[2] The story follows Anne Shirley as she leaves Green Gables in Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, to teach at a prestigious ladies' college in New Brunswick.

The main cast from the original film reprised their roles, including Megan Follows, Jonathan Crombie, Colleen Dewhurst, Patricia Hamilton, and Schuyler Grant.

After two years of teaching at the Avonlea school, Anne Shirley dreams of being a writer, but her story "Averil's Atonement" is rejected by a magazine.

Unbeknownst to her, Diana submitted "Averil's Atonement" into a contest to introduce the new Rollings Reliable baking powder to the public, and it wins first prize.

When Jen calls off sick on the day of the show, Anne convinces Morgan to let Emmeline star in the play, which they have been rehearsing during tutoring sessions.

Upon arriving at Green Gables and meeting Diana's new baby, Anne discovers that Gilbert has fallen ill with scarlet fever, which he contracted at medical school in Halifax.

Sullivan invented his own plot line relying on several of Montgomery's episodic storylines spread across the three sequels, he also looked at numerous other nineteenth century female authors for inspiration in fleshing out the screen story.

[citation needed] In Canada, the film became the highest rated drama to air on network television in Canadian broadcasting history.

[9] The series debuted in Canada using the title Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel in two 150-minute installments, in December 1987, on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).

Many of the actors in the Anne of Green Gables movies also appear in storylines crossing over into the long-running Emmy award-winning series, including Patricia Hamilton as Rachel Lynde, Colleen Dewhurst as Marilla Cuthbert until her death in 1991, and Marilyn Lightstone as Muriel Stacy.

Jonathan Crombie returned as Gilbert Blythe in a one-time guest appearance in the finale episode of season three, which dealt with Marilla's death.

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning was released in fall 2008 (the 100th anniversary of the original novel) as both a sequel and prequel to the previous films.

Set near the end of World War II in 1945, the story follows a middle-aged Anne (Barbara Hershey) looking back on her life before Green Gables.