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An Avonlea Christmas, The Road To Avonlea Reunion Movie Review

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The King Family Is Reunited In This Heartwarming Film, An Avonlea Christmas

An Avonlea Christmas, also known as Happy Christmas Miss King, is a heartwarming drama, a family Christmas movie that centers on the reunion of the King Family at Christmas time. The setting is fictional Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, and the movie takes place in the period of World War I. An Avonlea Christmas is a follow-up movie to the very popular television series The Road to Avonlea. It takes off two years after when the series ended, providing a look at the lives of the characters in December of 1914.

An Avonlea Christmas is a tribute to the family matriarch of the King family, Hetty King. Miss King, often thought of as indomitable and intolerable, is forced to reevaluate what she has done in her life and her relationships with her family and friends. In doing so, she illustrates just how frail life can be and the importance of family. Fans of The Road To Avonlea shows will be pleased to know that almost all of the original cast returned as this Christmas movie stars Jackie Burroughs, Lally Cadeau, Mag Ruffman, Cedric Smith, Zachary Bennett, Molly Atkinson, Patricia Hamilton and Gema Zaprogna. This film originally aired on CBC television on December 13th, 1998.

Fans of Anne of Green Gables and the works of Lucy Maud Montgomery (L.M. Montgomery) will enjoy this movie, which is based loosely on the books by this beloved author. It is a moving family Christmas movie and is appropriate for all ages.

On This Page Dedicated To An Avonlea Christmas...

  1. A Bit More About The Road To Avonlea Television Series
  3. An Avonlea Christmas Setting in Uxbridge, Ontario
  4. Main Characters of An Avonlea Christmas
  5. Happy Christmas From The King Family
  6. An Avonlea Christmas Movie Review
  9. To Buy An Avonlea Christmas and A Wind At My Back Christmas, Two Great Family Movies
  10. A Bit More Reading About An Avonlea Christmas
  11. If You Enjoyed An Avonlea Christmas, You May Want To Read About And Watch A Wind At My Back Christmas
  12. More Of My Pages Related to Anne of Green Gables and/or L.M. Montgomery
  13. Have you ever heard of The Road To Avonlea? Are you a fan?
  14. You can create pages or lenses on Squidoo, too!

A Bit More About The Road To Avonlea Television Series

A Kevin Sullivan Production

Road to Avonlea was a television series set between 1907 and 1914 in fictional Avonlea that was shown in Canada and the United States between 1990 and 1996. It was created by Kevin Sullivan and produced by Sullivan Films with the CBC, Disney Channel, and Telefilm Canada. In the U.S., the series eventually became known as Avonlea and many parts of the series were renamed and reogranized. When the DVD of the series was released in the U.S., it was called Tales from Avonlea.

The show dealt with 11 year-old girl (Sarah Polley) being sent to live with two aunts and their relationships. Episodes made later in the series focused on the King family and Sarah Polley departed making only a few guest appearances in the last two seasons.

"If hearing the name "Avonlea" congers up good thoughts, then you will enjoy this DVD to the max." ~~ Harold Wolf 'Doc' Wells, IN United States

An Avonlea Christmas Setting in Uxbridge, Ontario

The Road to Avonlea and An Avonlea Christmas were filmed on a set in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. The town was created starting in the summer of 1989 on the former Robert Nesbitt farm lands using existing buildings. For instance, the house and the barn already on the property became the King farming buildings. All of the other buildings were fakes -- just fronts. Roads were painted red to look like the red soil of Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.). Actual scenes from P.E.I. were used where required. When the final season had been filmed, the set was demolished except for the original buildings.

Main Characters of An Avonlea Christmas

Jackie Burroughs, Lally Cadeau, Mag Ruffman, Cedric Smith, Zachary Bennett, Molly Atkinson, Patricia Hamilton and Gema Zaprogna

  • Hetty King (Jackie Burroughs) - Hetty is the stern, humourless schoolteacher and the matriarch of the King family.
  • Janet King (Lally Cadeau) - Janet is a loving and independent wife to Alec. She is mother to Felicity, Felix, Cecily and Daniel.
  • Olivia King (Mag Ruffman) - Olivia is the youngest of the King siblings. In the series she married Jasper Dale (who does not appear in An Avonlea Christmas.) In this movie she returns to Avonlea for Christmas with her children.
  • Alec King (Cedric Smith) - Alec is the farmer brother of Hetty and Olivia. He is the father to Felicity, Felix (who appears only briefly in this movie), Cecily and Daniel.
  • Felicity King (Gema Zamprogna) - Felicity is the oldest daughter of Alec and Janet. In An Avonlea Christmas, her husband Gus is away at war and she operates a foundling home. Gus does not appear in this movie.
  • Cecily King (Molly Atkinson in the movie) - The daughter of Alec and Janet, Cecily is the quiet, younger one.
  • Felix King (Zachary Bennett) - The oldest son of Janet and Alec, Felix's story is a central part of this show even though he appears only briefly.

Happy Christmas From The King Family

Here's a peek into this movie. If you love films like The Road To Avonlea and Anne of Green Gables, you are going to want to see An Avonlea Christmas.

 

Happy X-Mas
by sullivanmovies2 | video info

8 ratings | 6,666 views
curated content from YouTube

An Avonlea Christmas Movie Review

I enjoyed the movie; it was moving and at moments I fought off tears. Reviews that I read online were somewhat mixed. Some people were slightly disappointed with this production. Others, though, were glad to be reunited with some of the characters whom they had loved throughout the Road to Avonlea series. The biggest complaint, perhaps, was about the characters who were known and loved from the series who were missing from the movie.

Generally, I think there was a consensus that if you liked the shows, you will probably like the Christmas special and that having followed the series would be helpful in terms of explaining some of the points of the movie. I watched this movie before I watched The Road To Avonlea which is backwards, I know, although I had seen a couple of episodes many, many years ago when the show was being shown on television. I do not believe that seing the series first is a prerequisite if you love these kind of family movies.

This film is appropriate for all ages and definitely for any and all who love the Anne of Green Gables movies and The Road To Avonlea series. This is a family movie that is great for all generations to watch together!

Amazon Customer Review:

"This is pure Avonlea. A delightful feel-good warm ending Christmas story for the entire family. It is beautifully filmed with the old country look that we all wish for our own Christmas times.

It is a war story taking place on the home front as boys head to war, and only some return. It has a Scroogie old lady school teacher, who learns at Christmas time that love of family is available and worthwhile. There are other individual struggles but as in all good "G" rated stories, all's well that ends well.

If hearing the name "Avonlea" congers up good thoughts, then you will enjoy this DVD to the max."

~~ Harold Wolf "Doc"
Wells, IN United States



"Insider Tip ~~
It was July when we shot this movie, so our cheeks are only pink because we were hot! ~~ Mag Ruffman's website

To Buy An Avonlea Christmas and A Wind At My Back Christmas, Two Great Family Movies

Follow This Link To My eBay Store

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Click here to buy Wind At My Back
and An Avonlea Christmas.
$29.96 With Free U.S. Shipping

A Bit More Reading About An Avonlea Christmas

Kevin Sullivan interview
When I created a page about Kevin Sullivan on this website, I realized there was very little information about him available. I wanted to interview him and ask questions that had made me stumped for years. Then AvCon 2004 took place; and, later, Sullivan Entertainment organized an online Q&A session with him. Others were able to have questions answered. Since then, I've also had the chance to talk to him online and in person. Yet, my dream of conducting a proper interview with him remained... until now.
Sullivan Entertainment's Movie Library
The Sullivan Movie Library contains An Avonlea Christmas pictures.
A Visit to Avonlea
When actor Michael Mahonen (Gus Pike) offered to give me a tour of the Road to Avonlea set, he warned me that it was much more impressive when converted to celluloid. What Mr. Mahonen did not realize was that to a devoted Avonlea enthusiast like myself, the experience of viewing the set was an intimate thrill.
Happy Christmas, Miss King
A great site with only pictures from the movie, An Avonlea Christmas or Happy Christmas Miss King.

If You Enjoyed An Avonlea Christmas, You May Want To Read About And Watch A Wind At My Back Christmas

Another Kevin Sullivan Production

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More Of My Pages Related to Anne of Green Gables and/or L.M. Montgomery

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Have you ever heard of The Road To Avonlea? Are you a fan?

Please take a moment to stop in and say hello!

  • Maria May 11, 2012 @ 9:59 pm | delete
    Our family loves this series. Wonderfully produced with loving care and always had a lesson at the end. Great actors. Just beautiful! I wish more series could be produced like this show. I miss shows that touch your heart and soul.
  • favored1 Nov 10, 2011 @ 9:52 pm | delete
    Yes. The movies and programs are always heart warming and moving. There is a sweetness about them that seems to be lost in today's film making.
  • Susan52 Oct 31, 2009 @ 10:09 am | delete
    I haven't watched the series, but this sounds like a wonderful movie that I would really enjoy. Thank you for the great review lens!
  • Marjana Apr 26, 2009 @ 10:03 am | delete
    I came from a state in Europe and I fell in love with The Road to Avonlea. I like it sooooo much, that i couldnt stop watching it. This serial was never performed in my country, i saw it once on an italian program (which for me is a foreighn television) and now, after 10 years i could manage to download it. It%uFFFDs really great!
  • GypsyOwl Mar 5, 2009 @ 11:29 pm | delete
    Beautiful Lens Brenda! Welcome to the Holiday Shopping Cooperative :D
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