One of our very favourite, most magical childhood movies has been remade

The sullen and misunderstood Mary Lennox, her cousin Colin and newfound friend Dicken (titter) loomed large in many a child’s early years.

The Secret Garden

Many of those children are now very grown-up and will either be very, very happy or very, very upset that movie that brought Frances Hodgson Burnett’s evocative tale – The Secret Garden – to our screens has been remade.

There are a few versions of The Secret Garden – one made in 1975, one made in 1987 and one in 1993. The latest remake (of a remake, of a remake) stars Julie Walters and Colin Firth, and the producer behind the excellent Harry Potter and Paddington flicks is bringing it to life.

It looks dark and magical and moody, which is really what much of the story embodies. A sort of Jane Eyre meets The Famous Five meets The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe … set against the backdrop of a very pretty and very magical and very complicated garden.

But it’s also veering off in a different direction to the books and previous screen adaptations.

Missing the point?

In fact, this new version features CGI magic, which is upsetting some fans of the OGs. 

“I just knew it would be a CGI f**kfest,” someone wrote under the trailer on YouTube. “The 93 version still holds up really well. A remake no one asked for.”

“The 1993 original did a good job adapting this to the big screen already. Needless remake,” another person agreed.

“This is a mess 1. The lil girl is an orphan, but recently, and her family had money. She was never in an orphanage 2. She’s supposed to be a horrible brat. 3. The garden isn’t supposed to literally be magic – It’s a metaphor,” an upset The Secret Garden fan clarified.

“Why did the writer/producers feel the need to put in magic-magic? The magic was of reality, of seeds turning into flowers with time, of little poorly boys getting exercise and thus growing stronger. Not of magical limb-growing trees,” another commenter concurred. #truth

“Kind of cool”

But some The Secret Garden fans were quite interested in this new interpretation.

“It’s kind of cool that Colin Firth is cast as Lord Craven. He played grown up Colin in the ’87 version. I didn’t like that one as much as the ’93 one though,” one wrote.

“AMAZING ! Can’t wait ! Love this story,” another fan wrote.

“These visuals look great but I still remember watching the garden blooming scene. They sped up the footage of all the flowers popping out and I was in awe!” someone else reminisced.

The new The Secret Garden is due to hit cinemas on 17 April, 2020