. I think to myself “my hair is a glorious black...
“...black as the raven's wing.”
But all the time I know it's just plain red and it breaks my heart.
It will be my lifelong sorrow.
I read of a girl in a novel who had a lifelong sorrow...
...but it wasn't red hair.
Her hair was pure gold...
Oh, Mr. Cuthbert!
Mr. Cuthbert!
I guess you're feeling pretty tired and hungry.
It's not far now.
Oh, Mr. Cuthbert...
...what was that white place we came through?
Well now, you must mean Apple Avenue.
It is a kind of pretty place.
"Pretty"?
That doesn't seem the right word.
Nor “beautiful”. They don't go far enough.
Oh, it was wonderful! It made a funny ache here.
Did you ache, too?
I can't say that I did.
I do whenever I see something royally beautiful.
But they shouldn't call it just “Apple Avenue”.
I know!
“The White Way of Delight”. Isn't that a nice imaginative name?
“The White Way of Delight”?
When I don't like the name of a place or person...
...I always imagine a new one and always think of them so.
You'll call it “The White Way of Delight”, won't you?
Are we really almost there?
Yes, only another mile.
I'm glad and I'm sorry.
This drive has been so pleasant.
I'm always sorry when pleasant things end.
Something still pleasanter may come after...
...but often it's not pleasanter, in my experience, anyhow.
But I'm glad to think of getting home.
It gives me that pleasant ache again just to think...
...of coming to a really truly home!
Oh, isn't that pretty!
How wonderful that Avonlea has a lake!
What a happy rumble the wheels make!
I just love the way wheels rumble on a bridge!
Please! Stop!
Those plum trees! They're like girls in white...
...tip-toeing to see their reflection in the lake!
It's getting late.
Giddy-up.
Good night, Lake of Shining Waters.
I always say good night to the things I love.
I think they like it.
That water looks as if it was smiling at me.
That's Barry's pond.
Oh?
“Lake of Shining Waters.”
That's the right name. I feel the thrill.
When I hit on the right name, it gives me a thrill.
Do things ever give you a thrill?
Well now, yes.
When I see them white grubs that spade up in the cucumbers.
I hate the look of them.
That can't be the same...
Can it?
But why do other people call it Barry's pond?
I reckon because Mr. Barry lives up there in that house.
Green Gables is over behind it.
Oh!
Has Mr. Barry any little girls?
Not so very little... about my size.
He's got one about eleven. Her name is Diana.
What a perfectly lovely name! The Moon Goddess, isn't she.
I don't know... There's something dreadful heathenish about it.
We're pretty near home now. That's Green Gables over...
Don't tell me!
Let me guess.
I'm sure I'll guess right.
That's it, isn't it?
Well now, you've guessed it!
Matthew Cuthbert, who's that?
Where is the boy?
There wasn't any boy. There was only her.
No boy? But there must have been a boy!
We sent word to Mrs. Spencer to bring a boy.
Well, she didn't.
She brought her.
I asked the Stationmaster.
What?!
You didn't see Mrs. Spencer?
Well...
I was a bit late...
...so I had to bring her home.
Isn't this a pretty piece of business!
You don't want me!
Because I'm not a boy!
I might have expected it.
Nobody ever did want me!
I might have known it was all too beautiful to last!
What shall I do? I'm going to burst into tears!
There's no need to cry so about it.
Yes, there is need!
You'd cry, too!
If you were an orphan who thought she was going to have a home...
...and they didn't want you because you weren't a boy!
This is the most tragical thing that ever happened to me!
Don't cry any more.
We won't turn you out tonight.
Let's see...
What's her name?
I haven't asked her that yet.
What's your name, girl?
Will you please call me Cordelia?
Call you Cordelia? Is that your name?
No, it's not exactly my name, but I'd love to be called Cordelia.
It's such a perfectly elegant name.
I don't know what on earth you mean.
If Cordelia isn't your name, what is?
Anne Shirley.
But please call me Cordelia!
It can't matter much to you if I'll only be here a little while.
And Anne is such an unromantic name.
Unromantic fiddlesticks!
Anne is a good plain sensible name.
There's no shame in it.
I'm not ashamed of it. Only I like Cordelia better.
I've always imagined that my name was Cordelia.
When I was young I imagined it was Geraldine.
But if you call me Anne...
...call me Anne with an E.
What difference does it make how it's spelt?
It makes such a difference!
It looks so much nicer.
When you hear a name, can't you see it just as if it was printed?
I can.
Call me Anne with an E...
...and I shall resign myself to not being called Cordelia.
Very well.
Anne with an E...
...how did this mistake come to be made?
Were there no boys?
There were lots of them.
But Mrs. Spencer said distinctly that you wanted a girl.
You don't know how delighted I was.
I couldn't sleep for joy.
Why didn't you just leave me at the station?
If not for the White Way of Delight and the Lake of Shining Waters...
...it wouldn't be so hard.
What on earth does she mean?
She's just talking about...
...some conversation we had on the road.
I'm going to put the mare in.
Get the tea ready.
Did Mrs. Spencer bring anybody besides you?
She brought Lily Jones for herself.
She's five years old and beautiful and has nut-brown hair.
Would you keep me if I was beautiful and had nut-brown hair?
No.
We want a boy to help Matthew on the farm.
A girl would be of no use to us.
Take off your hat. I'll lay it in the hall.
You're not eating.
I can't.
I'm in the depths of despair.
Can you eat when you're in the depths of despair?
I can't say. I've never been in the depths of despair.
Weren't you?
Did you ever try to imagine you were in the depths of despair?
No, I didn't.
Then I don't think you can understand what it's like.
It's very uncomfortable.
A lump comes up in your throat and you can't swallow anything.
Not even if it was a chocolate caramel.
I had one chocolate caramel two years ago.
It was delicious!
I've often dreamed since then that I had a lot of them...
...but I wake up before I can eat them.
I guess she's tired.
Best put her to bed, Marilla.
Yes.
You have a nightgown?
Yes.
I have two.
They're fearfully skimpy.
Everything's skimpy in an orphanage.
I hate skimpy night-dresses.
But one can dream just as well as in lovely trailing ones...
...with frills at the neck.
That's one consolation.
Stop talking, get undressed, and go to bed.
I'll come back for the candle.
I daren't trust you to put it out. You'd likely set the place on fire.
Good night.
How can you say “good” night?!
You know it must be the worst night I've ever had!
What a kettle of fish!
This is what comes of not going ourselves.
One of us will have to drive over and see Mrs. Spencer tomorrow.
The girl will have to be sent back.
Yes, I suppose so.
You “suppose” so?
Don't you know it?
Well now, she's a real nice little thing, Marilla.
It's a pity to send her back when she's so set on staying.
Matthew Cuthbert!
You don't mean to say you think we ought to keep her!
Well now...
No, I suppose not, not exactly.
I suppose...
...if it comes down to keeping her...
...we couldn't.
I should say not! What good would she be to us?
We might be some good to her.
Matthew Cuthbert!
I believe that child has bewitched you!
Well now, she's a real interesting little thing.
You should have heard her talk coming from the station.
Oh, she can talk fast enough. I saw that at once.
It's nothing in her favor.
She has far too much to say. I don't want an orphan girl.
No.
She's got to be sent right back.
I could hire a French boy to help me.
And she'd be company for you.
I'm not suffering for company.
I'm not keeping her.
Well now, it's just as you say, of course.
I'm going to bed.
What happiness awaits me?
Before tomorrow comes
I want to see
I want to see it
Just to take a peek
At one piece...
One little piece...
Of a dream
Not dressed yet?
Isn't it wonderful!
It's a big tree, and it blooms great, but the fruit isn't much.
Small and wormy.
I don't mean just the tree.
Of course it's lovely.
It's radiantly lovely!
But I meant everything...
...the garden, the brook, the woods, the whole big dear world!
Don't you feel you just love the world on a morning like this?
And I can hear the brook laughing all the way up here.
I'm so glad there's a brook near Green Gables.
Since you're not going to keep me...
...perhaps you think it doesn't make any difference to me...
...but it does.
I want to remember the brook even if I never see it again.
If there wasn't one, I'd be haunted by the feeling there should be.
I'm not in the depths of despair now.
In the morning I can never be.
Aren't mornings just splendid?
But I feel very sad.
I was imagining it was me you wanted...
...and that I was to stay here for ever and ever.
It was a great comfort while it lasted.
But the worst of imagining things...
...is that the time comes when you have to stop.
And that hurts.
Get dressed and come downstairs, and never mind...
...your imaginings.
Breakfast is waiting. Wash your face and comb your hair.
Leave the window open and fold your bedclothes back.
Be as quick as you can.
Good morning!
'Morning.
I'm pretty hungry this morning.
The world isn't such a howling wilderness...
...as it was last night.
I'm glad it's a sunshiny morning.
But I like rainy mornings, too.
All mornings are interesting.
You don't know what'll happen, so there's scope for the imagination.
But I'm glad it's not rainy.
On a sunshiny day, it's easier to bear up under affliction.
And I have things to bear up under.
It's fine to read about sorrows and imagine living heroically...
...but it's not so nice when you really come to have them.
Will you hold your tongue!
You talk far too much for a little girl.
Eat up.
Can I take your plate?
Yes!
I'll wash the dishes.
Can you wash dishes right?
Pretty well.
I'm better at looking after children, though.
It's a pity you haven't any here.
I've got enough here at present.
You're problem enough.
What's to be done with you I don't know.
Matthew's a most ridiculous man.
I think he's lovely. He's so very sympathetic.
He didn't mind me talking. He seemed to like it.
I felt he was a kindred spirit as soon as I saw him.
“Kindred spirit”? You're both strange, if that's what you mean.
Yes, wash the dishes.
I'm busy this morning.
I'll have to drive to Mrs. Spencer's at White Sands this afternoon.
You'll come with me, and we'll settle what's to be done.
When you're done, go upstairs and make your bed.
I will.
Carry on.
Yes, ma'am.
You're good at dishes, but not so good at making beds.
I've never slept under a feather tick!
You pat it like this so it all fluffs up.
Let me try it!
Then you may go outside and play.
May I?
Don't let the flies in when you go out.
And wipe your feet when you come in.
I'll be careful!
What's the matter now?
I don't dare go out.
If I can't stay, there's no use in my loving Green Gables.
If I get to know the trees and flowers and the brook...
...I'll love them in spite of myself.
It's hard enough now, so I won't make it any harder.
I really want to go out.
“Anne! Anne! Come out to us!
“Anne! Anne! We want a playmate!”
They're calling to me.
But I'd better not.
There's no use in loving things if you have to be torn from them.
That's why I was so glad to think I'd be living here...
...with so much to love and nothing to hinder me.
But that brief dream is over.
I'm resigned to my fate...
...so I don't want to go out and get unresigned again.
I never saw nor heard anything like her.
She is kind of interesting, as Matthew says.
I'm already wondering what on earth she'll say next.
She'll be casting a spell over me, too.
She's cast it over Matthew.
What's wrong with him? What good would a girl do us?
Open the door to the woods
Come and search
Anne of Green Gables
O red-headed girl
Come and search
The in visible things
A glittering dream
Who is that calling?
Beside the bubbling spring
Come and search
Anne of Green Gables
O red-headed girl
Come and search
For the story that never fades
For hidden dreams
Who is that calling?
We'll have lunch early.
I can have the buggy?
You won't go, so I'll drive over to White Sands and settle this.
She'll come with me.
I'm sure Mrs. Spencer will arrange to send her back to the orphanage.
I'll set out your tea.
I'll be back in time for milking.
Jerry Buote was here this morning.
I guess I'll hire him for the summer.
It was your idea to get a boy from the orphanage to help out.
Goodbye, Bonny!
Goodbye, Snow Queen!
Goodbye, Mr. Cuthbert!
Goodbye!
I've made up my mind to enjoy this drive.
You can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind to.
We're out on a drive.
I won't think about the orphanage while we're having our drive.
Look! Early wild roses!
They're lovely!
They must be glad to be roses.
It'd be nice if they could talk.
Are we crossing the Lake of Shining Waters?
We're not crossing Barry's pond, if that's this “lake” of yours.
We're going by the shore road.
“Shore road” sounds nice.
When you said “shore road”...
...I saw it in my mind right away.
How far is White Sands?
It's five miles.
As you're evidently bent on talking...
...tell me what you know about yourself.
What I know isn't really worth telling.
What I imagine about myself is ever so much more interesting.
I don't want your imaginings.
Just stick to the bald facts.
Begin at the beginning. Where were you born? How old are you?
What's wrong?
Tell me.
No.
It's not worth telling.
I don't want to remember.
So this is the child you had from the orphanage?
But I'm sure Rachel said it was a boy.
It's not like her to be mistaken about a thing like that.
No, she wasn't mistaken.
There was a mistake, and this child came instead of a boy.
Heavens! Isn't that a pretty kettle of fish!
How could that happen?
I wish I knew.
I'm off to White Sands...
...to ask Mrs. Spencer what might have gone wrong.
Oh, dear!
I guess she'll have to be sent back.
The poor thing!
I must be going.
Where are you going?!
Anne! Anne! Come back here!
Anne!
I'm sorry. I guess I put my foot in it.
I should be going.
I'm sorry, Miss Cuthbert.
I'm all right. I won't sulk any more.
I'm sorry, too. I should have been more considerate.
I'll tell you about myself. Everything, from the beginning.
I was born in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia.
I was eleven last March.
My father was Walter Shirley, a teacher in Bolingbroke High School.
Anne began to tell Marilla all about herself.
From time to time her story veered off into by-ways...
...but for Anne, as she told her tale of hardship...
...it was as if this were a necessary respite.
Anne had been a scrawny baby...
...tiny, nothing but eyes.
Her parents died of fever just after she was born.
A Mrs. Thomas took Anne until she was eight...
...though this lady was poor, with a drunken husband.
Mrs. Thomas worked, so Anne had to look after her children.
Then Mr. Thomas got drunk and was killed falling under a train.
Next Mrs. Hammond took Anne in.
This lady had three sets of twins, and Anne was kept very busy.
She had twins three times!
Mrs. Hammond died, and Anne had to go to the orphanage.
This was Anne's life so far.
They didn't want me at the orphanage.
They were over-crowded.
I was there nearly six months until Mrs. Spencer came.
Those...
...those women, Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Hammond.
Were they good to you?
They meant to be.
They meant to be as good and kind as possible.
When people mean to be good to you...
...you don't mind when they're not quite, always.
They had a good deal to worry them, you know.
It's very trying to have a drunken husband.
And it must be very trying to have twins three times in a row.
But I feel sure they meant to be good to me.
Isn't the sea wonderful!
Once Mr. Thomas hired an express wagon...
...and took us all to spend the day at the shore.
I had to look after the children, but I enjoyed every moment.
I lived it over in happy dreams for years.
Oh!
What big house is that just ahead?
The White Sands Hotel.
In summer scores of Americans come here to escape the heat.
I thought it was Mrs. Spencer's.
I don't want to get there. It'll seem like the end of everything.
Good day, Miss Cuthbert.
What are you doing here?
Shoo!
You're the last folks I was looking for today.
Put your horse in.
And how are you, Anne?
As well as can be expected, thank you.
That's nice...
The fact is, Mrs. Spencer...
Got you!
There's Anne!
Good day, Miss Cuthbert.
Hello, Flora.
All aboard!
Choo choo-choo-choo choo choo-choo-choo...
Lily's a sweet little girl.
She's fit right in here.
They're just like sisters, aren't they.
Mr. Spencer's very pleased.
Oh, Lily!
The fact is, Mrs. Spencer, there's been a strange mistake.
The fact is...
...we sent word that we wanted a boy of about ten years old.
What did you say?
It was a boy we wanted.
You don't say so!
But...
...my brother Robert sent word by his daughter Nancy...
...and she said you wanted a girl.
Oh. my!
It certainly wasn't my fault, Miss Cuthbert.
Nancy is such a flighty thing!
It was our own fault.
We should have come to you ourselves.
But the mistake has been made and it has to be set right.
Can we send her back?
I suppose they'll take her back?
If there's been a mistake...
But it might not be necessary.
Mrs. Blewett said yesterday she wanted a girl to help her.
Mrs. Blewett?
She has a large family, and she finds it hard to get help.
Anne's the very girl for her!
Mrs. Blewett, eh?
It's a perfect solution.
I call it providential!
Well, speak of the devil! Here she is now.
Just at the right moment! Wait here.
Mrs. Blewett!
Imagine you coming now! It's divine providence.
It's this Child.
How old are you and what's your name?
Well?
I asked your age.
She's eleven.
If you don't mind, I'd like an answer from her.
We shouldn't be talking about this out here.
Won't you come inside?
Please.
Flora, go put the kettle on.
Yes, Mother.
What do you think, Mrs. Blewett? She might be just the girl for you.
There's not much to you. But you've got grit.
The ones who don't are never any use.
That should be fine.
I like her temperament.
If I take you, you'll have to be a good girl.
Good and smart and respectful.
I'll expect you to earn your keep.
I'll take her off your hands.
The baby's awful fractious. I'm clean worn out!
That's a relief.
I didn't know what to do!
If you like I can take her home right now.
Well, I don't know...
We haven't absolutely decided that we won't keep her.
In fact I can say that Matthew is disposed to keep her.
Now that I know how the mistake occurred...
...I'd better take her home again and talk it over with Matthew.
If we decide to have you take her...
...we'll bring her tomorrow night.
If we don't, you may assume she is going to stay with us.
Will that suit you?
It'll have to.
You had her first.
I came to borrow a recipe.
I'm wasting my time!
Wait...
Miss Cuthbert!
Did you really say that perhaps you would let me stay...
...at Green Gables?
Did you really say it?
Or did I imagine it?
If you can't distinguish between what is real and what isn't...
...you'd better learn to control your imagination.
Yes, you did hear me say that.
But it isn't decided yet.
Perhaps we will let Mrs. Blewett take you after all.
She certainly needs you much more than I do.
I'd rather go back to the orphanage than live with her!
She looks like a...
...a gimlet!
A gimlet?
A little girl like you should be ashamed of talking so...
...about a lady and a stranger.
I'll put the horse in. You go upstairs and rest.
Is there anything I can do to help?
Not right now. Come down when I call you for supper.
I'm home.
Maybe I can say that.
I'm home, Bonny.
I wouldn't give a dog to that Blewett woman.
I'm sorry?
Oh, nothing.
We give her to Mrs. Blewett, or we keep her. It's one or the other.
I suppose.
You seem to want her. I realize that.
I'm getting used to the idea myself. It seems a sort of duty.
I've never brought up a child, and I dare say I'll make a mess of it.
But she may stay.
Well now!
I reckoned you'd come to see it in that light.
She's such an interesting little thing.
I'd prefer “useful” to “interesting”.
Of course! It's as you say.
You just leave me to manage her.
She's a girl, after all.
When I fail it'll be time enough to put your oar in.
There, there, Marilla. You can have your own way.
Just be as good and kind as you can without spoiling her.
You'd think little girls had never terrified you.
I won't tell her tonight that she can stay.
She'd be too excited to sleep a wink.
Goodness knows what will become of this.
You could tell her tonight and not be so proud.
Now, Anne...
...last night you dropped your clothes when you took them off.
Fold them neatly and place them on a chair.
I don't like untidy girls.
I was too sad last night to think about my clothes.
I'll fold them nicely tonight.
We had to at the orphanage.
But I'd forget.
But I'll remember now. I'll fold them.
Say your prayers now, and get into bed.
I'll come get the candle.
I've never said any prayers.
What? Were you never taught to say your prayers?
Don't you know who God is?
“God is a spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being...”
So you know something, then. Thank goodness.
Where did you learn that?
The orphanage Sunday school. We learned the whole catechism.
There's something splendid about some of the words.
“Infinite”, “eternal”, “unchangeable”. Isn't that grand?
It has such a roll to it, just like a big organ playing.
It's just like poetry.
We're not talking about poetry, we're talking about prayers.
Don't you know it's wicked not to say your prayers?
You seem a very bad little girl.
It's easy to be bad if you have red hair.
People who don't have red hair don't know what trouble is.
Mrs. Thomas said that God made my hair red on purpose.
I've never cared about him since.
And I'd be too tired at night to bother with prayers.
Looking after twins, there's no time for them.
You must say your prayers while you are under my roof.
But what should I say?
Now I think of it, it'll be interesting.
I can use lots of splendid words!
You must kneel down.
Why do people kneel down?
I'd go all alone into the deep, deep woods...
...or into a big field and look up at the sky.
I'd look up, up, up into that lovely blue sky.
Then I'd just feel a prayer.
Well, what am I to say?
“Now I lay me down to sleep”...
You're old enough to pray for yourself.
Thank God for his blessings, and ask for the things you want.
Well, I'll do my best.
“Gracious heavenly Father”...
That's how the ministers say it.
“Gracious heavenly Father...
“I thank thee for the White Way of Delight...
“...the Lake of Shining Waters, for Bonny and the Snow Queen.
“I'm very grateful.
“I want so many things it would take too long to say them.
“I will mention two.
“Please let me stay at Green Gables...
“...and please let me be good-looking when I grow up.
“Yours respectfully, Anne Shirley.”
Was that all right?
I could have made it more flowery if I'd had time to think it over.
That's fine. Good night.
Good night.
Should I have said “amen” instead of “Yours respectfully”?
Like in church?
Will it make a difference?
I...I don't suppose it will.
Good!
Good night.
Matthew Cuthbert!
Will you believe that child never said a prayer before?
She'll go to Sunday School once we get her some clothes.
I shall have my hands full.
Well, well...
...we can't get through this world without our share of trouble.
I've had an easy life so far, but my time has come at last.
Well now... It would seem it has.
Please, Miss Cuthbert, won't you tell me if...
...you'll keep me or not?
I've been patient all morning, but I can't bear it any more!
You haven't scalded the dishcloth in clean hot water.
Do that before you ask questions.
Well...
...I might as well tell you. We've decided to keep you.
That is, if you are a good girl and show yourself grateful.
Whatever is the matter?
I'm crying.
I can't think why.
I'm glad as glad can be.
“Glad” doesn't seem to be the right word.
I was glad about the White Way and the cherry blossoms...
...but this!
It's something more than glad.
I'm so happy!
I'll try to be very good.
It'll be uphill work.
But I'll do my very best.
Can you tell me why I'm crying?
I suppose it's because you're all worked up.
Sit down and calm yourself.
I'm afraid you laugh and cry far too easily.
You can stay here, and we'll try to do right by you.
You must go to school...
...but it's nearly summer vacation so you can start in September.
Come to us!
Come out here, Anne!
Come and play!
Where are you going?
I'm going to tell the Snow Queen I can stay!
Wait!
I'll be right back!
Hello, Snow Queen!
Birch trees in the dell! Maples, and the brook!
Hello!
How do you do!
Anne!
Run and run
Waves of flowers without end
The lake is far away
The glowing clouds even farther
A whole day in the flowers
Like a dream from which you never Wake
Mr. Cuthbert!
Mr. Cuthbert! I can stay here at Green Gables!
Miss Cuthbert says...
Miss Cuthbert says I can stay!
Oh, she does, does she?
Mr. Cuthbert!
Everything I said in the buggy the other day was true!
I'm going to belong to you!
I suppose so.
No! It's not a dream!
You're right, Anne. It's not a dream.
From now on, you're Anne of Green Gables.
Mr. Cuthbert!
Thank you!
Let the tears flow drop by drop,
Screenplay by Shigeki Chiba Aiko Isomura
Seijiro Kamiyama Isao Takahata
But the wind blows from the fields.
Scene Setting and Layout Design by Hayao Miyazaki
Character Design and Supervising Animator Yoshifumi Kondo
Art Director Masahiro Ioka
When I look in the mirror,
Music by Akira Miyoshi Kurodo Mouri
I'll see that there are reflected
Voices Eiko Yamada Fumie Kitahara
Ryuji Saikachi Michio Hazama
Both the field and the wind.
And then my tears will disappear.
Directed by Isao Takahata
Production Nippon Animation
THE ROAD TO GREEN GABLES The End