Lovely Sara

Lovely Sara Is an anime produced in Japan in 1985 by Nippon Animation. The series is part of Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater project.

The story is taken from the novel The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and tells the misadventures, often brought to the extreme, of little Sara, a girl belonging to a rich family, who is sent to study in boarding school. Left orphaned and poor, she will be forced to work in the institute as a scullery maid.

In 2009 it was made a live action dorama in 10 episodes entitled Shōkōjo Seira, with Mirai Shida in the role of the protagonist, which largely takes up the history of the animated series.

## Plot

Sara Morris is 10 years old, when in 1885 her father decides that it is time for her to leave India where she had lived until then, to go to London, her father's hometown, to attend a girls' boarding school and improve her his education. Sara is orphaned of her mother and therefore her relationship with her father is very deep. But her father, after having left her in boarding school, leaves for distant India and the child tries to behave with demeanor and not to show her desperation for separation.

The boarding school is directed by Miss Minci, who immediately reserves a privileged treatment for little Sara both for the extreme wealth of her father and for being able to consolidate the good name of her boarding school. From the beginning Sara proves not to be haughty and spoiled as Miss Minci expects, (except perhaps in the episode in which she wanted at all costs a doll not for sale but only for display, because she resembles Priscilla, her imaginary friend. ) but to be kind and generous to everyone, paying no attention to social rank: she will therefore try to establish a friendship also with Peter, the coachman of her private gig, and with Becky, the young college servant.

The girl also demonstrates an extraordinary beauty, refinement and an excellent scholastic attitude that will cause her the dislike of Miss Minci, unwittingly ridiculed by Sara, and the envious Lavinia, a classmate of hers, originally from the States United, until then accustomed to being respected by everyone, which in comparison with Sara appears inadequate and clumsy.

In spite of herself, the very bad director continues to treat Sara with respectful respect, until, during a splendid and expensive party organized by the boarding school for the girl's birthday, the sudden news arrives of the death of Sara's father. And it gets worse: the father, convinced by a friend, has invested all his possessions in an unproductive diamond mine in India (Golconda, called in the Italian edition "Goleonda"), and now Sara finds herself alone and penniless. The girl is now in danger of being kicked out of boarding school and thrown into the street, but Miss Minci will eventually decide to keep Sara in order not to ruin the school's reputation.

From this moment everything changes for Sara: what she owns is sold to repay all her debts and she is assigned a dismal room in the attic, next to Becky's. Obviously now she will no longer be able to attend classes, but she will have to earn a living: exploited as a scullery maid, she will be treated very harshly by both Miss Minci and by the college servants, who will unload all the most thankless tasks on her.

Sara's whole world has collapsed, and the only way she can resist this terrible situation is to imagine herself as a haughty and generous princess, with a noble attitude towards everyone, regardless of life's hardships. This behavior, which Sara will adopt with extreme determination, will make her stronger and stronger, despite the evil punishments she will receive unjustly and her slow fall into a hell of deprivation and humiliation.

The various misadventures that will happen to Sara over the months will bring to light her generosity. She will share with Becky the little food she is allowed and will endure the most difficult moments thanks to her determination, her fervent imagination and the doll-friend Priscilla, the last memory of her father. She will also benefit from the friendship and gestures of solidarity of all those she had been close to during the happy moments of her life: Peter, Becky and her former classmates Margherita and Lalla.

Suddenly, however, here is a new fact: a strange character comes to live in the house next to the boarding school. He looks very weak (he is in a wheelchair) and surrounds himself with Indian servants and artifacts. Sara is very intrigued by the man, who reminds her of the times when she too lived in India with her father, and observes him in the few free moments from her attic window. But Ram Dass, the Indian attendant of the mysterious tenant, also notices her and sees the terrible living conditions imposed on her.

In reality, the new inhabitant of the house next door is Chrisford, the now repentant man who had convinced Sara's father to invest all his possessions in the diamond mine. The mine, apparently unproductive, in the end turned out to be very rich and now Chrisford has the sole purpose of his life to find the lost daughter of his dead friend, to adopt her and to share with her the wealth that, once her father dies, she is entitled to. right. She believes she was sent to study in Paris (her mother's hometown) and is having her lawyer carry out research in all the colleges in the French capital. He doesn't know, however, that the girl he's looking for is next to him, practically on the other side of the wall.

The main characters

Sara Morris (Sara Crewe)

She is a pretty 10-year-old girl, who after the death of her father finds herself working as a scullery maid at the prestigious girls' boarding school where she was studying. With a sweet but determined character, in order to resist the terrible situation in which she suddenly finds herself she takes refuge in fantasy, imagining herself to be a haughty princess who does not care about the hardships of life, but who always has a noble and measured behavior. Despite the adversities and humiliations, Sara will therefore become stronger every day, always following the principles and values ​​that her father had passed on to her. In public he will never dare to complain and will endure everything with patience; many times instead she finds herself mourning her misadventures when she is alone, and after her outbursts she will return more determined than before. Voiced by Sumi Shimamoto (original), Patrizia Salmoiraghi (Italian).

Miss Geltrude Minci (Miss Maria Minchin)

She is the director of the college where Sara first studies and then is forced to work. Orphan of both parents, from a young age she had to work hard to support herself and her younger sister, thus giving up to continue her studies. All this hardened her character, turning her into a cynical and opportunistic woman. Miss Minci then welcomes Sara with open arms to her boarding school, when she was a rich girl from a good family, but does not hesitate to rage on her with humiliation and harassment as soon as Sara becomes useless to the good name of the institution. Voiced by Taeko Nakanishi (original), Lia Barbieri (Italian).

Becky

She is a 13-year-old girl who comes from a very poor family and works as a college scullery maid. She has orders never to speak to the students, who in turn treat her almost as if she doesn't exist, but Sara doesn't mind the difference in class and tries from the beginning to become her friend. Becky does not forget all this and when Sara is forced to abandon her studies and work like her, she is therefore always close to her to try to lift her from the despair she had fallen into and help her get used to her new and terrible life. Voiced by Mie Suzuki (original), Donatella Fanfani (Italian).

Lavinia

Born in the United States, she was sent by her father to London in the prestigious Miss Minci boarding school. Model student and representative of the college, however, she finds herself outclassed by Sara, younger than her, but with a much wider culture. For this Lavinia immediately takes a dislike to Sara and as soon as the girl is forced to work in the boarding school as a scullery maid, she repeatedly takes revenge on her. Sara, however, continues to behave with Lavinia in a sweet and kind way, regardless of the humiliations she is subjected to, and this in the end makes Lavinia understand with dismay that Sara, despite her terrible living conditions, always remains the stronger of the two. When her father, visiting the boarding school, realizes her meanness, he punishes her harshly and even scolds Miss Minci. Voiced by Eiko Yamada (original), Paola Tovaglia (Italian).

Miss Amelia Minci (Minchin)

She is the younger sister of Miss Minci, much kinder and softer of character but completely dominated by her sister. Secretly he does not approve of the treatments that Miss Minci reserves for Sara, but only towards the end will she have the courage to face her sister and tell her what she thinks (memorable is the sentence of the penultimate episode "Gertrude, it's all your fault, you're a fool! because of your stupidity we have lost a golden opportunity that will not be repeated ... ") Voiced by Yukiko Riwa (original), Angela Cicorella (Italian).

Margherita (Ermengarda)

She is a shy and plump little girl, the worst pupil of the boarding school and often made fun of by the others, who from the very beginning befriends Sara. When Sara loses everything and is reduced to a scullery maid, Margherita remains faithful to her and does everything to maintain their friendship. Voiced by Run Sasaki (original), Adriana Libretti (Italian).

Lalla (Lottie)

She is the youngest child in boarding school, still grieving the loss of her mother, which makes her very temperamental. Sara immediately takes her under her protective wing and in a certain sense "adopts" her so much that Lalla binds herself to her in an almost obsessive way. In fact, she is the one who suffers most from the reduction of "Mamma Sara" into a servant and her consequent estrangement from the other students. Voiced by Naoko Watanabe (original), Daniela Fava (Italian).

Peter

He was initially Sara's coachman, he is a very attentive and helpful kid who will remain her friend from start to finish. One of the few main characters not featured in the novel. Voiced by Chika Sakamoto (original), Guido Rutta (Italian).

Jessie and Barbara (Jessie and Gertrude)

Lavinia's two best friends, often accomplices in her malice towards Sara. Secretly they would like to be friends with Sara and in an episode even "abandon" Lavinia in her favor, only to return immediately to Lavinia's side after Sara loses everything. Voiced by Seiko Nakano (ep 1-3), Harumi Izuka (ep 4-45) (original), Marcella Silvestri (Italian) (Jessie), Run Sasaki (original), Dania Cericola (Italian) (Barbara).

Molly and James

They are the two college cooks who do not hesitate to treat Becky badly and, subsequently, Sara. Voiced by Asami Uchidono (original), Marinella Armagni (Italian) (Molly), Daisuke Gohzato (original), Maurizio Scattorin (Italian) (James).

Monsieur Dupont (Monsieur Durfage)

He is the patient and kind French teacher. He tries to help Sara keep her studies even after she can no longer attend boarding school as a student; this triggers Lavinia's jealousy and her protests with Miss Minchin will cause Monsieur Dupont to be unjustly expelled from boarding school. Sara will suffer from it but will continue to be strong no matter what happens, as the professor had recommended. Voiced by Toshiya Ueda (original), Pietro Ubaldi (Italian).

Mariette

Sara's personal maid, in her first term in boarding school. Once her father dies and all the money is lost, she will be forced to abandon Sara and the building. Voiced by Sanae Takagi (original), Lisa Mazzotti (Italian).

## Themes

The anime mainly deals with the theme of child labor which, especially in the nineteenth century, affected most industrialized countries. The terrible living conditions of Sara and Becky, and the expedient life of Peter and his friends, were quite common situations for the members of the lower classes [8]. Nippon Animation, as part of the World Masterpiece Theater project, has produced other series focused on this topic: Peline Story - Perīnu Monogatari (ペ リ ー ヌ 物語?) From 1979 (story in some ways very similar to Lovely Sara), Spicchi di cielo tra mustache of smoke - Romio no aoi sora (ロ ミ オ の 青 い 空?) from 1995 and partly also Marco - Haha or Tazunete Sanzenr (母 を た ず ね て 三 千里?) from 1976.