The anime series was remade into a Filipino live-action film adaptation, released in 1995. A Filipino television drama adaptation aired in 2007. It was also dubbed in other languages including Arabic[1] under the title, Sally (سالي) and was a huge success in the Arab World and widely popular, spanning reruns in the 1990s and early 2000s and was subsequently added to Netflix Middle East in November 2020.[2]
In 1885, Captain Ralph Crewe, a wealthy English widower living in British-ruled India, enrolls his eight-year-old daughter Sara at the Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies in London. She excels in her studies and is loved deeply by her classmates and friends, but earns the hatred of class representative Lavinia Herbert and the grudge of the headmistress Miss Minchin. On her ninth birthday, Sara learns of her father's death and bankruptcy from an infuriated Miss Minchin, who decides to hire the orphaned girl as an unpaid maid in the school. Miss Minchin and Lavinia attempt to make Sara's life miserable and break her spirit, but with the help of her friends, Sara tries to endure all the hardships with her kindness and imagination.
Sara Crewe as she appears in the series
Sara Crewe (セーラ・クルー, Sēra Kurū)
Voiced by: Sumi Shimamoto(Japanese); Andrea Kwan (English)
The main protagonist of the series and a student of Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies, who is the daughter of Ralph Crewe, Sara is a kind-hearted, beautiful, compassionate, brave, optimistic, imaginative, and intelligent girl.
The oldest student of Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Sara's (former) rival, who is bitterly jealous of her wealth and popularity. Lavinia is prideful, sadistic, cynical, and manipulative. In the series finale, she has reformed.
A scullery maid in Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Sara's closest best friend, who lives in the attic of the school. Becky is an optimistic, clumsy, and hardworking girl who comes from the town of Ashfield.
A street-smart boy and Sara's loyal best friend, who greatly admires her. Cheerful and hardworking, Peter is good at driving a carriage and is also seen working at a market. He is also considered as a love interest to Sara.
Ermengarde St. John (アーメンガード・セントジョン, Āmengādo Sentojon)
Voiced by: Maki Yaosaka
A student of Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Sara's schoolmate and best friend, Ermengarde is a plump girl who is slow at learning. She is also a victim of Lavinia's bullying.
The youngest student of Miss Minchin's Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Sara's schoolmate and daughter-figure, Lottie is a four-year-old girl who is prone to tantrums.
Jessie (ジェシー, Jeshī) and Gertrude (ガートルード, Gātorūdo)
An Indian lascar serving for Mr. Carrisford. Ram Dass has a pet monkey called Surya (スリャ, Surya). He is the only Indian who speaks English, unlike his two partners.
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.
Clothes shop owner (洋服店のオーナー, Yōfuku-ten no ōnā)
Voiced by: Takuzo Kamiyama
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.
The other two Indian servants (他の二人のインド人使用人, Hoka no ni-ri no Indo hito shiyō hito)
Ram Dass's two partners who don't speak English unlike Ram Dass.
Peter's Uncle (ピーターの叔父, Pītā no oji)
He is a vegetable merchant and he helps Sarah because of stealing money.
A parrot that Sara brought from India at the time of admission. At the beginning, Sarah's father Crewe brought Bonaparte from India to Miss Minchin's seminary in London as a companion for Sarah. When Sarah faces the death of her father, it was taken away by Mr. Barrow as a mortgage of Crewe's "debt", until Sarah returned to her original life, and returned to Sarah's side with the help of Peter and Mr. Carmichael.
Jump (ジャンプ, Jampu)
A horse which has a white diamond-shaped spots on the forehead that Ralph kept in Minchin. At the beginning, when Sarah was a rich daughter, Captain Ralph bought it as an exclusive carriage for Sarah. When Sarah faces the death of her father, it was taken away by Mr. Barrow as a mortgage of Crewe's "debt", until Sarah returned to her original life, and returned to Sarah's side with the help of Peter and Mr. Carmichael.
Surya (スリャ, Surya)
Ram Dass' mischievous monkey.
Boris (ボリス, Boris)
Tom Carrisford's breed resembles a large long-haired Afghan hound, which in the original work is actually the dog raised by the Carmichael family.
Princess Sara, directed by Fumio Kurokawa and produced by Nippon Animation, being the eleventh entry in the World Masterpiece Theater, premiered in Japan on January 6, 1985, and concluded on December 29, 1985, after 46 episodes on Fuji TV. Shunji Saida is the character designer for the anime series. The musical score is composed by Yasuo Higuchi. The series features two pieces of theme music, both performed by Satoko Shimonari: the opening theme is "Hana no Sasayaki" (花のささやき, lit. "Whisper of a Flower"), and the ending theme is "Himawari" (ひまわり, lit. "Sunflower"). The Filipinodub of the series aired in the Philippines on ABS-CBN in 1988.[3]
It was also aired on Animax, who later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in South Asia and Southeast Asia, dubbing and translating the series into English under the title Princess Sarah. Animax's version was the series' only English translation, and the series has yet to be commercially released in the United States.[4]
The series has been also selected as one of the best 100 Japanese anime series of all time by the viewers of TV Asahi.[5]
Film
The success and popularity of the anime series in the Philippines inspired a live-action film adaptation. Sarah... Ang Munting Prinsesa (lit. "Sarah, The Little Princess"), produced by Star Cinema and directed by Romy Suzara, was released on June 7, 1995. The film stars Camille Prats as Sarah Crewe. In the mid-2010s, the film was digitally restored and remastered by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project, which to date are restoring old damaged classic Filipino movies to a high-definition format.[6]
Television drama
A Filipino television drama adaptation of the series, produced by ABS-CBN, aired from November 12 to December 21, 2007 on the Primetime Bida block. The series stars Sharlene San Pedro as Sarah Crewe. The story is loosely based on the anime series and took further creative liberties from the original source material, with fantasy elements being introduced in the story.
Al Hattami, Fatima Q.; Schaefer, Richard J. (2017). "Female Gender Modeling Between Now and Then: Two Western Cartoons and Their Resonance with an Arab Culture". In Reinhard, Carrielynn D.; Olson, Christopher J. (eds.). Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between: Challenging Gender and Sexuality Stereotypes in Children's Entertainment Media. Lexington Books. ISBN978-1-4985-3957-9.
