For many girls, it will be a dream come true, watching their beloved Samantha doll come to life.
If a wooden puppet named Pinocchio could pull it off, so can the resourceful, 9-year-old Victorian-era heroine from The American Girls Collection.
Helping to make this happen is actress AnnaSophia Robb. She plays the title role in "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday," a live-action television movie that debuts nationally at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the WB Network.
"AnnaSophia Robb is an up-and-coming actress who's receiving critical acclaim right now, and we're thrilled. She does a wonderful job bringing our Samantha character to life," says Julia Prohaska, director of brand marketing at American Girl in Middleton.
Robb will be featured in a couple of major films later this year and next spring, and in one of them, she co-stars with Johnny Depp.
This is the first foray into the TV movie industry for both American Girl and the WB Network, and excitement has been generating for months over "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday," which also stars Mia Farrow and Jordan Bridges, son of actor Beau Bridges.
Earlier this week, for example, thousands of American Girl fans strolled the red carpet at American Girl Place stores in Chicago and New York City to attend premiere showings of the movie.
Also on hand at these premiere parties were members of the film's cast and crew, as well as girls who participated in sweepstakes and other contests that were launched on the American Girl Web site at www.americangirl.com in August.
To further celebrate the debut of what is likely to become a holiday classic, a community service project is under way, collecting coats and other warm winter wear for the Salvation Army in Madison and Janesville.
It's called "Samantha's Holiday Clothing & Coat Drive," and it's being coordinated here by WB57, the local WB Network affiliate.
"We're tying in with part of the storyline from the movie 'Samantha: An American Girl Holiday,' which has Samantha asking her classmates to donate coats, hats and gloves for families in need as she helps an orphaned friend, Nellie," says Dave Shelly, creative services director at WB57.
Collection bins for the clothing drive are located at Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in Dane, Columbia and Rock counties and in the lobby at American Girl in Middleton. Other drop-off sites are at Hangers Cleaners, Tiger Lily Boutiques, The Rice Cafe, The Buzz/105.1 and WB57 studios.
The holiday coat drive continues through Dec. 5, and American Girl is donating Samantha dolls for drawings at each collection site.
Another local tie-in to Samantha's debut on national TV is at the Wisconsin Historical Museum, 30 N. Carroll St., where an exhibit called Our Collection at Work: The "Samantha Dress" opened Tuesday.
"One of the dresses worn by Samantha in the movie is based on a dress in our collection," says Leslie Bellais, curator of costume and textiles at the museum.
The historic, pink dress -- circa 1905 -- that is on display was worn by a young girl who was raised in Madison. Her name was Eleanore Brown.
The designer of costumes for the Samantha movie probably first saw a version of the pink dress in an American Girl catalog because the historic dress already had inspired a doll-size outfit for Samantha, who was introduced in 1986 as one of the original characters in The American Girls Collection.
The historic dress also is featured on the cover of one of Samantha's books. The line of books -- like others in the collection -- delves into a slice of history as seen through the eyes of a young girl.
"Researchers at American Girl pay a lot of attention to historical authenticity and accuracy, and it's exciting to know that there's a Wisconsin connection when you see the dress in any of its versions," Bellais says.
The museum on the Capitol Square also is a collection site for the Samantha clothing drive.
Filming for "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday" took place earlier this year in Toronto, Canada. Red Om Films, which is the production company of actress Julia Roberts, was on hand, along with Revolution Studios. "The production company did a wonderful job finding locations that really communicate a turn-of-the-century New York City, which is where a majority of the storyline takes place," Prohaska says.
Historical researchers at American Girl also worked closely on the creative development of the TV project.
"It was a great experience for us," Prohaska says. "We're used to bringing characters to life in books, rather than on screen."
In anticipation of next week's movie debut, Ellen Brothers, president of American Girl, recently shared the film with company employees, taking them all to the performing arts center at Middleton High School for a sneak preview.
"There is great excitement here, as you can imagine," Prohaska says. "The movie represents a number of firsts for American Girl -- not only our first foray into television entertainment, but also the launch of Samantha's friend, Nellie, in the form of a doll and a book."
The beautiful 18-inch Nellie doll, featuring bobbed strawberry-blond hair and freckles, recently received the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio's Platinum Award, the highest honor awarded from the independent guide to the best toys, books and software for children.
The Oppenheims will present the Platinum Award winners on NBC's "Today Show" this month and in December.
Nick Jr. magazine also has named American Girl's new Nellie doll as one of this season's "50 Best Holiday Toys" for children age 6 and up.
Other new movie-related products were introduced to The American Girl Collection in recent months, and additional excitement was generated with an interactive site of Samantha movie trivia at www.americangirl.com.
The movie will be available -- $15.95 for VHS and $19.95 for DVD -- in about two weeks at retail stores, on the American Girl Web site and through the company's catalogue at 1-800-845-0005. Free catalogues also can be requested.
"Our books are at a third-grade reading level, so The American Girls Collection tends to be defined by audiences age 6 to 12," Prohaska says. "The Samantha movie, however, is attracting a much broader audience."
It's a heart-warming, family drama that takes historical events and boils them down into a girl-size microcosm.
For example, Samantha's Aunt Cornelia is a suffragist, so young viewers can expect to learn how women had to fight for the right to vote. In the storyline, Samantha also discovers that progress sometimes comes with a price, in the form of unsafe working conditions in factories, and she shares that knowledge with others.
As one of the original characters in The American Girls Collection, Samantha has become somewhat of a classic herself. "It isn't lost on us that potentially some of our very earliest customers now have daughters of their own," Prohaska says, "and we're starting to see and realize the original dream of Pleasant Rowland -- our founder -- which was to create something that would be a classic and could be shared by generations."
Besides that, the upcoming Samantha movie has a very classic quality to it, too, and audiences can probably look forward to watching it year after year.
