# Princess Sissi

Princess Sissi (French: Princesse Sissi, Italian: La Principessa Sissi, also known as Saban's Sissi the Princess) is a children's animated series. It debuted on October 29, 1997 on France 3 and within the same time in Italy on Rai 1, and later premiered in Canada on Radio-Canada on September 5, 1998. A co-production between Saban International Paris, Animation Ciné-Groupe J.P. Inc., ARD Degeto, France 3 and RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana, the series is loosely based on the life of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed "Sissi".

## Story

A unique Bavarian girl, Sissi's, life changes forever after the day she meets the charming and noble princes, Franz and Karl. It doesn't take long until Sissi and Franz fall in love and start to make plans for a future together, but there are so many people trying to make sure that the magnificent wedding day is delayed and postponed several times. Sissi and Franz must face jealousy, deceit, treason, and danger between the fronts of Austria and Hungary.

## Episodes
### Season 1

| No. | Title | Written by | Story by | Original airdate |
| 1 | "Sissi Gets Her Way" | Catherine Guillot-Bonté | Dab Sivalon | October 29, 1997 (1997-10-29) |
| Sissi and her family make preparations to welcome Duke Max home, when Sissi finds her twin brothers are missing. She finds them up a mountain searching for something special to give to their father upon his return. The duke returns with presents for the family, including a puppy Sissi calls Shadow. After Duke Max aids in a village fire, the evil Count Arkas wrongfully arrests the estate agent Broner. |||||
| 2 | "The Unexpected Guests" | Claude Scasso | Natalie Altmann | TBA |
| 3 | "An Imperial Surprise" | Jean-Pierre Liccioni | Dab Sivalon | TBA |
| 4 | "Possi's Little Thief" | Marie-Odile Hanns | Natalie Altmann | TBA |
| 5 | "Helena The Terrible" | Jean-Pierre Liccioni | Dab Sivalon | TBA |
| 6 | "Time To Say Good-bye" | Annabelle Perrichon | Natalie Altmann | TBA |
| 7 | "Taking Changes" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 8 | "An Unusual Woodsman" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 9 | "Arkas Gets His Revenge" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 10 | "The Innsbruck Kiss" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11 | "The Parents Refuse" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 12 | "A letter From Franz" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 13 | "The Engagement Ball" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 14 | "Missed Reunions" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 15 | "First Steps In The Royal Court" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 16 | "A Gilded Cage" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 17 | "The Zaniouchka Circus" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 18 | "The Mirror's Secret" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 19 | "An Eventful Christmas" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 20 | "The Fortress" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 21 | "Running Against Time" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 22 | "Lover's Tif" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 23 | "They've Stolen Tempest" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 24 | "A Well-deserved Victory" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 25 | "Danger At The Prater" | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 26 | "Sissi And Franz Keep Their Promises" | TBA | TBA | TBA |

### Season 2

| No. | Title | Written by | Original airdate |
| 1 | "The Tiara Is Gone" | Danielle Aubry and Claude Scasso (story) | TBA |
| 2 | "The Opera Caper" | François Gaschet | TBA |
| 3 | "Sissi's Sacrifice" | Claude Scasso | TBA |
| 4 | "Hooray Erzsebet!" | Dab Sivalon and Claude Scasso | TBA |
| 5 | "Jealousy" | Annabelle Perrichon | TBA |
| 6 | "Good-bye Budapest" | Annabelle Perrichon | TBA |
| 7 | "Possi Must Be Saved" | TBA | TBA |
| 8 | "Sissi And The Apaches" | TBA | TBA |
| 9 | "Hard Times" | TBA | TBA |
| 10 | "The Mysterious Horsewoman" | TBA | TBA |
| 11 | "Hide And Seek At Schonbrunn" | TBA | TBA |
| 12 | "The Great Chase" | TBA | TBA |
| 13 | "Confessions In Venice" | TBA | TBA |
| 14 | "Ahriman Island" | TBA | TBA |
| 15 | "The Shipwreck" | TBA | TBA |
| 16 | "Arkas' Prisoners" | TBA | TBA |
| 17 | "Private Sissi" | TBA | TBA |
| 18 | "Sissi In The Eye Of The Storm" | TBA | TBA |
| 19 | "The Three Pigeons" | TBA | TBA |
| 20 | "Be Careful Princess" | TBA | TBA |
| 21 | "Tommy's Mystery" | TBA | TBA |
| 22 | "Arkas Never Gives Up" | TBA | TBA |
| 23 | "Dr. Fritz's Elixer" | TBA | TBA |
| 24 | "Prince Fritz" | TBA | TBA |
| 25 | "The Double-Crossed Game" | TBA | TBA |
| 26 | "The Triumph Of Love" | TBA | TBA |

## Production

Officially a France-Canada co-production (as stated in the closing credits), the writing for the series was primarily done in France, while producers from the United States and Italy also had input on the scripts. Having writing discussions among representatives of four countries often resulted in differing opinions, sometimes directly opposing one another. According to episode writer Claude Scasso [fr]:
   The episodes would have logically been written half in France and half in Canada but the fact is all the story and developments of the arches were made in France. And I was led to rewrite several times Canadian scenarios that were not up to the standard without getting credit for it.
   Obviously, their authors were working too far away from our energy that was in perpetual motion; ideas did not circulate well.
   The texts were reread and discussed not only in France and Canada but also by the Italian co-producers and the U.S. broadcaster. This often led to lots of contradictory remarks: the French commented more on the structure ... The Italians wanted romance to always be present, the Canadians were not involved much and the Americans were obsessed with anything that might offend the young audience ...
   I remember one of my episodes that the Italians had found too violent and the Americans too romantic. I gathered that I didn't have to change anything, it was perfect.
While the story features many genuine historical figures, their roles were often changed and numerous plot points were invented for the series when the real story was found to be lacking adventure. Major events such as Sissi's trip to Paris, her father's exile, and even an imminent Austro-Hungarian war were added largely for this purpose. Scasso notes that the latter addition proved particularly fascinating and exciting to the American producers.

## Release
### Broadcast

The series aired on Fox Kids stations in Latin America and Europe. The series also rebroadcast on Jetix Play in the regions it broadcast in. The series was aired in the Philippines on GMA Network in 2000.
The series briefly aired in the United States on girlzChannel, and in Canada on Teletoon.

### Home media
#### VHS

In France between 1997 and 1999, PolyGram Video (and later Universal Pictures Video) released five VHS volumes of the series, containing three episodes each.
In the United Kingdom, two volumes containing two episodes each, titled "Sissi in Possenhofen" and "Imperial Guests" were released on January 14, 2000 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

#### DVD

As with many other Saban Entertainment series, the only major English-language DVD release is by Czech distributor North Video, featuring both Czech and English audio and original video (with English-language text) in the original production order. All 52 episodes were released on 16 volumes, from June 4 to December 18, 2010.