This is a really tender one-act film. You sit into it thinking it'll be an easy 30 minutes that you don't need to pay attention too deeply to. There's an extent to which this is true. But it rewards close observation and flags to you that you could have noticed things earlier on. But, even without that, the animation is so full of life here that you can't look away. Every frame of the cat is lovingly done. The scenes where Rebecca is dancing or running just pop off like nobody's business. The scenes where she cries absolutely hit every time. And it covers animpressive breadth of experience in just 30 minutes. I recommend it.

I was surprised to learn that "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" came out in 1903, because "Anne of Green Gables" came out in 1908. There's definitely a similarity between them that I find just splendid! Honestly, it's probably even closer-related to "Emily of New Moon", considering the relationship Rebecca and Emily have with their aunts. So, yeah, this was in my wheelhouse. There's the chance that the book is nothing like either of those and this just happens to be drawing from the "Anne of Green Gables" anime that I need to watch some day. I appreciate it regardless.