Back to the Secret Garden on AllMovie

Although Frances Hodgson Burnett did not feel the need to write a sequel to her classic fantasy novel The Secret Garden, this did not prevent producer Norman Rosemont from commissioning just such a sequel. Set in 1946, Back to the Secret Garden finds Mary Lennox, the youthful heroine of the original novel, all grown up and far removed from her beloved enchanted garden in Yorkshire's Mistlewaith Manor. Now living in New York, Mary comes in contact with Lizzie (Camilla Belle), a feisty Brooklyn-born orphan. It is Lizzie who tries to save the day by heading off to England and endeavoring to save Mary's secret garden, which has been literally dying in its caregiver's absence. Joan Plowright, George Baker, Cherie Lunghi, and Leigh Lawson co-star in this German-British co-production, which was originally intended for theatrical release. The American premiere of Back to the Secret Garden appeared on the Showtime Cable Network on September 2, 2001 -- nearly two years after the film's completion.