The Secret Garden

"Colin: Are you making this Magic? Mary: No. You are."

- The Secret Garden 1993 movie, which really sums it all up.

First published in 1911, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a children's novel and has since been adapted into several television and movie versions, as well as a musical and an anime series.

The central narrative follows a young girl named Mary Lennox, who, at the beginning of the story, has been raised entirely by servants in India; her neglectful parents are too self-absorbed to even notice her, and she's grown into a major Spoiled Brat. When a freak accident -- originally a cholera epidemic but an earthquake in some adaptations -- orphans her, she is sent off to England to live with her reclusive, mysterious uncle, Archibald Craven. Little does anybody know that her presence will transform the place, and it, in turn, will transform her.

The book is in the Public Domain and available for legal download. There is even a free Audiobook available at Librivox.


 * The Secret Garden (1919), starring Lila Lee.
 * Very little is known about this film, as it's thought to be lost.
 * The Secret Garden (1949), starring Margaret O'Brien (whom you'll recall as Beth from the Little Women first film).
 * Interestingly, this film was done mostly in black-and-white, but made use of Technicolor for the garden segments, in a move similar to The Wizard of Oz.
 * The Secret Garden (1975), a TV series starring Sarah Hollis Andrews.
 * This series remained extremely faithful to the source material, and kept most of the characters and plot threads that other adaptations tend to excise, most prominently Susan Sowerby and her children.
 * The Secret Garden (1987), an episode of the Hallmark Hall of Fame TV series starring Gennie James.
 * Notorious because, in a twist that no other version has,
 * The Secret Garden (1991), a musical version that premiered on Broadway.
 * This version placed more emphasis on the adults, with much of the plot being narrated by a ghostly chorus of "Dreamers". It also expands the plot considerably, up to adding in a primary conflict in the form of Archibald Craven's brother Dr. Neville Craven, who was in a love triangle with his own brother and Lillias, and is charged with both keeping Colin healthy and keeping the estate in order while Archibald is away.
 * Himitsu no Hanazono (1992-1993), an anime series starring Mina Tominaga as Mary as well as several other well known seiyuu.
 * Like the musical version it expands the story quite a bit, focusing a lot on four elements: the Sowerby family (and not only Susan, but also her youngest kids); Lillias Craven's personality and her influence around those who surrounded her; Colin's notoriously frailer-than-in-other-adaptations health, and his long and difficult way to physical recovery with Dickon and Mary's help; and the Canon Foreigners Camilla (a Roma young woman who acts as Mary's Cool Big Sis ), and Maximilian "Max" Hawkins (an accountant who used to work for the Cravens )
 * Not to be confused with Himitsu no Hanazono, a Japanese comedy.
 * The Secret Garden (1993), starring Kate Maberly and directed by Agniezska Holland.
 * This and the 1987 version are probably the most well-known. The film features excellent cinematography, a haunting mood, and Maggie Smith in the role of Mrs. Medlock.


 * Arc Words: "The Magic" and "I shall live for ever and ever!"
 * Berserk Button: Colin hates when people look at him.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Martha gives off this vibe. Mary once considers slapping her like she did to her servants in India, but thinks better of it because Martha "seemed like she might slap back".
 * Big Fancy House: Misselthwaite Manor.
 * Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Mary, Colin and Dickon. They also form a Two Guys and a Girl Power Trio.
 * British Accents: The original book features a number of them, ranging from Yorkshire to RP. The various adaptations tend to be hit and miss with regards to accurately conveying the required accents.
 * The Caretaker: Mrs. Medlock, who in the 1993 and animated version takes it to a Knight Templar extreme.
 * Character Development: Mary and Colin gradually become less spoiled and selfish and learn to care for other people.
 * Children Are Innocent: Despite the general demeanor of the story's two leads, it still manages to play this one straight.
 * Coming of Age Story: For both Colin and Mary.
 * The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Practically the Aesop.
 * Cool Big Sis: Martha, to Mary as well as literally for Dickon.
 * Crusty Caretaker
 * Culture Clash
 * Death by Childbirth: Oh, Lillias. Falling off a tree when pregnant didn't really help, either.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: Mary.
 * Fish Out of Water: Mary, who travels from British-occupied India to England.
 * Foil: Colin to Mary -- it is through him that the beginnings of her growth are emphasized and encouraged. In fact, to begin with, he's practically her Shadow Archetype.
 * Follow the White Rabbit: By following a robin, Mary finds the key to the secret garden.
 * Friendless Background: Both Mary and Colin.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Dickon.
 * Funetik Aksent: The Yorkshire accents, which Mary thinks is a different language at first.
 * Hair of Gold: Mary, though at first it's more like Hair of Stringy Ugly Yellow.
 * Ill Boy: Colin Craven, however there's nothing physically wrong with him, most of his illnesses are caused by hysterics and his morbid thoughts.
 * In Harmony with Nature: Dickon astounds even his own family with how happy he is on the moors and how well he gets along with animals. Of course, he trains Colin and Mary in his ways.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ben Weatherstaff, who believes that he and Mary are Not So Different.
 * Mary and Colin themselves. The difference is that they don't end the book that way.
 * The Lost Lenore: Lilias, the deceased owner of the titular garden, lost through Death by Childbirth.
 * Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Dickon serves as a male version of this for both Mary and Colin. Until he shows up, his sister Martha is a good Manic Pixie Dream Girl for Mary.
 * Meaningful Name: Archibald Craven is a weak, sickly hunchback.
 * Missing Mom: Mary might as well not have had a father for all she remembers him.
 * Nice to the Waiter: Mary used to hit her servants. Then, since they only wanted to keep her quiet and out of her mother's way, she did learn to manipulate them young.
 * Odd Friendship: Mary's friendship with Dickon.
 * Old Retainer
 * Parental Abandonment: Mary's parents died from a deadly plague, but even before that they were distant and didn't care much about her. Colin is distanced from Archibald and we all know what happened with Lillias.
 * The Power of Friendship
 * Public Domain Character: That's why there have been so many movie versions since 1994.
 * Spoiled Brats: Colin and Mary.
 * Team Mom: Mrs. Susan Sowerby, so very much. Strange she's not in the 1993 movie.
 * There Are No Therapists: Physical or otherwise. Good thing they don't need them.
 * Not that Colin wanted them around anyway.
 * Woman in White: Mary. Colin's father finds black too much for a child, and this is the only alternative, since she is in mourning for her mother.
 * World Tree: The eponymous garden might as well be this.


 * Adaptation Distillation: The 1993 movie takes every event from the first half or so of the book (taking place over months) and jams them all together to take place in a matter of days or weeks, removing some character depth and growth in the process. Of course, this being a film, the time line is a bit fuzzy.
 * Break the Cutie: In the anime version, were horribly broken in their backstories, which also  Not to mention, we get to see exactly how badly
 * Break the Haughty: In the 1993 version, Mrs. Medlock,.
 * British Accents: The original book features a number of them, ranging from Yorkshire to RP. The various adaptations tend to be hit and miss with regards to accurately conveying the required accents.
 * The Caretaker: Mrs. Medlock, who in the 1993 version takes it to a Knight Templar extreme.
 * Death by Adaptation:, in the 1987 film version.
 * Driven to Suicide: In the anime,
 * Ill Boy: Colin Craven, especially in the anime series
 * Love Hurts: In the anime, and how. Not only Archibald almost crossed the Despair Event Horizon when Lillias died, but
 * May-December Romance: In the anime series it's all but stated that Lillias was much younger than Archibald, yet they still adored each other.
 * Missing Mom: Mary might as well not have had a father for all she remembers him. OTOH, she does think of her mom.
 * The 1993 movie plays this aspect way up for both Colin and Mary.
 * Also very cranked up in the anime series, where Colin's mom Lillias is painted as The Messiah and things got worse in the manor immediately after she died. Also, at the start Mary is seen singing a song and then thinking of both her mother and her nanny, but not about her dad.
 * Motifs:
 * The 1987 film particularly likes Flower Motifs.
 * The 1993 film likes playing with these.
 * Names to Know in Anime: The anime series had several very well known seiyuu: Mina Tominaga as Mary, Chika Sakamoto as Martha, Mayumi Tanaka as Dickon, Minami Takayama as Colin, Akio Ohtsuka as the Canon Foreigner Hawkins, and You Inoue as Camilla.
 * Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Mary, rather jarringly, has a Texan American accent in the 1987 version. Occasionally she can be heard trying for a British accent, but it just doesn't work. There's also that one scene where she attempts a Yorkshire accent...
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In the Broadway Recording, you can tell that the actors tried really hard with their Yorkshire and RP accents, but they're still pretty cringe-worthy.
 * Rain, Rain, Go Away
 * Single-Minded Twins: Dickon and Martha's youngest siblings in the anime series.
 * Subtext: The 1993 film plays with this, particularly as it applies to the relationships between the three children in the story.
 * Symbol Motif Clothing: Mary is often given dresses that have floral patterns.
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Camilla from the anime series.
 * Too Good for This Sinful Earth: The 1987 Hallmark adaptation invoked this
 * And Lillias, in the anime series.
 * Woman in White: Mary. As mentioned above, Colin's father finds black too much for a child, and this is the only alternative, since she is in mourning for her mother.
 * And in the 1993 film, Mary's mother in a Dream Sequence.
 * And in the musical, the entire ensemble of Dreamers are this.
 * Averted in the anime: Mary wears black at first, but later she puts on a light blue dress.