A Walton Easter (1997)

In 1969, John-Boy is a TV news anchorperson in New York and he is in the throes of writing a new book. He and a very pregnant Janet are making plans to return to Walton's Mountain for the ... See full summary »

Director:

Bill Corcoran

Writers:

Earl Hamner Jr. (characters) (as Earl Hamner), Julie Sayres

Stars:

Richard Thomas, Ralph Waite, Michael Learned

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Thomas	...	John-Boy Walton
Ralph Waite	...	John Walton
Michael Learned	...	Olivia Walton
Jon Walmsley	...	Jason Walton
Judy Norton	...	Mary Ellen Walton
Mary Beth McDonough	...	Erin Walton Northridge (as Mary McDonough)
Eric Scott	...	Ben Walton
David W. Harper	...	Jim-Bob Walton (as David Harper)
Kami Cotler	...	Elizabeth Walton
Sydney Walsh	...	Aurora Jameson
Kate McNeil	...	Janet Gilchrist Walton
Ellen Corby	...	Grandma Walton
Tony Becker	...	Drew
Peter Crombie	...	Calvin Weeks
Zack Eginton	...	Jimmy Weeks

Storyline

In 1969, John-Boy is a TV news anchorperson in New York and he is in the throes of writing a new book. He and a very pregnant Janet are making plans to return to Walton's Mountain for the celebration of John and Olivia's 40th wedding anniversary. Accompanying them to see the place John-Boy lived as a child is Aurora, a Time magazine photographer, who is doing a story on John-Boy. Meanwhile, Elizabeth arrives back from her travels and announces to Drew, who is still working at the mill with Ben, that she is back to stay. She is very upset to find that Drew did not wait for her, and that he has a new girlfriend. Also, problems arise for John-Boy and Janet because the longer John-Boy stays on the mountain, the more he becomes convinced that he would like to settle down there, raise his family, and continue with his writing whereas Janet wants to stay in New York.

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Plot Keywords:

tv series reunion | sequel | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 1997 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Dijon Street, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eagle Point Production, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

It can be inferred from the pilot episode, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, that John Walton, Sr., died shortly after the events of this movie, the last installment in The Waltons legacy. It was stated in the pilot that John died in 1969, the same year in which Earl Hamner's own father died.

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Goofs

John Boy comments on TV about the first moon landing during Easter of 1969. However, the moon landing happened a few months later, in July.

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Quotes

Jeannie: Oh Drew just loves to spoil me! He's always surprising me with something special.

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Connections

Follows A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion (1993)

User Reviews

A nicely done reunion.

My opinion is that Kate McNeil works well as John-Boy's wife because she is different from the other actresses the character was interested in on the show. She comes across as a sweet and kind person who has a career and who truly tries to stand up to her meddling aunt in the previous reunion film. She also has blonde hair, as does the real Mrs. Jane "Earl" Hamner in real life. I thought the film wrapped up the story nicely if this is indeed, as it looks, the last Walton reunion film with the original cast. What happens to John-Boy in the end brings him "full circle" in my opinion as a character. We see him reach this place in his life after seeing him years ago for the first time as the struggling young writer.