American Girl (film series)

American Girl is a line of books, movies, dolls, and accessories based on pre-teen girl characters from various periods of history including the 21st century. Several of the characters from the American Girl books have since had their stories adapted into films, the majority of them released as direct-to-DVD or television films, with the exception of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, which was a theatrical release. Starting with the debut of the Maryellen Larkin doll, American Girl has since expressed interest in producing webseries based on their characters.[4]

American Girl
Directed byNadia Tass (Samantha/Felicity/Lea)[1]
Joyce Chopra (Molly)
Patricia Rozema (Kit)
Martha Coolidge (Chrissa)[2]
Vince Marcello (McKenna/Saige/Isabelle/Grace)
Tina Mabry (Melody)
Valerie Weiss (Maryellen)
Written byAnna Sandor (Samantha/Felicity/Molly)
Ann Peacock (Kit)
Mary Casanova/Christine Coyle Johnson (Chrissa)
Jessica O'Toole and Amy Rardin (McKenna/Saige/Isabelle/Grace)
Karen Bloch Morse (Lea)
Alison McDonald (Melody)
Jamie Pachino (Maryellen)
Based onthe American Girl book series
by various authors
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures (1-5)
Universal Pictures (6-10)
Amazon Studios (11-14)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (TBA)[3]
Release date
2004-2017
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

In 2004, American Girl teamed up with Julia Roberts' Red Om Films production company to create the first American Girl movie Samantha: An American Girl Holiday. Samantha was played by AnnaSophia Robb.

In 2005 came the second American Girl TV movie Felicity: An American Girl Adventure. It starred Shailene Woodley as Felicity.

The third American Girl television movie appeared in 2006. Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front featured Maya Ritter as Molly.

The first American Girl movie to appear in theaters was Kit Kittredge: An American Girl; it opened in wide release on July 2, 2008. It was produced by Picture House. Kit was played by Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin and notable co-stars included Stanley Tucci, Chris O'Donnell, Julia Ormond and Joan Cusack.

The first Girl of the Year movie was entitled An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong. Chrissa was portrayed by Sammi Hanratty.[5] It was released by HBO directly to DVD on January 6, 2009.[6]

McKenna Brooks, the "Girl of the Year 2012", has a movie named McKenna Shoots for the Stars released July 3, 2012. The movie, starring Jade Pettyjohn as McKenna, started filming in July 2011 and aired on NBC July 14, 2012.

Saige Copeland, Girl of the Year 2013, has a movie named Saige Paints the Sky released July 2, 2013. The movie, starring Sidney Fullmer as Saige, was released on NBC July 13, 2013.

A film based on Girl of the Year 2014 Isabelle Palmer entitled Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight was released July 22, 2014, starring Erin Pitt as the title character.

A film based on Girl of the Year 2015 Grace Thomas entitled An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success, with Olivia Rodrigo playing the title role, was released June 23, 2015.[7][8]

In November 2015, short independent films were uploaded on American Girl's YouTube page, based on the Maryellen Larkin and Julie Albright characters, the latter in lieu of the previously announced musical film project slated in 2007. The films star Harlie Galloway and Jolie Ledford as Maryellen and Julie, respectively, and marks American Girl's venture into digital content and independent film production.[4]

A live-action web special based on Melody Ellison's stories entitled Melody, 1963: Love Has to Win, an American Girl Story was released by Amazon, starring Marsai Martin as the title character.[9][10] Love Has to Win was then followed by An American Girl Story - Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas, starring Alyvia Alyn Lind as Maryellen Larkin and was released by Amazon on November 25, 2016.[11]

Set in 1976 San Francisco, Ivy Ling is a Chinese-American who struggles to find a balance between her two cultural identities. With the help of her best friend, Julie Albright, Ivy makes a tough call on two important events in her life when her gymnastics tournament and family's Chinese New Year dinner land on the same day. The movie An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance was released by Amazon, starring Nina Lu as Ivy Ling, and Hannah Nordberg as Julie Albright.

Films and DVD release dates
FilmMain characterRegion 1Rating
Samantha: An American Girl Holiday Samantha Parkington November 30, 2004[12] G
Felicity: An American Girl Adventure Felicity Merriman December 6, 2005[13] G
Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front Molly McIntire November 28, 2006[14] G
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Kit Kittredge October 28, 2008[15] G
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong Chrissa Maxwell January 6, 2009 PG
An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars McKenna Brooks July 3, 2012[16] G
An American Girl: Saige Paints the Sky Saige Copeland July 2, 2013 G
An American Girl: Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight Isabelle Palmer July 22, 2014[17] G
An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success Grace Thomas June 23, 2015[7] Not Rated/G
An American Girl: Lea to the Rescue Lea Clark June 14, 2016[18] TV-Y7
An American Girl Story – Melody 1963: Love Has to Win Melody Ellison October 20, 2016 PG (BBFC)[19]
An American Girl Story – Maryellen 1955: Extraordinary Christmas Maryellen Larkin November 25, 2016[11] TV-Y/PG (BBFC)[20]
An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance Ivy Ling and Julie Albright March 24, 2017[21] G
An American Girl Story – Summer Camp, Friends for Life Z Yang June 9, 2017[22] G

References
  1. "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday". iTunes. Apple, Inc. 23 November 2004. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  2. "An American Girl - Chrissa Stands Strong". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  3. Kroll, Justin (February 15, 2019). "'American Girl' Live-Action Movie in the Works With Mattel and MGM". Variety. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  4. "American Girl® Debuts New Digital Content For Girls, About Girls, And Starring." PRNewsWire (Press release). Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  5. "Entertainment news, movie reviews, awards, festivals, celebrity photos, industry events - Variety". 2008-10-12. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  6. "HBO readies new American Girl - 9/12/2008 - Video Business". Archived from the original on 2009-01-11. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
  7. "An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  8. Cohen, Steven (4 March 2015). "'An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success' Blu-ray Announced for June". High-Def Digest. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. Cavassuto, Maria (25 August 2016). "TV News: Marsai Martin of 'Black-ish' Becomes First American Girl". Variety. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  10. Barsanti, Sam (25 August 2016). "Black-ish's Marsai Martin cast as American Girl Melody". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  11. Raynor, Madeline (3 November 2016). "This American Girl Christmas special trailer will warm your heart — exclusive". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  12. "Samantha - An American Girl Holiday". 30 November 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  13. "Felicity - An American Girl Adventure". 6 December 2005. Retrieved 25 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  14. "Molly - An American Girl on the Home Front". 28 November 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  15. "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl". 28 October 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2017 – via Amazon.
  16. "McKenna - 2012 - Girl of the Year - Play at American Girl". americangirl.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  17. "Isabelle - 2014 - Girl of the Year - Play at American Girl". americangirl.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  18. "American Girl's 2016 Girl of the Year™ Stars in its First-Ever Action-Adventure Movie!". prnewswire.com (Press release). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  19. "An American Girl Story - Melody 1963: Love Has to Win". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  20. "AN AMERICAN GIRL STORY - MARYELLEN 1955: EXTRAORDINARY CHRISTMAS". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  21. "Watch the trailer for Amazon's latest American Girl Story special, Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance". Entertainment Weekly.
  22. TV News Desk (April 28, 2017). "VIDEO: First Look - Amazon Original Special AN AMERICAN GIRL STORY: SUMMER CAMP, FRIENDS FOR LIFE". BroadwayWorld.com.
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