is a Japanese animated television series based on the novel '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' by

Jean Webster Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876 – June 11, 1916), an American author whose books include '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' and '' Dear Enemy''. Her best-known books feature lively and likeable young female prota ...

. This anime was aired in 1990 and part of the container

World Masterpiece Theater was a Japanese TV anime staple that showcased an animated version of a different classical book or story each year from 19:30 to 20:00 on Sunday on Fuji TV. It originally aired from 1969 to 1997 and from 2007 to 2009. Commonly abbreviated to ...

produced by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginza district of Chūō and production facilities in Tama City. Nippon Animation is known for producing numerous anime series based on works of ...

studios and was awarded the Excellent Movie Award for Television by the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs for Children in 1990. 40 episodes were produced.

Premise

Judy Abbott is an

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

who has been given the opportunity to study at the prestigious Lincoln Memorial High School by a mysterious benefactor whom she only knows as "John Smith". She has only seen his shadow once, and because of his long legs, she calls him "Daddy Long Legs". The only payment she is to give her benefactor is that she write him letters every month, with no expectation of them being responded to. The anime covers three years of Judy's life, starting with her leaving the John Grier Home orphanage, and ending with her finishing high school.

Characters

; :A cheerful and intelligent girl whose parents died when she was still a baby. She was found at Bayson Avenue at New York City and was taken into the John Grier Home, where she develops her talent for writing. It is one of her essays that catches the attention of a trustee known as "John Smith", enabling her to earn a scholarship from him to attend the Lincoln Memorial High School. She does not know who John Smith is, and calls him "Daddy Long Legs". Even so, she considers him the only family she has, and becomes attached to him. She talks very much and loves story telling. Judy's roommates at Lincoln Memorial are Sallie McBride and Julia Pendleton. Judy has a considerable inferiority complex that she is orphan, she suffers not to be able to confide it to anyone. In the anime, Judy's appearance seems to resemble like

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story wh ...

, by having red-hair and

braid A braid (also referred to as a plait) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing two or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strande ...

s sticking out. ; :A shy but sweet girl who is one of Judy's roommates at the Lincoln Memorial High School. They become very close, and Sallie grows very fond of Judy. She is often made fun of by Julia because of her short and chubby stature. She is strong-willed in spite of her appearance. ; :A wealthy and snobbish, but well-mannered student, she is very tall and elegant and one of Judy's roommates at the Lincoln Memorial High School. She and Judy initially do not get along, with Julia constantly trying to uncover Judy's secret background. However, she eventually becomes Judy's best friend along with Sally. ; :The manager of the dormitory where Judy lives in Fergussen Hall, who tends to put up a mask of cruelty and anger to hide what she truly feels. She hates that she is called "Mrs." because she is still a bachelor. However, she seems to want to marry. ; :Julia Pendleton's uncle, whom Judy meets over her time at the Lincoln Memorial school. He is called an eccentric misanthropist and is famous in business world, however the reason is because he hates polite society. He later develops feelings for Judy. He, later in the series, admits to Judy that he was her 'Daddy Long Legs' all along. At the end of the series, he and Judy are married. ; :Secretary of Judy's sponsor, "Daddy Long-Legs". ; :Sallie's elder brother, he is the highly popular ace of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

football team. He is very kind and an obliging person. He grows fond of Judy. Julia falls in love with him in her second year. ; :Captain of Princeton University football team, a gentleman, albeit unreliable at times. ; :Judy's new roommate. She is 1 year old older than Judy. She returned to Judy's class after having taken a leave of absence from school because of chest's disease for one year. She is good at poetry and sports, she was a famous player of basketball before. Judy disliked her because she criticized a novel which Judy wrote. However, she becomes a good senior of Judy immediately. ; :John Greer Orphanage's Director. Children in Orphanage hated her because she was too strict to the discipline. However, she loves children in reality. She retires while Judy is attending Lincoln Memorial High School. ; :St. George Orphanage's Staff. She is a strong woman with humor and acting power, is adored by children. She has a very realistic idea for the education of the orphan. She is a prototype of Maria Florence in next series

Trapp Family Story is a 1991 Japanese animated series by Nippon Animation, based on the story of the real-life Austrian singing family the Trapp Family. It is a part of the World Masterpiece Theatre franchise, which adapted classic works of literature into anima ...

Original voice cast

Mitsuko Horie is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. She was born in Yamato, Kanagawa. She has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Sailor Galaxia in '' Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars'' and Remi in the Nippon Animation World Masterp ...

as Judy Abbott * Chie Satou as Sally McBride *

Yuri Amano is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Arts Vision. Her real name, as well as her former stage name is . Her best known role is Kiyone Makibi in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. Other major roles include Asako Nakamura in ''Ushio and ...

as Julia Pendleton *Hideyuki Tanaka as Jervis Pendleton *Bin Shimada as Jimmy McBride *Yoshino Ohtori as Ms. Throne *Tatsuko Ishimori as Harmond *Hiromi Tsuru as Leonora Fenton (episode 20–22 & 40) *Hiroshi Masuoka (voice actor), Hiroshi Masuoka as Mr. Griggs *Kenichi Ogata (voice actor), Kenichi Ogata as George Sempleton *Hisako Kyouda as Eliza Sempleton *Michitaka Kobayashi as Arthur *Yuko Kobayashi as Carrie *Toshiko Fujita as Mrs. Lippett and Margot Foster *Masako Katsuki as Mary Lambart *Yoku Shioya as Bob *Yuriko Fuchizaki as Emily *Eiko Yamada as Sadie

Staff

* Director : Kazuyoshi Yokota * Scenario : Hiroshi Ōtsuka, Nobuyuki Fujimoto * Character design : Shūichi Seki * Music : Kei Wakakusa * Sound director : Tadayoshi Fujino * Animation director : Atsushi Irie, Akira Kikuchi (animator), Akira Kikuchi * Art director : Shigero Morimoto * Producer : Takaji Matsudo (Nippon Animation), Yoshihisa Tachikawa (Fuji Television) * Planning : Shōji Satō (anime producer), Shōji Satō (Nippon Animation), Masunosuke Ōhashi (Dentsu Osaka branch), Kenji Shimizu (TV producer), Kenji Shimizu (Fuji Television) * Production management : Mitsuru Takakuwa, Junzō Nakajima (Nippon Animation) * Production desk : Akio Yogo

Premise

Characters

Original voice cast

Staff

Episode list

Music

References

External links

See also