What is "pollyanna"

"one who finds cause for gladness in the most difficult situations," 1921, a reference to Pollyanna Whittier, child heroine of U.S. novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter's "Pollyanna" (1913) and "Pollyanna Grows Up" (1915), who was noted for keeping her chin up during disasters.

n. (alternative form of Pollyanna English)

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same very optimistic outlook. Also, the subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle. The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, Pollyanna Grows Up (1915). Eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, including Pollyanna Plays the Game by Colleen L. Reece, published in 1997.

Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times. Some of the best known are Disney's 1960 version starring child actress Hayley Mills, who won a special Oscar for the role, and the 1920 version starring Mary Pickford.

Pollyanna is the second studio album by American band Northstar. They released the album in 2004, after two years of touring with bands such as Taking Back Sunday and The Beautiful Mistake, using material from their first studio album, Is This Thing Loaded?, also released through Triple Crown Records. Although commercially not very successful, like much of Northstar's work, it has been passionately praised and defended against critics by Northstar's fans, even after years since their break up.

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter.

Pollyanna may also refer to:

• Pollyanna (1920 film), an adaptation of the novel, starring Mary Pickford
• Pollyanna (1960 film), another adaptation, starring Hayley Mills
• Pollyanna (album), the second studio album by Emo band Northstar
• Pollyanna (band), an Australian band
• "Pollyanna", a recurring song in the EarthBound (series), a roleplaying Nintendo video game series
• "Pollyanna", a song by Billy Joe Royal off his album, Down in the Boondocks
• Pollyanna Pickering, British wildlife artist and environmentalist
• Pollyanna principle

• , a United States Navy patrol boat in commission from 1917 to 1919

• Secret Santa, a Western holiday tradition referred to in Pennsylvania as Pollyanna

Pollyanna is a 1960 Walt Disney Productions feature film, starring child actress Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, and Richard Egan, in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. Based on the novel Pollyanna (1913) by Eleanor Porter, the film was written and directed by David Swift. The film marks Mills's first of six films for Disney, and it won the actress an Academy Juvenile Award.

Pollyanna were an Australian alternative rock band that came to prominence in the mid-1990s with their brand of noisy indie guitar pop. Formed in Sydney, (as Blue Trike, they changed their name on their 13th gig to Pollyanna) Australia in 1993, the original Pollyanna line-up was Andrea Croft (vocals/guitar, but left prior to recording) Matt Handley (vocals/guitar), Maryke Stapleton (bass), and Serge Luca (drums). They released 2 EP's, numerous singles and 4 LP's. The band went into an indefinite hiatus in 2002. (Matt and Andrea had previously been in another band - Catherine Wheel - together. 1 EP - Self Portraits)