The Best Partner

"The Best Partner" is the fourth episode of Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series.

Summary
When Mr. Gresham's nephew Ben visits Avonlea, all the kids are excited about his arrival, especially as it coincides with a sports day. To their surprise, Ben arrives on crutches as polio has left him paralyzed. With empathy and creativity shown on both sides, the children learn to fully welcome Ben into the group, and the games, as a valuable partner.

Voice cast
Main cast
 * Wayne Robson as Matthew Cuthbert
 * Bryn McAuley as Anne Shirley
 * Emily Hampshire as Diana Barry
 * Ali Mukaddam as Gilbert Blythe/Ralph

Recurring cast Guest cast
 * Dalene Irvine as Felicity King
 * Kyle Fairlie as Felix King
 * Tracey Moore as Dyrad
 * Adrian Truss as Mr. Gresham
 * Michael Cera as Benjamin

Crew

 * Additional Animation: Hanho Heung UP Co Ltd
 * Assistant Background Coordinator: Meagan Bennell
 * Assistant Background Supervisor: Alexander Ahilov
 * Assistant Director: Luc Latulippe
 * Associate Producer: Christine Davis
 * Audio Post Production: Access Post Production
 * Audio Recording Studio: Manta Eastern Recording
 * Background Coordinator: Warren Shepherd
 * Background Key Coordinator: Laura Dundas
 * Background Keys: Grozdana Bukvic, Branislav Perkovic, Lin Qiu
 * Background Painters: Sandra Albornoz, Kamen Nikolov, Marisa Fidanza, Angela Cabral, Trevor Morgan, Goran Bukvic, Angelo To, Dave Badour, Ana Varicak, Bonnie Badour, Alexander Ivanisevic, Dejan Dimitrijevic, Ben Shannon, Cindy Riggs, Steve Murray, Piper Courchesne, Jodi Shuster, Bojana Videkanic, Colin Nordell, Sladjana Samardzija, Dalibor Simic
 * Background Supervisors: Dejan Ostojic, Vladan Ignatovich
 * Casting Voice Director: Jessie Thomson
 * Character Designers: Mark Ackland, Peter Emslie, Dan Haskett, Andrew Shortt
 * Clean Up Artist: Diana Berson
 * Colour Assistant: Brenda Wood
 * Colour Styling: Paper Raven
 * Colourist: Mark Kueper
 * Compositors: Brian Harriman, Brad Husband, Carin Macinroy, Ian Marrs, Jason McCallum, Glen McLeod, Steve Sanderson
 * Design Coordinator: Jane Sobol
 * Desing Supervisor: Dave Quesnelle
 * Digital Painters: Derek Geldart, Brian Cooper, Elisa G. Dalmacio, Karin Jeffrey, Maria Teresa Q. Jocson, Laleh Ladjevardi, Tania Nikolova, Jyun Oki, Editha Payumo, Christopher Peckham, Catherine Rolbuck, Nora San Jose, Anthony Valentne, David Volf
 * Director: Lilliane Andre
 * Director of IT Services: Greg Battle
 * Evening Paint Supervisor: Christina Helmer
 * Executive Producers: Kevin Sullivan, Trudy Grant
 * Ink & Paint Supervisor: Seamus O'Keeffe
 * Jr. Character Designer: Robin Boyko
 * Layout Artist: Boomstone Entertainment Inc.
 * Layout Assistant: Mario Di Cesare
 * Layout Coordinator: Brent Ackland
 * Leica Editor: Shawn Kalb
 * Location Designers: Mike Brooks, Mark Komza
 * Music: Peter Breiner
 * On-Line Editor: Bernie Clayton
 * Off-Line Editors: Mhairi Kerr
 * Overseas Animation Supervisor: Alex Greychuck
 * Posing Artists: Rochelle Ansley, Jeff Astolfo, Ian Blum, Blair Kitchen, Wayne Lee Pack, Lisa Luxton, John Mahovlich, Jeff Size, Phillip Williams
 * Posing Assistant: Mario Di Cesare
 * Posing Coordinator: Brent Ackland
 * Posing Supervisor: Scott Glynn
 * Post Production Supervisor: Jane Humphreys
 * Producer: Marilyn McAuley
 * Production Accountant: Loretta van Hart
 * Production Assistant: Remi Fernhout
 * Production Coordinator: Meredith Caplan
 * Production Manager: Cherri Hurst
 * Prop Designer: Shawn Pascuttini
 * Recording Engineer: Bill Hermans
 * Re-recording Mixer: Paul Edwards
 * Special Effects Designer: Raymond Pang
 * Story Board: Rob Elliott, Alex Szewczuk
 * Story Board Coordinator: Nick Kehn
 * Story Board Revision Artist: Mike Dobson
 * Story Editor: Michael MacLennan
 * Timing Director: Paul Shibli
 * Writers: Laura Kosterski, Stephen Zoller

Behind the scenes
Production notes References
 * Ali Mukaddam's character, Lloyd, is incorrectly listed as Ralph in the ending credits, even though his real name can be clearly heard in the episode.
 * Another character's name is misspelled – Dyrad instead of Dryad.
 * Diana's father owns a cannon ball from the Battle of Louisbourg, which took place in 1758. It was a pivotal operation of the Seven Years' War that ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada.
 * Benjamin attended the 1900 Summer Olympics which were held in Paris, France. This fact places the universe timeline to the early 1900s.

Distribution
This episode was released as part of the DVD box set Volumes 4-6, along with "Carrots!", "A Bully by the Horns", "Chores Eclipsed", "The Stray" and "A Question of Rules".