I simply adore this movie. I can watch it over and over and never grow tired. It's simply stunning. Mary Lennox is an orphan who must stay with her cold and emotionally unattached uncle in his expansive manor. Here, she keeps to herself and finds an old garden and brings it back to life with the help of the staff and a young boy named Dicken. She comes to meet her cousin, the lil brat Colin, and teaches him to walk again despite being told he's unable to. The garden is apparently magical, but in a realistic way. There's no fairy dust or other such nonsense. It's just allowing people to believe in themselves and be happy. The music is touching as are the relationships of the characters. Colin wanting to marry her despite their 1st cousin status was a little too much for me, but didn't cause a break in the movie. I wished they had shown what she looked like as a grown up instead of avoiding her face, but I guess that's to keep her forever young in our minds. The mean maid (whose name i forget she was in Sister Act) provided a challenge to Mary, but nothing she couldn't handle and eventually won her over. Mary was a royal brat at first, but only cuz she didn't know how else to be since her parents were self-involved. I was glad to see her come out of it. Dicken was such a cool kid, I loved him a lot. He was smart without having to go to school for it and was just loveable and helpful. In other versions, he and Mary were supposed to get together, but he died in some war and she took up with Colin. I really liked him though. Colin was a sicly kid who they constantly fussed over and he was snotty to show for it. He calmed down a little too, but could still be a royal pain. He was temperamental and that was annoying, but that was his character. The father, Lord Craven, was only emotionally unattached because his wife died in childbirth and he thought his son wasn't able to be healthy and he would just run away. How English of him, lol. The garden was absolutely beautiful and gorgeous. Made you wanna be a kid again and just frolick around in it. All the animals and plants were inviting. It seemed simplistic and a good place to be. Even though Mary was young, she could still make a difference to herself and others and that's what makes the movie special and timeless.
