MovieChat Forums > Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987) Discussion > 'Sound of Music' parallels

'Sound of Music' parallels

posted 17 years ago by threeoranges
8 replies | jump to latest

Has anyone else noticed these?

1) Katherine Brooke's insistence on using whistles to summon the children, who are lined up like the Von Trapp kids in Maria's first scene with them. Brooke even uses the phrase "Bedtimes and mealtimes are to be strictly observed", a virtual echo of Captain VT's "Bedtimes will be strictly observed"!
2) Anne literally "brings music" back into the Harris house by encouraging Emmeline to play the piano
3) The scene with Morgan's sister describes how Morgan's depression started when his first wife left - just like Captain VT's mood of gloom when his first wife died
4) When Anne opens her desk she finds a snake in there - remember, Maria finds a toad in her pocket and the housekeeper tells her, "You're very lucky: with Fraulein Helga it was a snake!"
5) Anne gets her own back on the girls later by telling them a story to make them cry - just like Maria makes the VT kids ashamed and crying at the dinner table
6) Anne has her "let's put on a show!" moment, much as Maria does with "the Lonely Goatherd"

I'm not accusing Kevin Sullivan of copying, of course... Just inspiration :)

[–] rorystevens 17 years ago

Yes, I've noticed that, too! And Anne almost develops a relationship with Morgan Harris, just as Maria develops a relationship with Captain VT.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] sinip-1 15 years ago

I came to this board to see if anyone else has noticed the similarities. In addition to the scene where children line up, the struggles Anne experience with children during her first day as teacher, have also so many other parallels with Sound of Music that it was distracting even when I saw it first time. I watched now this movie after many years and noticed one other similar scene, too. When Anne leaves Diana's pre-wedding party, she starts dancing by herself and Gil who has followed her, is watching her from distance. This reminds the scene in Sound of Music when Liesl is dancing by herself in the garden during the ball and what follows after that.

Anyway, I've never read the books, so I don't know if it's actually Sound of Music that is copying Anne of Avonlea, or vice versa.

[–] threeoranges 15 years ago

Oh, good one! Yes!

I haven't read ANNE OF AVONLEA, but I'll bet SOUND OF MUSIC came first: from what I've heard, the ANNE sequel was "loosely" based on the originals.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Luanna255 15 years ago

Other parallels:

When Anne and Gilbert are dancing, she suddenly breaks away, saying "I must have feet of lead". Similarly, when Maria is dancing with Captain Von Trapp, she breaks away and says "I don't remember any more [of the steps]". The Anne and Gilbert scene is not in the books.

Also when it starts raining and Anne and Gilbert run into this pagoda-thingy (which, I'm sure, has a proper name other than "pagoda-thingy", but I don't know it, LOL). Exactly the same as with Liesl and Rolfe, right before "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen". Again, the Anne and Gilbert scene is not in the books.

As for the previously mentioned parallels, Katherine Brooke never used whistles for the children, though she was an extremely strict teacher, and the whole plot with Morgan and Emmeline Harris was not in the books at all.

Anne does not, in the books, get back at the girls by making them cry, either. She gets the Pringles on her side through an entirely different plotline.

The scene with the snake is, however, in Anne of Avonlea, except that it was Anthony Pye who put it in Anne's desk, rather than Jen Pringle, who doesn't appears until Book 4, Anne of Windy Poplars.

The play about Mary, Queen of Scots is in Anne of Windy Poplars, but it is not noticably like Maria's puppet show except for both being, well, shows.

In the cases where the scenes are in the books, the books came first; the Anne books were published during the teens, 20's, and 30's, while The Sound of Music is based on the true story of the Von Trapp family during the 1940's (WWII). In the cases where the scenes are not in the book, it's possible Kevin Sullivan was copying The Sound of Music.

[–] fireseeker4him 14 years ago

Having just watched this movie yesterday, and being a huge fan of the Sound of Music, I did notice the first three parallels that you stated. However, I never put them all together as being "inspiration for the movie." But kudos to you for putting it all together!

Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing.

[–] nicoledesapio 7 years ago

Yes, I noticed a SOUND OF MUSIC parallel with Anne lining the girls up at school, and dismissing them by blowing the whistle.