Voices of Melissa Bathory, Lawrence Bayne, Desmond Ellis, and Katherine Giaquinto
Directed by Laura Shepherd
Music and Lyrics by Mark Shekter
Animated films weren't the only movies that had cheap animated knock offs made of them in the 1990's. Almost anything family-oriented that was popular in the era had six hour-long cartoon "movies" released to the direct-to-video market based on it. A Little Princess, based on the beloved children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, was a hit movie in 1995. This animated version debuted less than a year later. How does it compare to the book and film? Let's begin as a carriage takes little Sara Crewe (Bathory) and her father (Bayne) to the Minchin School for Girls and find out...
The Story: Sara's father is extremely wealthy and gives her everything she wants, but she's far from spoiled. On her first day, she helps out plump, shy Ermengarde (Marieve Herington) when she forgets an answer and is kind to the servant Becky (Giaquinto). Miss Minchin (Nonnie Griffin) is only interested in the money Sara's father is paying for her lavish lifestyle.
On Sara's eleventh birthday, a lawyer arrives and tells Miss Minchin Sara's father has died without a penny to his name. Furious, Miss Minchin forces Sara to work as a servant with Becky to pay off her debts. Sara tries to be cheerful, including telling a story based around her predicament to Ermingarde and Becky and attempting to make friends with spoiled Lavinia (Sarena Paton) when her family can't come to Parents' Day, but it's hard in that cold attic. Even with her mother's "magic" doll Ami Lu, it's hard to believe that things can get better...until she and Becky flee the house and discover a miracle has occurred. and that maybe magic isn't as far away as it seems.
The Animation: Bright and rather sketchy, almost looking like it was made in the 60's rather than the 90. At least the characters have more than one facial expression (as is often a problem in these cheap 90's animated knock offs) and the colors are bright primaries and stark black and whites that pop off the screen. The sketchiness manages to be both charming and annoying, feeling more like a Saturday morning cartoon from this era than this classic novel.
The Song and Dance: Actually, I like some of the things they do here. My favorite change involves the doll. In the book and most movie and TV versions, Sara's doll is named Emily, and she's just a toy she and her father buy at a store before he leaves. Here, Ami Lu is an Indian doll that had belonged to Sara's mother and is believed to be magic, making it even more special and meaningful to her. Sara may even be sweeter here than in the book. She never even attempted to make friends with Lavinia or forgive Miss Minchin. The way they wind the segments from Sara's story (obviously based on what Sara herself is going through) throughout the narrative is creative, too.
The Numbers: Miss Minchin gets a big goofy solo on how much she loves (and will chase after the symbols of) "Money." Shut up in the attic, lonely and scared, Sara looks out to the London night and performs "Somewhere Far From Home" as she wishes for a better place where someone could love her.
What I Don't Like: This has more in common with the 1995 movie and the Shirley Temple version from 1939 than the book. Several major characters, including Miss Minchin's nicer sister Amelia and the servant Ram Dass who helps Sara, are eliminated all together. As in the other film versions, it's Sara's father who finally gets her out of Miss Minchin's clutches, not his repentant partner. He doesn't buy the school in the end in the book, and Becky is Sara's servant, not a student. Not to mention, there's the cheap animation and two dull songs.
The Big Finale: If you have little princesses of your own who might enjoy the story and don't mind or care about the cheap animation and changes from the book, this is an enjoyable bit of fluff to warm you up on a cold winter's afternoon.
Home Media: Your best bet on this one is streaming. It can be found for free with commercials pretty much everywhere, including Tubi.
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