Product Details

• Actors: Jane Wyman, Hayley Mills, Richard Egan, Karl Malden, Nancy Olson
• Directors: David Swift
• Writers: David Swift, Eleanor H. Porter
• Producers: George Golitzen, Walt Disney
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: February 4, 1997
• Run Time: 134 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304285396
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,760 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming, wonderfully performed, BELIVEABLE film, September 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Pollyanna [VHS] (VHS Tape)

A vast improvement on the cutesy, blatantly unrealistic and cliched book on which it's based, the Disney film version of Pollyanna has a very charming feel to it. The talented cast are all great, and really make you believe in them and forget they're all stereotypes, unlike in the book, which was the total opposite. Jane Wyman is quite good as Aunt Polly, and so are Agnes Moorhead, Adolphe Menjou, and espicially Karl Malden. Hayley Mills more than holds her own, delivering a very calm, subtle, BELIEVABLE performance. It's really obvious that she's made such a difference in the town because she interacts so well and effectively with everyone and does it throughout the movie, instead of chatting her mouth off about nothing and thinking that every cold act of her aunt's is an expression of love, like in the book. She stays with each person just long enough to subtly get her point across, but her presence lingers. She deserved her special Academy Award; her performance is excellent, astonishing for a 14-year-old who had only done one other film. She continued to enchant audiences throughout the '60's in other Disney films, all of which (that I've seen) are good and deserving of her talent. There, I've said enough. Get the movie; it's wonderful.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Eternal Optimist, December 12, 2001

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pollyanna [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Pollyanna is a innocent spirit in a strict world ruled by adults who somehow lost the connection with their inner child early in life. She enjoys the moment and this irritates people until they learn that the way she sees life really does bring happiness to their own existence on the planet.

Adopted by her Aunt, she learns to live a new life after loosing her missionary parents in the British West Indies. Her father seems to have taught her how to deal with life and she often quotes something wonderful he has said. Of course, the grownups in the story don't understand her at all and tell her not to repeat the wisdom of her father. That in fact showed how out of touch they are with a child's delicate feelings.

Unshaken, Pollyanna is happy just to have her own room and still desires to see life in a positive way. She also gives everyone more than one chance to see the beauty in life. She becomes a ray of sunshine and a breath of fresh air in a stuffy town filled with grumpy lives. Yet, even Pollyanna gives up for a few minutes, then realizes what a responsibility she has to bring happiness to the lives of those she has learned to love.

Almost single handedly, she rallies the entire town to a good cause and helps to raise money for a new orphanage. Like a little angel, she touches each life she meets with a sweet innocence and creative flair.

Just as Pollyanna has changed so many lives for the better, her life takes a drastic turn for the worse. Even in the face of tragedy, what she does achieve is actually quite miraculous. The ending is spectacular and shows how love can really change the world you live in. You will not cry for the sadness of the situation, but more for the overwhelming realization of what one life can achieve.

Perfect for all ages and a much needed ray of light in our pessimistic world! After viewing this movie, you might start to see more good in life and in others. It is there if you find the time to look.

You will smile, laugh and cry.
Absolutely Charming!

~The Rebecca Review

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "What Do You Know? You're Nothing But a Child!", September 3, 2001

By 

Linda McDonnell "TutorGal" (Brooklyn, U.S.A) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pollyanna [VHS] (VHS Tape)

That's what crusty Adolphe Menjou snaps at Hayley Mills (Pollyanna), but even he is won over eventually by the indomitable orphan girl determined to bring the Glad Game to her new hometown. This town, like so many places really, is filled with unhappy people who have lost the ability to see that the life they've been given is full of blessings, that they have more to be glad of than they realize. Adolphe Menjou believes that everyone hates and fears him, Agnes Moorehead is a hypochondriac ruining her daughter's life, Karl Malden is a minister who can't preach anything but damnation, and Jane Wyman has stopped listening to her heart and only thinks of social status. These and others in the town are affected by Pollyanna's message of hope. Yet the biggest test of the Glad Game will be for Pollyanna herself, when she faces personal tragedy.
This is one of Disney's Americana classics, the sort that Main Street USA in Disneyworld is based on. It's a funny, cheerful movie that is filled with workman like performances by many solid Hollywood performers, most of whom are bound to be familiar to any viewer who's owned a TV during the last couple of decades. Hayley Mills does give an exceptional performance for a girl of only 14, chock full of insight and charisma.
Watch "Pollyanna" with the little boys and girls in your life--you'll all be "glad" you did!