, also spelled as ''Princess Sarah'', is a Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series 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 ...

, based on

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

's 1905 novel, ''

A Little Princess ''A Little Princess'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905. It is an expanded version of the short story "Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's", which was serialized in '' St. Nicholas M ...

''. Spanning 46 episodes, it originally premiered in 1985 across Japan on

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially b ...

as the 11th series of Nippon Animation's ''

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 ...

''.

Outline

This work is one of the most well-known works in "the

", the story describes an orphan girl who endures persistent bullying in the dormitory. Negative factors such as orphan, poverty and child abuse are fully adopted. It is one of the most well-known Japanese manga/anime on the theme of "bullying" of the juvenile world, the highest audience rating marked five eighteenths. The series has also been selected as one of the best 100 Japanese anime series of all time by viewers of

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

. It was also later aired across Japan by the anime television network,

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. The channel also dubbed other cartoons in Japanese language. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headq ...

, who also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, dubbing and translating the series into English under the title ''Princess Sarah''. Animax's adaptation was the series' only English translation and the series has yet to be commercially released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, ''Princess Sarah'' was aired on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

in 1993 with some rebroadcasts since then. Its popularity inspired a live-action film '' Sarah... Ang Munting Prinsesa'' and a primetime TV drama series. The show was also dubbed in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

under the title (سالي, ''Sally'') and was a huge success in the

Arab World The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

and widely popular. The show had reruns in the 1990s and early 2000s and was subsequently added to Netflix Middle East on November 19, 2020.

Story

In the year

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

, the story follows Sara Crewe, the young daughter of, Captain Ralph Crewe, who is extremely wealthy due to running a

diamond mine There are a limited number of commercially available diamond mines currently operating in the world, with the 50 largest mines accounting for approximately 90% of global supply. Diamonds are also mined alluvially over disperse areas, where dia ...

in British-ruled India. She starts attending an all-girl's seminary

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where she excels in her studies and is loved deeply by many of her friends and classmates. Tragedy strikes when Sara's father passes away of

Jungle Fever ''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...

and her family goes bankrupt, leaving her to become a poor orphan. The school's headmistress, Miss Minchin, takes advantage of this situation and makes her an unpaid

maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

in the school, trying hard to make her life as miserable as possible. However, Sara, with the help of her friends, perseveres and tries to endure all her hardships until redemption comes at last. When Miss Minchin continues to mistreat her further, Sara befriends Mr. Carmichael, a solicitor who wanted to save her from Miss Minchin's mistreatment until she meets her father's lifelong friend Tom Carrisford who lives next door to the seminary. Tom decides to adopt Sara to redeem himself over his guilt for the loss of her father and to restore her status as a diamond princess. Miss Minchin angrily confronts Tom to get Sara back to the seminary but to her dismay Sara has already been adopted, causing her to return to the seminary in disgrace as her younger sister Amelia angrily berates her for the mistreatment she had put on Sara by making her a maid and forcing her to stay at the

horse stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

, making Miss Minchin emotionally regretful for her actions. Sara waved goodbye to her friends in the dormitory as she and Becky return to the British-ruled India for 4 months to finish the necessary formalities regarding her father's inheritance and to visit her parents graves by travelling in the cruise ship. But she does not forget when she was poor, she gives money to people on the street, maybe Sara and Becky will return to London again after 4 months.

Characters

Main characters

; :* :The story's protagonist, the daughter of Captain Ralph Crewe, who runs a

in British-ruled India, therefore she was nicknamed as "Diamond Princess". She was brought to Miss Minchin's seminary in

to learn how to be a proper lady, after being raised in India. :At the age of four, she lost her mother. Due to being pampered and doted on her entire life, Sara's knowledge of the world is limited, but she is still a very intelligent and imaginative girl. :After her father died and she was left destitute, Miss Minchin forced Sara to work as an unpaid servant in the seminary, but Sara instead feels like that she is a princess inside. She refuses to lose hope and remains kind-hearted and compassionate. After persistent bullyings, she was falsely accused of arson and expelled from Miss Minchin's seminary, where she was taken over by Peter's house. Eventually Sara was taken over by Tom Carrisford, and her father Ralph's bankruptcy was cancelled and she became rich again. ; :* :The main antagonist is severe headmistress of the seminary where Sara is sent to. :Minchin established the seminary from the plebeian birth, and she hated Sara due to the wealthy birth. Minchin was swayed by the selfishness of Sara's father Ralph and was forced to prepare a servant, a horse and a special room for Sara. :Minchin hid hatred to Sara due to Ralph's vast fortune and the appearance of her seminary and herself. When Sara was reduced to poverty and an orphan, Miss Minchin stopped masking hatred and persistently maltreated Sara. ; :*''voiced by:''

Mie Suzuki Mie may refer to: Places * Mie, Ōita (), a former town in Ōita Prefecture, Japan * Mie District, Mie (), a district in Mie Prefecture, Japan * Mie Prefecture (), a prefecture of Japan * Mie University (), a national university in Tsu, Mie Prefec ...

:A country girl who comes to work at Miss Minchin's seminary in order to support her family. :Despite her situation, Becky is optimistic and something of a dreamer. She is maltreated by Miss Minchin and her fellow staff, but befriended by Sara. ; :* :The secondary antagonist. She is a daughter of a

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

new rich ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

of the United States, and a prideful and very manipulative girl. :Lavinia was originally the most popular student at Miss Minchin's seminary, and thus becomes madly jealous when Sara begins to get more attention than her. Even when Sara was reduced to a servant, Lavinia continued to make her life miserable. The reason why she hated Sara is "calm even if she has fallen".From 39th episode. :When Sara became rich again, Lavinia told Sara that "When you become the Diamond Queen, I will be the wife of the President of the United States". :In "bullyers" in Japanese manga and anime, she is the second most well known character after Gian in "

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...

". ; :* :A street-smart boy who becomes Sara's carriage driver when his father cannot accept the job. :He was fired when Ralph died and Sara fell to a penniless, after this he was employed in another workplace. Peter thinks very highly of Sara, and continued to call her "ojōsama" (princess) even after her fall to hired help and harbours a crush on her.

Servants & Students of Miss Minchin's seminary

; :* :A plump girl who becomes one of Sara's friends after Sara defends her from Lavinia's abusive treatment towards her. :Ermengarde frequently does poorly in her studies, while her father, a university professor, pushes her to excel. She has an aunt, , who is somewhat absentminded, but is quite skilled in

herbalism Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern reme ...

, which proves pivotal in curing Sara when she becomes seriously ill. ; :* :The youngest student at the seminary who is four years old. At first, Lottie acts contrary, but the little girl calms down significantly after Sara becomes her surrogate mother. She is a crybaby, and screaming as "Sara Mom" every time a certain thing. ; :* :One of Lavinia's friends. She and Gertrude are initially somewhat in awe of Sara, much to Lavinia's consternation. Once Sara is demoted to live-in help, they willingly join in Lavinia's tormenting of Sara. ; :* :One of Lavinia's friends. She, Lavinia and Jessie are also willingly join in tormenting Sara. ; :* :A harsh head maid. ; :* :A chef that is picky on what he cooks. Like Molly, he is also harsh on other servants, especially Becky. ; :* :Miss Minchin's younger sister. The personality is gentle but submissive. Amelia was raised by her elder sister Maria Minchin and her aunt, so she cannot resist Maria Minchin. ; :* :The Miss Minchin seminary's French teacher. He is impressed by Sara's aptitude at speaking French from the start and is the only member of the faculty who continues to treat Sara with unqualified kindness and civility after her demotion. He was expelled from the Miss Minchin seminary's due to Lavinia's dissatisfaction that "He patronizes Sara who has fallen to a servant". ; :* :A corporate lawyer at Miss Minchin's seminary. He invested in Ralph's diamond mine, and is more obsessed with Ralph's diamond mine than Miss Minchin's seminary. When the diamond mine went bankrupt and Ralph died of fever, he confiscated Sara's property and personal belongings.

Relatives and other people

; :* :Sara's devoted father. He invests in a diamond mine in India, but finds them failed, leaving himself and therefore Sara, utterly bankrupt. He died from fever shortly after. ; :Sara's unnamed mother, but she doesn't speak. ; :* :Peter's unnamed father. ; :Peter's unnamed mother. ; :* :Lavinia's father, a

of the United States. He is basically generous to his daughter Lavinia, but strict about terrible behavior. When Lavinia tried to make Sara a servant, he slapped Lavinia and blocked it. ; :* :Lavinia's mother. She has the same prideful personality as her daughter Lavinia. ; :* :A lifelong friend of Ralph Crewe who convinced him to invest in the Indian diamond mine. Believing himself guilty for both Ralph's death and for causing the bankruptcy of both him and Sara, Carrisford makes it his mission to find Sara and reinstate her wealth. At the end, he took over Sara. ; :* :An Indian man who serves Tom Carrisford. ; :* :Mr. Carrisford's solicitor and confidant. He journeys across Europe to find Sara Crewe in the bedridden Carrisford's stead. ; :* :Mr. Carmichael's polite and generous son who befriends Sara, unaware of her connection to his father's client. ; :* :Mr. Carmichael's daughter, an elder sister of Donald Carmichael. ; :* :Becky's younger brother. ; :* :Becky's younger sister. ; :* :Peter's friend as a chimney sweep boy. Together with Peter with a chimney sweep, he hides at Miss Minchin's school to help Sara Crewe, who is sick. ; :* :A street child and an orphan who always stands by a bakery. When Sara saw her hungry situation, Sara gave bread to her. Finally, she was taken to the bakery. ; :A soldier who helps Sara pick up the potatoes during a rainy day, but he doesn't speak. ; :* :A kind-hearted priest in a church in the city. When Sara picked up a four-pence silver coin and delivered it to the church, she preached that it was "God's gift" and brought it home. ; :* :The owner of a bakery in the city. When she saw Sara giving bread to Anne, she described Anne as an "angelic child". Later, she took Anne to her bakery. ; :* :An acquaintance of Peter, he runs a stall flower shop in the market. She remembers Sarah when she was a young lady and cares about her. ; :* :The original owner of the doll "Emily" at a clothes store in the city. Emily, which is the signboard of the store that is not for sale, is handed over to Sarah, and at the same time she receives an order for Sarah's clothes (measurement at this time will be a hint later). He has also saved a fallen Sarah.

Animal characters

; :* :A domestic cat of Miss Minchin's seminary. ; :* :A parrot that Sara brought from India at the time of admission. The cliché is "Sara". ; :A horse that Ralph kept in Minchin. After Ralph's death, this horse was confiscated by Mr. Barrow. ; :Ram Dass' mischievous monkey.

Staff

* Original work:

's ''

'' * Planning: Shōji Satō, Eiichi Kubota (Fuji TV) * Director:

Fumio Kurokawa , is a Japanese storyboard artist and animated film director. He directed a number of animated television series produced by Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with chief offices in the Ginz ...

* Screenplay: Hidemi Kamata, Keiko Mukuroji, Ryūzō Nakanishi * Storyboard: Eiji Okabe,

, Jun Hirabayashi, Kenjirō Yoshida, Kōzō Kusuba, Masakazu Higuchi, Norio Yazawa, Shigeo Koshi, Takayoshi Suzuki, Yoshio Kuroda, Yukio Suzuki, Yūsaku Sakamoto * Character design: Shunji Saida * Animation directors: Atsuko Ōtani, Kuniyuki Ishii, Shunji Saida, Toshiki Yamazaki * Assistant directors: Jirō Saitō, Shinya Hanai, Takeshi Yamaguchi * Art director: Nobuo Numai * Art setting: Shōhei Kawamoto * Color design: Kaoru Uno * Director of photography: Toshiaki Morita * Editing: Shinichi Natori, Takeshi Seyama, Yoshihiro Kasahara * Layout editing:

Yasuji Mori was an animator who worked with Toei Animation, while it was still known as Toei Doga. He was also a famous illustrator of children's books. Mori was responsible for one of the major animation styles within Toei Animation. In '' The Little Prin ...

* Music: Yasuo Higuchi * Sound director: Nobuhiro Komatsu * Sound effects: Akihiko Matsuda * Sound mixing: Hideyuki Tanaka * Special effects: Masao Yoshiyama * Producer: Junzō Nakajima, Taihei Ishikawa (

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

) * Executive producer: Kōichi Motohashi * Production desk: Shun'ichi Kosao * Production manager: Mitsuru Takakuwa * Production:

Theme songs

* Opening theme: * Ending theme: :(Both songs) * Song by:

Satoko Shimonari is a Japanese singer and occasional actress. She married Seiji Kameda, a musician. References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shimonari Satoko 1961 births Living people Anime musicians Japanese actresses Japanese women pop singer ...

* Lyrics:

Rei Nakanishi was a Japanese novelist and songwriter. He won the 122nd Naoki Prize. Career Nakanishi was born Reizō Nakanishi () in Mudanjiang, Manchukuo. He graduated from Kudan High School in Tokyo and received a degree in French literature from Rikkyo ...

* Composition: Kōichi Morita * Arrangement:

Katsuhisa Hattori was a Japanese classical composer who also wrote music for anime films, television series and OVAs. Hattori was a respected composer in Japan; his style was classical, although he was experienced and respected in many other genres, such as New A ...

Episodes

International titles

* 小公女セーラ (Japanese Title) * Die kleine Prinzessin Sara (German Title) * La Princesa Sara (Spanish Title) * Little Princess (English Title) * Sara Lovely Sara (Italian Title) * Mała księżniczka Sara (Polish Title) * Princess Sara (English Title) * Princesse Sarah (French Title) * Sali سالي (Arabic Title) * Sarah, Ang Munting Prinsesa (Tagalog Title) * 莎拉公主 (Chinese Title) * 소공녀 세라 Sogongnyeo Serra (Korean Title)

Adaptations

The anime was remade into a live-action film by

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Philippines, Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film ...

in the Philippines under the title '' Sarah... Ang Munting Prinsesa'' ("Sarah... The Little Princess") in 1995 starring

Camille Prats Sheena Patricia Camille Quiambao Prats–Yambao (born June 20, 1985) is a Filipino actress, TV host, comedienne, and businesswoman. She starred in a series of successful films and television shows, since gaining media attention when she played ...

as Sarah Crewe. The film was also dubbed in several languages and subbed in English. In 1996,

was nominated for Best Child Actress at the FAMAS Awards. The movie was digitally restored and remastered by ABS CBN Film Restoration Project (which to date are restoring old damaged classic Filipino films) to a more high depth 1080p HD format, and was also released back into the cinemas along with a Red Carpet premiere. The anime was remade in 2007 into a television series, also titled ''

Princess Sarah , also spelled as ''Princess Sarah'', is a Japanese anime series produced by Nippon Animation, based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 novel, ''A Little Princess''. Spanning 46 episodes, it originally premiered in 1985 across Japan on Fuji Te ...

'', by

in the Philippines. Starring

Sharlene San Pedro Sharlene Santos San Pedro (born April 5, 1999) is a Filipino actress, singer, vlogger, streamer, VJ, and TV host. She made her first television appearance at the age of four when she joined ABS-CBN's talent search ''Star Circle Quest: Kids ...

as Sarah Crewe, the drama was aired on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida evening block and worldwide on The Filipino Channel from November 12 to December 21, 2007. The series was shot in Camp John Hay in Baguio City and the Coconut Palace in Manila. Unlike the 1995 Filipino film and the Japanese anime series it was based from, which in turn was based on Burnett's original novel, the "teleserye" adaptation took further creative liberties from the original story, with Lavinia as Miss Minchin's daughter, Ram Dass being depicted as a female sorceress, and fantasy elements being introduced in the story.

Notes and references

External links

*
Animax's official website for ''Princess Sarah''

Animax Asia's official website for ''Princess Sarah''

Animax South Asia's official website for ''Princess Sarah''
*