Hey, Disnerds! This week we watched the 30th movie in the Disnerd Movie Challenge, Pollyanna! Wow, can you believe we’ve already watched 30 films? It’s been quite an adventure so far! If it’s been a while since you last watched this film, feel free to read the synopsis below, otherwise jump ahead to our review.

Synopsis

Twelve-year-old orphan Pollyanna arrives in the town of Harrington to live with her wealthy Aunt Polly Harrington, after the recent deaths of her missionary parents. She meets Nancy and Thomas who escort her to her aunt’s home. When they arrive, Pollyanna is introduced to her aunt and Reverend Ford as they discuss this week’s sermon. Polly greets her niece, but criticizes her clothes. Pollyanna is introduced to the other servants including the cook, Tilly, and the maid, Angelica, and learns that Nancy is seeing a man named George, which Polly disapproves of. The next day, Polly and Nancy take Pollyanna shopping for new clothes. Aunt Polly leaves to take care of an emergency at the town orphanage where a broken pipe has flooded the building. Polly and Mayor Karl Warden hold a town meeting at Polly’s home to discuss the orphanage. The mayor wants to replace it with a new building, but Polly refuses, saying it’s a landmark that her father donated, and that she will use her own wealth to repair it as she considers it her duty. Dr. Edmond Chilton, who arrived in town the same day as Pollyanna and had a relationship with Polly five years earlier, reluctantly agrees to the idea of a new building. Pollyanna thinks it would be wonderful for Polly and Chilton to get together, similar to Nancy and George. On Sunday, Reverend Ford gives a “fire and brimstone” sermon, much to everyone’s displeasure, with the exception of Aunt Polly. That afternoon, when everyone is complaining about Sundays, Pollyanna explains to Tilly and Angelica the meaning of her “Glad Game”, in which she chooses to look for something to be glad about in any situation.

Later that afternoon, Pollyanna meets the orphan Jimmy Bean, who invites her to go fishing. While fishing, Pollyanna encounters Chilton and the two talk about Aunt Polly. Pollyanna slyly hints to Chilton to pursue Polly. She and Jimmy wander off to the home of Mr. Pendergast, the town recluse. Jimmy persuades Pollyanna help him climb Mr. Pendergast’s tree, the tallest one in town. Mr. Pendergast arrives at that moment, catches Jimmy, and takes him back to his house. Pollyanna sneaks in to rescue Jimmy, calling his bluff about his rumored basement full of children. Mr. Pendergast lets Jimmy go and teaches Pollyanna about prisms after she discovers rainbows on his wall, caused by crystals from his lamp. Backy at Polly’s house, Chilton tries talking to Polly, but their meeting doesn’t go well. Later, Pollyanna and Nancy deliver charity baskets around town, and their last stop is the home of the cantankerous Mrs. Snow. Mrs. Snow’s daughter Millie takes care of her, but is stressed by her bed-ridden mother’s endless complaints about dying. Pollyanna meets Mrs. Snow, and though Mrs. Snow doesn’t like her at first, she begins to soften when Pollyanna shows her how the crystals on her lamp can make rainbows on the wall of her bedroom. The next day another town meeting is held without Polly, and the mayor is able to win support for a new orphanage building. They decide to throw a bazaar as a fundraiser. Jimmy and Pollyanna return to Mr. Pendergast and Pollyanna convinces him to sell “rainbow-makers” at the bazaar. Pollyanna also tries to convince Mrs. Snow to make a patchwork quilt for the bazaar, in the process upsetting Mr. Murg who had been at Mrs. Snow’s home to design her coffin. Pollyanna gets mad at Mrs. Snow, criticizing her for choosing to be miserable. She storms out, but her lecture persuades Mrs. Snow to begin working on the quilt. Polly finds out about the bazaar and forbids Pollyanna from attending it or participating.

The people hosting the bazaar begin to realize others in town are too afraid of Polly to attend the bazaar, so Chilton tries to persuade Polly to change her mind. Unsuccessful, Chilton, George, and Mayor Warden try appealing to Reverend Ford to use his influence, saying “nobody owns a church” and he should choose his own sermons. This fails, until Pollyanna meets with the Reverend. She shares a story about how her father decided to look for the good in people and in the Bible, and that there were 800 “Glad Passages.” Reverend Ford breaks down, realizing he’s failed the townspeople, and the following Sunday announces he will read one of the over 800 Glad Passages from the Bible per week until he has read them all. He also announces the bazaar and invites everyone, upsetting Polly. The night of the bazaar arrives and the whole town participates. Pollyanna is not there, so Jimmy goes to Polly’s house to get her. Polly refuses to let Pollyanna go, so Jimmy helps Pollyanna escape by climbing down a tree. They return to the bazaar where Pollyanna wins a doll and sings with other girls as part of the entertainment. At the end of the night, Pollyanna returns home and tries to climb back up to her bedroom, but she drops her doll on a section of the roof, and, trying to reach it, falls to the ground. Her screams alert Polly, Tilly, and Angelica, who find Pollyanna injured and call for the doctor. The next morning, Polly reveals that Pollyanna’s legs are paralyzed and she may never walk again. Polly goes outside and breaks down, knowing she has not shown love in the way Pollyanna needed. Polly is in turn comforted by Reverend Ford, who calls Pollyanna a miracle that brought good to the town of Harrington. Chilton says surgery could fix Pollyanna’s legs, but he worries about Pollyanna’s depression. Polly says Pollyanna needs hope and love, and Chilton says he and Polly can give that to her—together. The whole town arrives at the house with gifts and well-wishes for Pollyanna. Chilton carries a miserable Pollyanna downstairs to show her everyone who came to visit. Angelica kisses Pollyanna goodbye. Mr. Pendergast and Jimmy announce happily that Mr. Pendergast has adopted the boy. Mrs. Snow tenderly tells Pollyanna that she will see her once Pollyanna returns from surgery. Nancy and George tell Pollyanna they’re engaged, and will wait for her to return so she can be the flower girl. Polly chooses to accompany Pollyanna, this time not out of duty, but love. Harrington brands itself as “The Glad Town” having been changed for good by Pollyanna.

Thoughts Before Watching

Kevin: Honestly, the only thing I know about this movie is it stars Hayley Mills, and I think her character falls from a tree near the end? Megan has far more memories, so I’m just going to live vicariously through her for the moment!

Megan: My siblings and I loved watching this when we were kids. Or well, perhaps it might be more accurate to say we loved making fun of it as kids? We had a lot of inside jokes about the way Pollyanna says certain things (like the way she sings “with braaaaah-therhood” while singing “America the Beautiful” in her flag costume), or about certain characters in the film—that’s what I remember most. It’s been ages since I last watched it, though. I think I haven’t seen it since high school maybe? It would have been whenever we introduced the film to my youngest brother, so maybe early college, but it still feels like it’s been longer than that. I’m actually looking forward to watching it again since I don’t remember too much beyond the major plot points and the inside jokes.

Thoughts After Watching

Far more depth and smarts than I remembered

Megan: I’m not quite sure when I last watched this film, but now I’m thinking it must have been longer ago than I originally thought because I did not remember the complexities of the adult characters’ subplots. So much of this film went over my head when I was a kid. I was far more interested in Pollyanna’s story and her friendship with Jimmy than what was going on with the adult characters. I understood the broad strokes of what was happening, but it wasn’t until this viewing that I really caught on to the failed romance between Aunt Polly and Dr. Chilton, the flirting between Nancy and George (I’d forgotten about the “cousin Fred” antics!), or how Aunt Polly runs the town by throwing her wealth around—much to the mayor’s chagrin. I loved that after watching this so many times as a kid there was still something new for me to find on this viewing.

Also, I used to think Pollyanna was kind of annoying, but after this viewing I realize she’s way smarter than I gave her credit for. For one thing, she immediately sees through Nancy’s ruse of calling George her “cousin Fred” and calls her out on it (though she doesn’t betray Nancy to her Aunt Polly). She also casually mentions to Dr. Chilton that her Aunt Polly will be alone at the house all afternoon, with the unspoken suggestion that the doctor should pay her a visit. She also calls out Mr. Pendergast on his rumored basement full of children, and completely changes the way Reverend Ford thinks about his role as a preacher by unobtrusively offering some advice. She also has the gumption to tell off Mrs. Snow for feeling sorry for herself and being so self-obsessed about dying (and personally I’ve always interpreted that Mrs. Snow is not sick at all—it’s all in her head, and it’s only Pollyanna’s “impertinence” that snaps her out of it). While her Aunt Polly may have the wealth to give her power and influence in town, Pollyanna has the intuitive social intelligence to manipulate the townspeople into their best selves.

A surprise for a newcomer!

Kevin: This was heart-warming! I enjoyed many of the moments Pollyanna was on screen, bringing “The Glad Game” not just to the people of the town, but to myself as well. While it can seem a little obnoxious at times, Hayley Mills did such a great job that you can’t help but appreciate the energy she brought to the character. I, too, was picking up on the more adult themes and subplots Megan mentioned previously, so as someone who had no idea what the movie was about it was great to see two sides of life, and how the characters on those sides deal with problems. There’s also so much humor to be found here. I was laughing far more than I had expected I would, because the film finds cute ways to make you laugh. The humor comes mostly from the adult characters’ aversion to Pollyanna’s cheerful outlook. In particular, I really liked all the moments the maid Angelica was on screen because she had the best reactions. Her sheer irritation and annoyance at everyone and everything contrasted so much with Pollyanna’s upbeat attitude that the dynamic was wonderful. Mrs. Snow was another fantastic example of this, such as her initial annoyances with Pollyanna, only to turn her spite onto Mr. Murg. Mr. Pendergast was similar; crotchety he may have been at first, it was wonderful how he completely played into the rumors about him, and all to make jokes with Pollyanna and Jimmy. There were many good moments throughout this movie that it truly was a very pleasant surprise. I tried to come in with no expectations, but this completely exceeded them!

So! Many! Women!

Megan: For a movie that starts with a closeup on a boy's naked butt, this film is much more of a women’s story than previous Disney films. I’m guessing that is in large part because the film is based on a book written by the woman Eleanor H. Porter. Though the film still has a few hints of a male gaze, likely due to the male writer, director, etc. who produced this film, it is far more subtle than in previous films, which I, for one, greatly appreciated!

Megan: From the get-go we are introduced to a multitude of named female characters with speaking roles, so it is little surprise that this film repeatedly passes the Bechdel test. Throughout the film, the female characters talk about a multitude of subjects, only a few of which revolve around men. While their conversations sometimes tend toward gossip, the majority of these conversations are serving as a way for women to support each other. For example, when Nancy and Millie discuss how “cantankerous” Mrs. Snow has been, it is Nancy’s way of letting Millie vent while validating Millie’s emotions. It’s the same thing when the maids complain to each other about Polly—they’re commiserating with each other rather than trying to tear Polly down. Even when Mrs. Tarbell tattles on the other townspeople who were seen working on a bazaar fundraiser that Polly disapproves of, she is doing it as an ally to Polly—she’s helping out her fellow woman by giving her a heads-up when she’s been left out of the loop. This level of nuanced character development and female relationships is something completely new to Disney at this point, and I believe the credit here must largely go to Eleanor H. Porter—without her source material, there’s no way a team of male filmmakers would have captured this network of female relationships so well.

Wealth and Influence: Bars to Progress?

Kevin: One of the main threads of this story is Polly’s influence on the town and some of the negative effects this has. At first, she throws her family name and money around to control Harrington. Such is her influence that she controls Reverend Ford’s own preaching and has him deliver passages about eternal damnation. Polly also fights vehemently against the demolishing of the current orphanage in favor of a new one because her father donated the original building. To Polly, the orphanage is not something to be held onto because it provides a home, but because she considers it a town landmark and it’s a contribution from her late father, her family. She considers it her duty to use her wealth to fix up the place even though the mayor, and some of the townspeople, believe it’s more economically feasible to build a new one. By insisting on keeping the current building and considering it her duty to fix it, Polly is preventing change from happening. Preserving it doesn’t provide anyone else any benefit (although Jimmy at one point also does not want the current orphanage to be torn down, he comes around). Up until this point it’s Polly’s control that halts true progress and change in order to make life better. Eventually, we see the results of this as the citizens of Harrington defy her in a couple ways. Reverend Ford realizes “nobody owns a church” and decides to read from the “Glad Passages” once a week. The townspeople organize a bazaar to raise funds to build a new orphanage. Both these anger Polly, but she slowly does change over the course of the film, thanks to a lot of help from Pollyanna and from her own ability to confront herself. Her final change of heart comes when one last person defies her: Pollyanna herself. Pollyanna’s accident is a result of sneaking away to the bazaar in spite of her aunt’s refusal, and it’s the accident that helps Polly understand how much she has hurt her niece and the town. While Polly does spend most of the film clinging to her economic and social privilege, she too is ultimately changed and grows as a person. Finally, the family and the town of Harrington can move forward.

One woman can change a town

Megan: Something I find really unique about Pollyanna is how the story demonstrates that one woman has the power to change an entire town. The obvious example is of course Pollyanna herself, whose positivity and charm ultimately convince an entire town to change their perspective and look for the good in life rather than the bad. It is in the small interactions and budding relationships that Pollyanna makes with various townspeople that she unwittingly unites them and changes their lives for the better. However, the film also gives us an example in Polly Harrington. Whether you like her results or not, Polly uses her wealth and influence to change the town. Now, the feminist in me doesn’t like that the only woman in a position of power in the town is portrayed as cold, unlikable, untrusting, and unemotional (all things that never seem to be a criticism about men in power, I might add). But by the same token, I really appreciated that Polly was not branded as “evil” or a “villain” in the classical sense. Sure, most people in town aren’t a fan of her, and some genuinely fear her, but the film shows us there’s more to Polly than what the townspeople see. For one thing, she took in her orphan niece, Pollyanna. We also see that she had love once, and she still has feelings for Dr. Chilton. Also, I believe her attachment to the Harrington House orphanage building has less to do with economics or a lack of empathy for the orphans, and everything to do with her late father. It’s called “Harrington House” after all, so was that her childhood home? Did she grow up in that house and have fond memories of her father there? The film doesn’t tell us, but we can see in her resistance to tearing down the building and her willingness to pay for costly repairs that she still cherishes something about it, even if it’s falling apart. All of these nuances in Polly’s character development make her far more complex and interesting. While she’s still Pollyanna’s (and the town’s) primary antagonist, she is not truly a villain.

Kevin: This is all completely true. I was being critical of wealth and status, and how they can have negative outcomes. They can certainly be used for positive change as well, though. Polly is definitely not a villain, and the relationship between her and Pollyanna is not one of true protagonist vs. antagonist. The two are direct foils and yet are more alike than they initially realize. Polly acknowledges that she wasn’t providing Pollyanna the love she needed, but that didn’t mean Polly didn’t love her niece. Her actions with Pollyanna show her compassionate side, even if it appears masked. An example is when she insists on buying Pollyanna new clothes. She says this is to make Pollyanna “look like [a Harrington].” At first this could be interpreted as her wanting to make Pollyanna more socially presentable (which is not inherently a bad thing at all), but I take this more as her way of doing something good for her niece. She wants what is best for Pollyanna and does so in a way she understands. It should be mentioned that this comes after Pollyanna asked to kiss her aunt goodnight. The takeaway here is that Polly allows it, if even reluctantly. If she were so bitter as the townspeople believe, would Polly have welcomed this sort of affection? It’s true that her actions sometimes seem contradictory, but they are explained by her past, as Megan mentioned. Ultimately, Polly accompanies Pollyanna on the train to be with her during the surgery, because Polly knows that her niece needs her the most right now. She can leave Harrington and its people to take care of things while she’s gone because she and Pollyanna have both changed the town for the better.

Why won’t Polly let Pollyanna talk about her father? I have a theory…

Megan: While we’re on the subject of Polly, I found it odd on this viewing that Polly is so insistent that Pollyanna not quote things her father used to say. As a kid I remember thinking Polly said this just because it was annoying, but now I think it runs deeper than that. I mean think about it—you take in your niece who’s just lost both her parents and must still be grieving their deaths. Why would you tell her she can’t talk about her father ever again? That seems like the exact opposite way to comfort someone grieving such a traumatic loss. As I watched the movie this time around, I paid close attention to all the times Polly tells Pollyanna not to talk about her father, and now I have a theory. Judging from Polly and Pollyanna’s different last names, Pollyanna’s mother and Polly were sisters. From this deduction, it’s easy to guess that Polly’s sister, a woman in a wealthy, well-to-do family, who could have had the life we see Polly has now, might not have been celebrated or approved of for marrying a poor minister like Pollyanna’s father. If you go back and watch the film, you’ll notice that when Polly tells Pollyanna not to quote her father, it is usually in context of a conversation that reveals how poor Pollyanna’s family was in contrast to Polly’s wealth. I imagine Polly disliked her sister’s husband for his inability to give her sister the life Polly felt she deserved (i.e., a life of wealth), regardless of what made her sister happy. For Polly, I imagine hearing about Pollyanna growing up poor brings up feelings of resentment and perhaps grief for the sister she almost never got to see because her sister was constantly on far-off missionary trips with her husband. While she’s taken in Pollyanna perhaps as a way to honor her sister, it’s probably hard for her to hear about how much Pollyanna loved her father when, in Polly’s eyes, he’s the reason she lost her sister, even before she died. This whole thing is very subtle in the writing and the acting, but I find it really humanizes Polly and made me appreciate her character in a new way.

Whose story is this, really?

Megan: While Pollyanna follows the typical “stranger comes to town” story structure, it’s hard to definitively say this is Pollyanna’s story. While we see things mostly through her perspective, Pollyanna doesn’t have quite the pivotal change we expect to see in a protagonist. Sure, externally she starts the story perfectly healthy and ends needing surgery, but internally her story ends the way it began—she’s still boundlessly optimistic, even if that optimism was strongly tested by her injury. In fact, you might argue that literally every person in town has been changed by the end of the film—except Pollyanna. Mrs. Snow goes from cantankerous to caring (if still a little begrudgingly so), Mr. Pendergast goes from cranky and lonely old man to a joyful guardian of Jimmy, Jimmy goes from mischievous orphan to enterprising adoptive son, and the list goes on! Reverend Ford, Angelica, Mrs. Lagerlof, George, Nancy, Dr. Chilton, and especially Polly. While the description of the film on Disney+ (seen in the image at the top of this post) seems to imply that perhaps Polly is meant to be the protagonist of this film, I’d argue that the film is really telling the story of an entire town, making Harrington Town the protagonist of this film.

Kevin: Megan hit the nail on the head: this is the story of the town of Harrington. The phrase “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar” really rings true here (while I get the sentiment, though, the usage of flies always seemed a little weird to me). Pollyanna’s boundless optimism takes time to win over some folks, several of whom are put off by it. At first, another phrase comes to mind (“no good deed goes unpunished”) when Pollyanna is injured as result of something she wanted to do for a good cause. But that second phrase is rendered wrong in relation to this film since the recipients of her good deeds decide to pay it back. Even when Pollyanna is at her lowest, her gladness is reciprocated and she’s able to renew her spirit in spite of her injury. If there’s anything that shows that this story is about the town coming together and changing for the better, just look at the shot when all those citizens are gathered in Polly’s house, or the new sign the townspeople put up, christening their home as “The Glad Town.”

A story unresolved?

Megan: So this is a small thing, but ever since I watched this movie as a kid I’ve always felt that the movie ends a bit too quickly without a full resolution. Yes, we see what happens to all the side characters what with Polly and Dr. Chilton being brought together, Nancy and George getting engaged, Mrs. Snow clearly not as near her deathbed as she thought, Jimmy being adopted by Mr. Pendergast… But what happens to Pollyanna?! The doctor said it was a very dangerous procedure, and he didn’t like her odds if she went into it depressed—and time was of the essence! My screenwriting instructor keeps reminding us in movies to “enter late and leave early” so perhaps that is this film’s way of “leaving early,” but gosh darn it I want to know what happens! I’m also wondering if that unresolved feeling is perhaps because Pollyanna’s accident feels like a very late “all is lost” beat with a little “dark night of the soul” thrown in. We expect to hit those beats earlier when it seems like the bazaar can’t go on as planned without Polly’s approval, but Pollyanna isn’t nearly as emotionally invested in those moments of the film, so perhaps that is why her accident feels more like her personal “all is lost” and “dark night of the soul.” Any other screenwriters or Save the Cat fans want to weigh in here?

Verdict

Megan: 7

Kevin: 7

Final Score: 7

What were some of your takeaways from Pollyanna? If you’ve read the novel, how do you think it compares? Please share with us below!

Ways to Watch

Disney Plus

Amazon Digital Video

DVD