How would you have done the series?

I agree with a lot of what you say.

AoGG was pretty much perfect. It's been so long since I've read the books that I'm struggling to remember major plot points form AoA. I think you have to keep some portions of AoA in there because Anne is too young at the end of AoGG to flow right into Anne of the Island. AotI was one of my favorite, if not the favorite, book of the series. And I agree with ending with Anne and Gil's marriage. I don't really feel the need to go into Anne being a mother and I certainly wouldn't need to see adaptations of the books that deal with her children. They felt separate from the series and didn't fit well with the early books.

You asked how we would have done the series. I've said it on here before, but what I would do is make it a TV series that is pretty faithful to the books. In a TV series, you can explore lots more of the book that you can't in a 2 hour movie. You would have to cast the show well. It wouldn't have to be name actors, but it would need to have actors that could win your heart (at least for the main characters).

I know a lot of people would say that such a TV series couldn't survive in today's world, but I look at a show like Heartland and see that it does quite well. An Anne TV series could be done like that. Shot in Canada, on location, single camera. It would have to have beautiful scenery. It could air in Canada and the US. In the US it would probably need to be on a cable network like Hallmark or something similar.

The third movie is not great, but it isn't terrible. As time has gone on, I kinda like it now.

I'm not familiar with the books, but I think mister Sullivan did an outstanding job of really exploiting the visuals of north east Canada, and he had a top notch cast and crew.

The actors, the sets, the costumes, the props, the locations ... it's a dazzling period film to look at. It's simple and rich in visuals, with some heart warming themes.

Eh ... to really get the time periods and transitions right you'd have to shoot several different actresses as Anne, or cast someone younger and then film her as she grew up. Neither is very appealing. I think they nailed it with miss Follows in the role.

I can't think of anything I'd change.

I agree with most of this. The second movie could/should have been a combination of the next two books. I would have liked to see more of the quiet romance between Fred and Diana developing, and although I'm not crazy about the Keith twins or Paul Irving, I think I would have liked to see more of her country teacher days. I think the romantic feelings she developed for Gilbert would have made more sense had he actually been in the second half of the sequel a little more, too, and I missed the college years. I definitely think that there was enough material in Windy Poplars for a third movie.

Honestly I would have liked to see more of the books on screen, too. Rilla of Ingleside is one of my favorites.

I would have liked to have seen Gilbert break up with Christine. Her reaction would have been interesting.