ighlander An enjoyable film and for the most part well done, but very annoying due to the use of both English and American actors - resulting in both accents amongst supposed family members!! So jarring and sadly all too frequently done. I understand the marketability of TransAtlantic appeal but please, please, why can't they all sound alike?? Unfortunately it does suffer from Disneyfication with very large helpings of saccharine and some predictable "gushy" emotional scenes. There's a particularly wearing scene where Heidi tumbles down the hillside and ends up hanging over the river gorge clinging to a tree branch - all the time while Peter is trying to rescue her, Klara is shouting "Heidi!" at 1 second intervals. I felt like shouting "Shut the **** up!" Otherwise the scenery, sets, etc. are lovely - nice period details and gorgeous mountains! (Filmed in Austria though and not Switzerland - although I daresay we have to be grateful it wasn't filmed in Montana!)

Armand each adaptation is a provocation for viewer. because the shadow of reading is large and high. because the expectations are not little. in this case, all is at perfect place. Noley Thornton shines and Jason Robards is the best grandfather. and, like a good film, it is not exactly an adaptation but a translation not for the book but for its spirit. touching and immersive, fresh and lovely, it gives all gifts who was expected. and this is the key of this Heidy, more realistic than other versions, more close than a family film definition. because it is only a movie for children but , in same measure, for refreshing memories of parents. and the cast, especially ,the great Jason Robards, the smart screenplay writer and , sure, Michael Ray Rhodes makes a good and almost admirable work.

FloatingOpera7 Heidi (1993): Starring Noley Thorton, Jason Robards, Lexi Randall, Jane Seymour, Patricia Neal, Sian Phillips, Jane Hazlegrove, Andrew Bicknell, Ben Brazier, Basil Hoskins..Director Michael Ray Rhodes.Based on the classic turn of the century novel by Johanna Spyri, this Disney film proved to be faithful to the novel and is truly the best adaptation of the many that were made prior to this one which was released in 1993. Filmed on location in the novel's setting of Germany and the Swiss Alps, the film starred Noley Thorton as the eponymous heroine. Heidiis an orphan (in the 19th century if you wanted to make your readers weep you had to make the hero/heroine an orphan, Charles Dickens did it all the time!) who has been adopted by her reclusive curmudgeon grandfather (Jason Robards) who lives in a small home up by the Alps. Later we discover that her grandfather had turned his back on the Church (or the Church had turned THEIR BACK on him and ex-communicated him) and was living alone up by the mountain. Only Heidi and her charming spirited ways gives him happiness now. But Heidi has an Aunt, Fraulein Rottenmeier (Jane Seymour) who lives in Frankfurt, Germany. There she meets her wheel-chair bound cousin Klara. The girls are under tight surveillence and discipline by the staunch and temperamental Fraulein Rottenmier. Jane Seymour didn't ham it up though and plays her in a subtle and tone down way. The film is beautiful and well-acted, with a lot of heart. I remember the first time I saw it was on the Disney Channel. If you're a fan of the old novel, this one is a delight. Heidi is about learning to love again, even after the world has been cold to you. Both the Grandfather and even Fraulein Rottenmeier learn this. The sweetness but reliability of Heidi serves as a redemption to both these older adults. It is interesting how the children in this story are the smarter ones. A well-made film that sadly time has forgotten. I hope it is released on DVD!!!

Melissa Alice I've watched at least two of the other Heidi versions, and this is probably my favorite. I liked the Shirley Temple version a lot, too, but this one is very charming and Noley Thornton is very cute as Heidi. I watched an older version of Heidi today, and it was good as well (with Jean Simmons), but it was definately not as good as this one (though they both have their strong points).