This version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden takes the novel and eliminates all but the most crucial elements to make sure the story makes sense, but there is so much left out from the book that it takes away a lot of the magic. Rather than have the garden act as a magical entity in itself, it is more of an escape from the creepy dreariness of Misselthwaite Manor, a gigantic monstrosity of a mansion that does justice to the enormity of the one portrayed in the novel but is such a brooding and unpleasant place that the escape of it overshadows the magical curiosity that should be entailed by the garden. The film creates a great sense of atmosphere, with the long hallways and the tremendously and unnecessarily elaborate living quarters that Mary is placed in, and we see some wonderful things as Mary sneaks around to explore the mansion, although she really only goes into one room and then her explorations are over.<br /><br />Kate Maberly delivers a wonderful performance as Mary Lennox, the spoiled little girl who is sent to live with her uncle, the reclusive Lord Craven, when her parents die of cholera in India, an event which never seems to affect her since her parents were always too busy for her anyway. Mary doesn't seem to care too much where she is being moved to beyond the fact that it is such an inconvenience for her, and she soon has to face the fact that she is no longer going to be waited on hand and foot like she was by her Ayah in India. <br /><br />Heydon Prowse also gives a great performance as Colin Craven, the young boy who is so extraordinarily spoiled that he has become literally incapable of caring for himself or even standing up. The young actors in this film are much more impressive than young actors often are (this is the kind of actor that is most likely to be forgiven for a bad performance because they're so darn cute), each portraying wonderfully the characters as they are presented in the novel. Andrew Knott as Dickon is the other major example, perfectly portraying the magical young boy who has a way with animals.<br /><br />The thing that makes the movie not compare to the novel is that there are some important things from the book that are left out of this film version, some of which I can understand being done for time purposes but there are some things that just should have been put in, in one way or another. There is nothing, for example, about the exercises that Colin indirectly learns from Bob Haworth in order to strengthen his legs, there's nothing about Colin's plans to become a scientist and an explorer and a lecturer (this kid wanted to be Indiana Jones and they didn't even mention it in the movie!), we see nothing of Colin's extravagant plans for how he should present his newfound health and strength to his father, there's very little said about the Magic that all three of them have found in the garden, and even Dickon's entire family (which is enormous in size as well as significance to the story) is left out entirely. <br /><br />These are just a few of the things that I noticed to be missing, and I'm sure the list goes on. The story itself is also hugely simplified, but if you take into consideration a film adaptation of something like Frankenstein, you can see that this could have been a lot worse. The 1933 film version of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel covered maybe 3-5% of the novel, which completely changed the meaning of the story and transformed Frankenstein's monster (Frankenstein is, of course, not the monster, but you already know that because you've read the book, right?) from an enormously intelligent creature who only wants to fit in to the world that he has been placed in and into a hulking, thoughtless beast. In this case, this version of The Secret Garden could have been a lot worse, but on the other hand, it could also have been a lot better, hence my conflict.<br /><br />For the most part, the story is here, which is a good thing. We know that the garden once belonged to and was loved by Lord Craven's wife, and we know that she died giving birth to Colin which is why Lord Craven locked up the garden forever and can scarcely stand even to look at his crippled son, who he fears will turn out to be a hunchback like himself (although neither of them look like hunchbacks at any time during the film). We briefly see Mary's life in India and we see a heavily diluted version of the part where she realizes what has happened to her parents, and then she is moved to Misselthwaite. <br /><br />The movie diverts from the book almost immediately, but mostly when Mary goes to Misselthwaite Manor. She is urged to go outside and explore by the endlessly patient Martha, and almost immediately runs into the secret garden. The grounds are bitterly cold and it's almost uncomfortable watching this portion of the film, which reminds me of other uncomfortable but wonderful films like Buffalo '66 and Affliction, but this is the sort of thing that replaces the real magic in the book. Rather than find the garden as a truly magical place, it is an escape from the dreariness of the rest of Misselthwaite. The robin is an important part of the story and it is found in the movie, but thankfully it is not presented quite as much as in the book. This is one of the only things that is fortunately subdued a little bit, since in the book the robin goes through a mating period and there is actually one chapter late in the novel where the robin and his mate have a conversation about Dickon and his strange friends, whom they're not too sure about. <br /><br />There are certainly some things from the novel that are left out of the movie with good reason, such as this scene where the narrative goes into the thoughts of the robins, which can only be disorienting and awkward unless it was done much earlier in the novel (and even then it would not have fit too well with the rest of the story). The ham-handed delivery of the moral at the beginning of Chapter 17 is also left out with good reason, but then there are little things changed as well, such as the simplification of the plot which takes away from the magic of the story as a whole, and even smaller things, like the fact that the command that Mary teaches Colin to tell her servants that he is done with them is changed from `You have my permission to go,' in the novel, to `I have spoken, all depart,' in the book. <br /><br />Did you ever see Sphere? That bad science fiction movie from 1998 that was based on the Michael Crichton novel? They did something similar in that movie, changing some of the names of the characters for no apparent reason. I can never understand why they would do things like that when making books into movies. On the one hand, I can understand that there are some books that could be made a lot better with a little tweaking here and there, but The Secret Garden is a classic novel that, with a few tweaks here and there, is most likely to be changed into a movie that could have been a lot better with a few small changes. Or, as it were, without a few small changes. This movie is sure to entertain and delight its target audience, but it should not be taken in place of the novel, which is hugely superior.<br /><br />I have spoken. All depart.