Disney Legend and master animator and Imagineer Marc Davis was not alone in characterizing Walt Disney as a “great optimist,” so it’s no surprise that Walt was drawn to Pollyanna, the book about the ultimate optimist written by Eleanor H. Porter. This charming story epitomizes the power of positive thinking in the person of Pollyanna Whittier, the 12-year-old orphan girl who changes the course of an entire town with her optimistic outlook. Not so incidentally, Walt’s lavish and heartwarming live-action film version of this famous book also introduced one of the imaginative impresario’s most important stars, Hayley Mills, as, in Walt’s words, “an unforgettable Pollyanna.”
Part of a line of sensitive dramas produced by Disney at the time, such as Old Yeller (1957), Tonka (1958) and Third Man on the Mountain (1959), Pollyanna offered something in addition to what was often described as “warm human drama” — delightful small-town Americana, delicious touches of humor and an unusually illustrious cast, all woven together with the distinctive Disney touch. Pollyanna can also be seen as Disney’s answer to Hollywood’s prestigious character-driven dramas. In 1960 alone, such star-studded dramatic films as The Apartment, Exodus and The Sundowners arrived in theaters, and Pollyanna was promoted as a Disney “prestige” picture very much in the same league (if not in choice of subject matter) as the high-status films of other Hollywood studios.
A favorite since its publication in 1913, Pollyanna was so popular it inspired a series of sequels, and in 1920 the book became a hit Hollywood movie with silent-film superstar Mary Pickford in one of her most beloved roles as Pollyanna. (Known as “America’s sweetheart,” Miss Pickford was also an avid fan of Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney.) In Pollyanna, Walt recognized a universal character that he planned to portray with as much of the “spice” of humor as the “sugar” of sunshiny thinking. “If [comedy] deals with human beings, it must draw on the common characteristics of humanity itself, well beyond any specialized traits of race and culture and habit,” Walt noted in a 1961 article on humor. “One of the prime examples of this is our live-action production Pollyanna. It carries incidents which create laughter and those incidents will be easily recognized by any race in the world because they concern a child, a 12-year-old girl. All children everywhere have certain characteristics which are common to them, no matter what their country of origin. Children [everywhere] find laughter in much the same things, and, correspondingly, adults everywhere recognize the common denominator of laughter — a child.”
Aside from the gladness of humor, the heart of Pollyanna‘s appeal was the “Glad Game,” or what Walt termed “a new and different philosophy.” The Glad Game is Pollyanna’s playful way of finding something to be glad about in every situation, a lighthearted approach to optimism and positive thinking that obviously appealed to Walt.
Perhaps feeing that this challenging subject — which clearly called for a deft handling of sentiment, drama and comedy — needed a fresh approach, Walt reached outside his Studio and welcomed aboard a newcomer who nevertheless knew the Disney approach. Walt selected former Disney animator David “Bud” Swift to both write and direct Pollyanna. After animating on such classics as Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), Swift became a writer-director in theater and TV, creating Mr. Peepers (1952-1955), a gentle and witty television comedy with an ensemble cast including Wally Cox, Marion Lorne, Jack Warden and Tony Randall. Well-versed in Disney storytelling, Swift was awarded this plum assignment after writing an extensive treatment. In directing his own screenplay, David’s artistic background enabled him to storyboard the entire film along with Disney sketch artist Dale Hennessey.
Published in 1960, the Pollyanna comic book told the story of the film in elaborate graphic-novel form, drawn by illustrator Nat Edson, who also adapted other Disney films, including Tonka and Toby Tyler, for comic books.
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Swift forever afterward expressed amazement at the handpicked dream cast he was given to make this important film. Proclaimed as “the finest cast ever assembled by Walt Disney,” the players who populate Pollyanna truly make up an all-star cast, each member of which etches a vivid cinematic characterization. Equally adept at comedy and drama, Jane Wyman was cast as Pollyanna’s wealthy Aunt Polly Harrington, who brooks no disagreements from anyone in the New England town she single-handedly rules. Winner of the Best Actress Oscar® for Johnny Belinda (1948), Jane would later be known to nighttime TV drama fans as Angela Channing, the manipulative matriarch of Falcon Crest. Karl Malden, acclaimed for his striking performances in such powerful films as On the Waterfront (1954), Fear Strikes Out (1957) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award, lent both humor and powerful dramatic punch to his performance as the fiery but weak-willed Rev. Ford. Veteran movie actor and Oscar-nominee Adolphe Menjou (this was his final film) played curmudgeonly Mr. Pendergast, and Agnes Moorehead, a multi-Oscar nominee celebrated for roles in Citizen Kane (1941), The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) and Johnny Belinda, among many other films, and was soon to be immortalized as Endora on the TV classic Bewitched (1964-1972), portrayed the persnickety hypochondriac Mrs. Snow. Nancy Olson (nominated for an Oscar for her supporting performance in the Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard, 1950), so winning as Aunt Polly’s maid Nancy, went on to play the beleaguered romantic interest for perpetually distracted Fred MacMurray in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). Known for roles in such diverse films as Forbidden Planet and Love Me Tender (both 1956), James Drury played Nancy’s beau George, and also appeared (along with Kevin Corcoran) in Walt Disney’s Toby Tyler, released in the same year as Pollyanna, and beginning in 1962, was the star of TV’s The Virginian. Also on hand were such character actors as Edward Platt, remembered as the sympathetic detective in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and as the Chief on the TV spy spoof Get Smart (1965-1970), and Reta Shaw as the cook Mrs. Lagerlof, who would go on to play the cook Mrs. Brill in Mary Poppins (1964). (At the Mary Poppins premiere, Reta laughingly pointed out that she always played cooks for Walt Disney.)
Despite the high-wattage star power, director-writer Swift made the point that there were no stereotypically spoiled-star temperaments involved. As an example, he recalled the always-in-demand Malden “came in two to three weeks prior to production and rehearsed his part without being paid.” David pointed out that each performer worked as a team member, striving to make each other and the overall film look good. “It’s called ensemble acting,” Swift noted, “and that’s very rare. It happens now and then in the theater, but rarely in films.” (Swift himself has a cameo role in the film, appearing as the firefighter who scolds Jimmy Bean.)
As outstanding as the rest of the cast was, the movie would rise or fall on the shoulders of whatever young girl was cast in the leading role — especially considering the part of Pollyanna called for someone who could balance the little optimist’s sweet outlook with a perky sense of mischief. Walt was well aware of the pitfalls of the title character’s reputation. “Today,” he observed with a twinkle in his eye, “to be called a Pollyanna is not entirely complimentary. It means somebody who is so everlastingly optimistic and sunny and cheerful that you can hardly stand it. Actually even the original Pollyanna didn’t go quite that far. And certainly our Pollyanna doesn’t… ” The casting of Pollyanna was obviously crucial, and more than 300 girls were auditioned without any one being cast. At the same time, Walt screened the British film Tiger Bay (1959) to see John Mills, whom he was considering for Swiss Family Robinson (1960), and encountered the remarkable performance of Mills’ daughter Hayley. Possessing an expressive face, natural emoting, an innate flair for the funny and more, Hayley was immediately signed to make her American film debut in Walt Disney’s Pollyanna.
The extraordinary young actress effortlessly wowed her well-established co-stars. “The funny thing about Hayley is that she doesn’t consciously try to steal scenes from other actors,” marveled Jane Wyman. “She just can’t help it.” Veteran actor and Academy Award-winner Donald Crisp observed the newcomer reminded him of a young Lillian Gish. Said Karl Malden: “She is the most relaxed actress I’ve ever known. You study for years to be able to relax in a part. Drama schools have whole courses on relaxing. Hayley just seems to be able to relax naturally, both between and during shooting. It’s a gift.” Noting Hayley’s vivacious personality and camera-friendly performance, director/writer Swift flatly stated: “Without Hayley, I don’t see how we could have made this film.”
Aside from the people of Pollyanna, there was the important matter of the setting they would populate. “This is more than a story of Pollyanna Whittier,” Walt said, ” it’s also the town of Harrington and the people who live there. Around the turn of the century towns like Harrington were fairly common — communities that were founded by, built by and controlled by one family. Nowadays we don’t see much of that, probably because progress just won’t stand for it. But in the case of Harrington there was another reason — and that was Pollyanna.” Swift and the Disney production crew made an extensive tour throughout the state of California looking for homes that would best portray the architecture prevalent in the eastern United States during the early 1900s, a search for, as David put it, “the grandeur of a small American town.” They decided on the ideal location of Santa Rosa where Alfred Hitchcock filmed his small-town suspense story Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Locals were used for extras but the real star was the home of Mrs. Juilliard McDonald, which is used as the stately residence of Aunt Polly. The McDonald home, now known as the both the McDonald mansion and the Mapleton mansion, is a two-story house occupying an entire square block in the center of town. Built in 1877 it is a replica of a Natchez, Mississippi, home that belonged to Mrs. McDonald’s in-laws before the Civil War. However, as the real house has only two stories, the third story was added via the visual wizardry of Peter Ellenshaw and his marvelous matte paintings.
The Pollyanna LP record album features dramatic selections from the film with narration by Kevin Corcoran. Also featured was the Pollyanna theme by veteran Disney composer and the composer of the film’s score Paul J. Smith with lyrics by writer-director David Swift and sung by Hayley Mills. The album also included an alternate version of the theme entitled “The Glad Game” with lyrics by Gil George (the pseudonym of the Disney Studios nurse Hazel George).
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Released on May 19, 1960, Pollyanna received some of the best reviews ever earned by a Disney picture. Publications such as Newsweek and Look glowed with praise, and Time opined, “The best live-actor movie Disney has ever made. A production that is approximately perfect!” “Yes, it is as wonderful as they say!” read some of the Disney ads, springing off the great reviews and reflecting the film’s status as a prestige production. Presaging the phrase later applied to Mary Poppins, the film was promoted as “Acclaimed by everyone everywhere … Walt Disney’s greatest motion picture entertainment!”
Unfortunately, Pollyanna did not perform spectacularly well at the box office; though he had been advised to change the title of the film (The Glad Game was one possible alternative), Walt stayed with the original but he later thought that Pollyanna may have sounded too sweet and consequently kept male audiences away. But the film was (and is) loved by those who saw it, especially Walt himself, who was moved to tears by the honest sentiment and beautiful emotions of the film. Most importantly, Pollyanna introduced a new “America’s sweetheart” in the person of young Hayley. This new Disney star was even celebrated (wearing her Pollyanna costume) on the cover of the June 13 1960 issue of Life magazine.
The ultimate legacy of the film is what Swift referred to “the main theme of Pollyanna… be glad for what God has given you.” “There’s an awful lot about Pollyanna that stuck with me,” revealed Hayley Mills, “that positive thinking creates good things in your life, it creates health in your body. It attracts love.” Walt Disney’s “Glad Girl” is perhaps best summed up in the lyrics from the “That’s Pollyanna” song composed by Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman for the film’s 1963 TV debut: “Little pixie face/ready to embrace/any kind of mischief/ angel, devil, both and more/That’s Pollyanna… There’s a Glad Game that she’d play/first she’d smile, then she’d say/ ‘Tomorrow is another day’/ That’s Pollyanna!”
By Jim Fanning
