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Pollyanna
AuthorEleanor H. Porter
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)Children's novel
PublisherL.C. Page
Publication date1913
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages310 pp
ISBNISBN 1-55748-660-3
Preceded by(none- first in series)
Followed byPollyanna Grows Up
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''Template {{}} needs its first parameter as beg[in], mid[dle], or end. Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, and was made by Disney into an equally endearing classic film (1960) staring child actress Hayley Mills—who won a special Oscar for reprising the role, and was thereby catapulted to stardom. The film production extended the reach of the book to tens of millions of non-readers.

The endearing orphaned (even "bewitching") character introduced is doomed to live with a stuffy sour but well-to-do aunt in a small New York town peopled by cheerless people—raised in the West Indies by a destitute but cheerful minister she almost always see's a bright side to a situation, or a way to improve things— through such observations and suggestions, she goes about naturally charming people and cheering up the gloomy denizens of Harrington.

The glad game
Her father bequeathed her an attitude in the form of a game— called the "glad game" that armors her against life's viscissitudes—in news and politics today the approach is frequently called 'spin'— the practice of putting a twist on a matter and presenting it in the best light, sometimes totally turned around. Pollyanna's father had mail ordered a doll for a Christmas present and what showed up was two crutches. Making the game up on the spot, he taught her look at the good side of things— to be "Glad for we don't need to use these".

Consequently, she became known as the "Glad Girl" for she's constantly remarking that I/he-she/they "am"/"should be"/"are so" glad that [fill in the blank] and providing a new perspective to the generally unhappy other characters—in effect spreading joy. In the storyline, Pollyanna finds herself at opposite sides of several town issues from her influential aunt Polly Harrington, whose family background one way or another provides employment or income for all in the small town.

In counterpoint, fourteen year old Pollyanna traipses around doing kid things teaching various unhappy people "The Glad Game", The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, the most recent of which, Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, appeared as recently as the mid-1990s.

The novel's influence

Despite mixed perceptions of its literary merit, the book and series have demonstrated remarkable popularity in both its era and in longevity. Pollyanna has proved to be both enduringly popular and, in unexpected ways, very influential.

"When look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will."—Abraham Lincoln —Inscription on Pollyanna's broach, a gift from her father.


Through the success of the book, the term "" (along with the adjective "pollyannaish" and the noun "Pollyannaism") entered the language to describe someone who is cheerfully optimistic and who always maintains a generous attitude toward the motives of other people. It then became by extension, in some contexts— and contrary to the spirit of the book— a derogatory term for a naïve optimist who always expects people to act decently, despite strong evidence to the contrary.

The word "pollyanna" may also denote a holiday gift exchange more typically known as Secret Santa. This term is used in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas of Pennsylvania. It can instead mean a gift exchange rotation in which several families each give gifts to one other family in the "pollyanna" each year. This is often done when siblings in a large family begin to have children of their own.[1]

Pollyanna is still available in reprint editions. At the height of her popularity, Pollyanna was known as "The Glad Girl", and Parker Brothers even created The Glad Game, a board game based on the book and character. The Glad Game, a type of Parcheesi, was made and sold from 1915 to 1967 in various versions, including: "Pollyanna - The Glad Game"; "Pollyanna - The Great Home Game"; "Pollyanna - Dixie"; and "Pollyanna". The board game was later licensed by Milton Bradley but has been discontinued for many years.

"Glad Clubs" appear to have been popular for awhile; however, it is questionable if they were ever more than a publicity gimmick. The Glad Clubs may have been simply a means to popularise the use of The Glad Game as a method for coping with loss, disappointment, and distress. Nevertheless, at least one "glad club" exists today, in Denver, Colorado. [1]

In 2002, the citizens of Littleton, New Hampshire unveiled a bronze statue in honour of Eleanor H. Porter, one of the town's most famous residents. The statue depicts a smiling Pollyanna, arms flung wide in greeting. Littleton also hosts a festival known as "The Official Pollyanna Glad Day" every summer.[2]

Plot introduction

Pollyanna tells the story of Pollyanna Whittier, a young girl who goes to live with her wealthy Aunt Polly after her father's death. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game": she always tries to find something to be glad about in every situation, and to always do without delay whatever she thinks is right. With this philosophy, and her own sunny personality, she brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited New England town that she transforms it into a pleasant, healthy place to live. Eventually, however, even Pollyanna's robust optimism is put to the test when she loses the use of her legs in an accident.

List of Pollyanna Books

The Glad Books

  • Porter, Eleanor H.
    Pollyanna: The First Glad Book
    Pollyanna Grows Up: The Second Glad Book
  • Smith, Harriet Lummis
    Pollyanna of the Orange Blossoms: The Third Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Jewels: The Fourth Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Debt of Honor: The Fifth Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Western Adventure: The Sixth Glad Book
  • Borton, Elizabeth
    Pollyanna in Hollywood: The Seventh Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Castle in Mexico: The Eighth Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Door to Happiness: The Ninth Glad Book
    Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe: The Tenth Glad Book
    Pollyanna and the Secret Mission: The Fourteenth Glad Book     [written out of sequence]
  • Chalmers, Margaret Piper
    ''Pollyanna's Protegee: The Eleventh Glad Book
  • Moffitt, Virginia May
    Pollyanna at Six Star Ranch: The Twelfth Glad Book
    Pollyanna of Magic Valley: The Thirteenth Glad Book

Further sequels:

  • Reece, Colleen L.
    Pollyanna Comes Home
    Pollyanna Plays the Game

Adaptations

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Pollyanna has been filmed several times. Most notably, there was a 1920 silent movie starring Mary Pickford, and a Walt Disney film released in 1960 starring English actress Hayley Mills in the title role, which made her a Hollywood star and led to a Disney contract. The 1960 film was shot at the McDonald Mansion (aka Mableton Mansion) on McDonald Avenue in what was then the small town of Santa Rosa, California.

There have also been several TV adaptations of the novel. The most recent, originally broadcast in 2003 on ITV, starred Georgina Terry as Pollyanna and Amanda Burton as Aunt Polly. Nippon Animation of Japan released Ai Shoujo Pollyanna Monogatari (The Story of Pollyanna, Girl of Love), a 51-episode anime TV series that made up the 1986 installment of the studio's World Masterpiece Theater, and had famous singer Mitsuko Horie playing the role of Pollyanna. There was also a modernized version with an African-American cast entitled Polly, which later had a sequel (Polly: Coming Home)

1960 film

The 1960 film was a major hit for the Disney Studios, and gave a tremendous boost to the career of Hayley Mills. It also marked the last film appearance of noted Hollywood actor Adolphe Menjou, who played the hermit-like Mr. Pendergast, who is eventually brought out of his shell by Pollyanna and her friend Jimmy.

The film was quite faithful to the novel, but one marked difference from the 1920 silent version with Mary Pickford was that in the Pickford film Pollyanna was paralyzed when she was hit by a car, while in the Disney film, the accident occurs because she is sneaking home from a local festival she has been forbidden to attend, and she falls when she tries to re-enter her room by climbing the tree outside her bedroom window.

Cast list

Enlarge picture
Jane Wyman and Hayley Mills starred in the 1960 film Pollyanna.

References in popular culture

  • In a song by The Kinks, "Pretty Polly"
  • In an episode of NPR's Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me, host Peter Sagal refers to Dick Cheney as being a "Pollyanna with a pacemaker".
  • Pollyanna principle
  • Polyanna is the second album by the band Northstar.
  • Paul Reubens, in the DVD commentary for Pee Wee's Big Adventure, stated that he originally intended Big Adventure to be a retelling of the Disney movie with his Pee Wee Herman character in the Hayley Mills role.
  • Pollyanna appears alongside Alice Liddell, as well as Dorothy Gale, Wendy Darling and Susan Pevensie, as a 2005 and 2006-based college student in the comic The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles, where she has decided to take up regular jogging. She is also currently unlucky regarding gaining employment.
  • In Sex and the City, Carrie refers to Charlotte as a "Park Avenue Pollyanna".
  • In Six Feet Under (Rainbow of her Reasons [5.6]), Keith nicknames David "Miss Pollyanna" after he offers a Playstation to his adopted kids so that they can have fun and enjoy themselves. "Everything is about fun with you", comments Keith.
  • In the second issue of the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Pollyanna appears as a character who has been "mishandled" by the Invisible Man. In spite of this, she still determines to remain upbeat. Pollyanna's appearance is at odds with internal chronology, considering LoEG occurs in 1898. Pollyanna was not born until 1901, being eleven in 1912.
  • In the recent commercial advertising campaign for the Texas Instruments DLP http://www.itsthemirrors.com televisions, the "Its the mirrors" scene is used. In fact, the line has been officially adopted as the tag line for the advertising campaign.
  • Alanis Morissette Has a song called "Pollyanna Flower"
  • Larry Tagg has a song "Oh, Pollyanna" off his "With a Skeleton Crew" album which he describes as "a bitter song"
  • Erma Bombeck once used the line "Oh, quit being such a Pollyanna" in her humor column.
  • In Sylvia Plath's novel The Bell Jar, a pleasant, cheery Midwestern farm girl is referred to repeatedly as "Pollyanna Cowgirl" by a more worldly friend.
  • "Pollyanna" is a song from the video game Mother and the tune is also a prevalent theme in its popular sequel EarthBound.

Notes

1. "Pollyanna" as a gift exchange discussed at Worldwidewords.org.
2. A description of the Pollyanna Glad Days and the Pollyanna sculpture in Littleton, New Hampshire.

See also

Three more children's classics that feature a young paraplegic who learns to walk again:

References

Further reading

  • Keith, Lois. Take Up Thy Bed and Walk: Death, Disability and Cure in Classic Fiction for Girls. Routledge: 2001.

External links

Eleanor Hodgman Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was an American novelist.

Born in Littleton, New Hampshire, Eleanor Hodgman trained as a singer but later turned to writing. In 1892 she married John Lyman Porter and moved to Massachusetts.
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English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
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Official language of: 53 countries
Regulated by: no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
ISO 639-2: eng
ISO 639-3: eng  
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Children's literature is a literary genre whose primary audience is children, although many books within the genre are also enjoyed by adults.

Basic characteristics

There are some debate as to what constitutes children's literature.
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Pollyanna Grows Up

Author Eleanor H. Porter
Illustrator H. Weston Taylor
Country United States
Language English
Series The Glad Books
Genre(s) Romance
Publisher The Page Company, Boston
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-1913- 1914 1915 1916  1917 .  1918 .  1919 .  1920  . 1921  . 1922  . 1923 

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Eleanor Hodgman Porter (December 19, 1868 – May 21, 1920) was an American novelist.

Born in Littleton, New Hampshire, Eleanor Hodgman trained as a singer but later turned to writing. In 1892 she married John Lyman Porter and moved to Massachusetts.
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Children's literature is a literary genre whose primary audience is children, although many books within the genre are also enjoyed by adults.

Basic characteristics

There are some debate as to what constitutes children's literature.
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The Walt Disney Company

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Founder Walt and Roy Disney
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Hayley Mills

Birth name Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills
Born March 18 1946 (1946--) (age 61)
London, England

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Pollyanna Grows Up

Author Eleanor H. Porter
Illustrator H. Weston Taylor
Country United States
Language English
Series The Glad Books
Genre(s) Romance
Publisher The Page Company, Boston
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For the person see Larry Stewart (philanthropist).


Secret Santa, sometimes referred to as Pollyanna, Kris Kindle or Kris Kringle, is a Christmas ritual involving a group of people exchanging anonymous gifts.
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The Glad Game is a game of optimism that the title character in the classic children's novel Pollyanna (1913) by Eleanor Hodgman Porter learned from her father. The goal of the Glad Game is to think of something good about a particular thing.
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Parcheesi is an American adaptation of the Indian Cross and Circle game Pachisi. The game is often subtitled Royal Game of India because Pachisi, created in India around 500 BC, utilized dancers as red, yellow, blue, and green pawns on palace grounds.
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