I'm a Brit and had never seen this Canadian classic. Its not one that I've ever seen on TV here. I was glad I did because it is a faithful version of the novel and is totally wholesome and charming. It is like our version of the Railway Children. Great family with timeless messages to be watched time and time again on Sundays and at holidays. The girl who plays Anne does an incredible job at carrying the entire 4 hours as well as the 4 hour sequel which aired in 1987 which covers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Anne novels. I watched Anne with an E before this and that was also wonderful for the first season which follows very closely the first half of the first Anne novel, but unfortunately it started to diverge from season 2 and the writing quality went down and felt overly padded out. But the first season of Anne with an E spends much more time than the 1985 film so I recommend watching the first season of Anne with an E as well this 1985 version and the 1987 version for a faithful account of the first 4 books in the Anne series (the books in which she is the main character, the following books she takes a back role).