Leslie Burke is the new girl in school. She moves to the farm next to Jess Aarons and soon becomes his best friend. Her parents are city folks trying to reassess their values. Miss Edmunds (Annette O'Toole) is their teacher.
This is the Canadian TV movie predecessor to the Hollywood big budget movie in 2007. The kids seem to be mostly amateurs. I wouldn't be surprised if they simply grabbed a bunch of child performers out of the local theaters. The only big name is O'Toole who has a supporting role. This is inferior in every way to the 2007 film except for one important aspect. It is the important aspect which caused some controversy when it came out. Parents were shocked by the twist and complained about scarring their little kids. The 2007 film was sold as a magical fun kiddie journey so complaining about the shocking twist is not unwarranted. That's not happening in this movie. The low budget darker production is setting up the expectation of the PBS viewers. The twist is unforeseeable but the audience is more willing to accept the kiddies learning an adult lesson when it's done this way.
This is the Canadian TV movie predecessor to the Hollywood big budget movie in 2007. The kids seem to be mostly amateurs. I wouldn't be surprised if they simply grabbed a bunch of child performers out of the local theaters. The only big name is O'Toole who has a supporting role. This is inferior in every way to the 2007 film except for one important aspect. It is the important aspect which caused some controversy when it came out. Parents were shocked by the twist and complained about scarring their little kids. The 2007 film was sold as a magical fun kiddie journey so complaining about the shocking twist is not unwarranted. That's not happening in this movie. The low budget darker production is setting up the expectation of the PBS viewers. The twist is unforeseeable but the audience is more willing to accept the kiddies learning an adult lesson when it's done this way.