Little Miss Sunshine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Aunt Polly

Aunt Polly is one of the last of the town's residents to succumb to Pollyanna's unbounded optimism, but she does eventually do so. Pollyanna's father taught her early in life that it was always possible to find some good aspect to any thing or person, however difficult it may seem at first. Her cheerfulness is so infectious that the atmosphere of the entire town of Beldingsville changes, and the grateful residents help Pollyanna cope with an accident in which she loses the use of her legs. Don't worry, her optimism is justified: she learns to walk again, and Aunt Polly marries her lost love.

Auntie Em is from 'The Wizard of Oz', Aunt Agatha from P. G Wodehouse's stories about Bertie Wooster, and Aunt Petunia belongs to Harry Potter.

Answer: The Glad Books

Eleanor H. Porter wrote 'Pollyanna', later retitled 'Pollyanna: The First Glad Book', and the first sequel, 'Pollyanna Grows Up' (1915), again retitled as the second Glad Book. After her death, the publishers were reluctant to terminate the phenomenally successful series, so they turned to other authors. Harriet Lummis wrote books three through six; Elizabeth Burton books seven through ten and fourteen (a number allocated after subsequent sequels appeared which fit chronologically between 'Pollyanna's Golden Horseshoe' and 'Pollyanna and the Secret Mission'); Margaret Piper Chalmers book eleven; and Virginia May Moffitt books twelve and thirteen. Two later books by Colleen L. Reece, from the 1990s, do not include themselves in the Glad Books series.

Answer: Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin wrote the lyrics, and his brother George wrote the music, to the song 'But Not For Me', as part of their musical 'Girl Crazy'. It was sung in the original production by Ginger Rogers. In 1934, Judy Garland sang it in the movie of 'Girl Crazy', and it has been included in a number of other movies, including 'Manhattan' (1979), 'When Harry Met Sally' (1989) and 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' (1994). It has also been recorded by a large number of singers. The lyrics that include the word Pollyanna are in the introduction, which is frequently omitted:
"I never want to hear from any cheerful Pollyannas
Who tell you fate
Supplies a mate -
That's all bananas!"

The song then goes on to the more familiar lines:
"They're writing songs of love, but not for me.
A lucky star's above, but not for me."

Answer: Parker Brothers

'The Glad Game' was a game of the Pachisi-Ludo family of board games. Players rolled dice and moved pieces from their starting position to a safe destination, running the risk of being sent back to the start by opponents along the way. 'The Glad Game' included a feature called turnouts - little tracks to the side of the main pathway, on which pieces cannot be captured. Each of the four colors of pieces was associated with one of the characters in the novel: blue was Aunt Polly, green was Nancy, red was Jimmy and yellow was John Pendleton. The associations changed with subsequent versions, which included 'Pollyanna - The Great Home Game'; 'Pollyanna - Dixie'; and 'Pollyanna'. The game was later licensed to Milton Bradley, but hasn't been produced since the 1960s.

In case you were wondering, Parker Brothers (founded in 1883) was the only one of the companies listed that existed in 1915 when this game was first produced. Hasbro was founded in 1923, Lego during the 1930s, and Mattel in 1945.

Answer: United Artists

The four artists, along with lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo, set up United Artists to gain some measure of control over their careers, rather than being controlled by the big studios. Each was expected to produce five films a year, a target which soon proved unrealistic. Mary Pickford's first contribution was the lead role on 'Pollyanna', a silent film which mixed elements of melodrama (starting with Pollyanna comforting her dying father) and elements of comedy (many related to the orphan Jimmy who is hiding in Aunt Polly's cellar) to produce a tearjerker. Mary Pickford was 27 when she played the 12-year old Pollyanna.

Answer: Hayley Mills

After seeing Hayley Mills in her first film, 'Tiger Bay' (1959), Lillian Disney suggested that she would be right for the part of Pollyanna, and Hayley Mills became a star, winning a special Academy Juvenile Award (Juvenile Oscar) for the performance.

In this film, Pollyanna's temporary paralysis was caused by a fall from her attic window, rather than through being hit by a car as she saved a small girl. There are also a number of other significant points of difference between it and the original book, as the plot and characters were recast in the Disney mold. Hayley Mills made another five films for Disney, including 'The Parent Trap' (1961) in which she played twins trying to reunite their divorced parents.

While she was under contract to Disney, she also made a number of other movies, but turned down the chance to play the lead role in 'Lolita' because Disney felt it was not appropriate for the family-friendly image of his star.

Answer: Beldingsville was in England, not Vermont

Aside from moving the setting across the Atlantic, this film was quite close to the original book in its details. It starred Amanda Burton (who played Beth Glover in 'Peak Practice' from 1993 to 1995 and Sam Ryan in 'Silent Witness' between 1996 and 2004) as Aunt Polly and 12-year-old Georgina Terry as Pollyanna.

The movie ended with Pollyanna attending the wedding of Aunt Polly and Dr. Chilton.

Answer: Anime

'Pollyanna' (to keep it short) was an anime of 51 episodes produced in 1986 as part of the studio's project called 'World Masterpiece Theatre', which has also included anime of such English-language classics as 'Tom Sawyer' (1980) and 'Little Women' (1987). Unlike these anime, 'Pollyanna' has not been dubbed into English as of 2012.

It was based on a combination of story elements from both of Eleanor Porter's books, not just the original one.

Answer: The Cosby Show

Phylicia Rashad played Clair Huxtable, Bill Cosby's wife, and Keshia Knight Pulliam played Rudy Huxtable, the couple's youngest child, on the show that ran from 1984 through 1992. 'Polly' was only loosely based on 'Pollyanna', with Polly attempting to fight the forces of segregation in a small Alabama town during the 1950s.

It was a musical television movie, featuring an almost completely African-American cast (Celeste Holm played Miss Snow, a part she reprised in the 1990 sequel 'Polly: Coming Home'). Butterfly McQueen, whose first role was Prissy, Scarlett's maid, in the 1939 film 'Gone With the Wind', made her last appearance as Miss Priss.

Answer: Eleanor Porter was born and raised there

Eleanor Hodgman was born in 1868 in Littleton, New Hampshire. In 1892 she married John Porter and moved to Massachusetts, where she lived during her writing career. She is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery just outside Cambridge, Massachusetts. Disney used a number of locations in California for his film.

The people of Littleton have jumped on the Pollyanna bandwagon as a way of attracting tourists. The statue, erected in 2002 is featured on post cards, and tourists are encouraged to start their tour of the town (according to the town's web page, there are "over 25 points of interest and other delights along Main Street") by rubbing the statue so that a little of Pollyanna's optimism can rub off on them. There have been a number of 'Official Pollyanna Glad Day' festivals, celebrated in June, and featuring an award to the resident who has welcomed the most visitors during the previous year, as well as parades, music, and theatrical performances.