History Anime / PrincessSarah

** Sarah becomes Sally in the Arabic dub.

Also known as "''Princess Sara''", "''A Little Princess Sara''", "''Princesse Sarah''" (France), "''Lovely Sara''" (Italy), "''Sally''" (Arabic-speaking countries), "''Die Kleine Prinzessin Sara''" (Germany), "''Sarah, Ang Munting Prinsesa''" (Philippines) and "''Mała Księżniczka''" (Poland).

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Pretty much the point of the story, the [[AnAesop moral]] being that if you persevere in doing what is right and stay true to your principles, you will be rewarded, regardless of how much degradation you have to endure along the way.

The story remains fundamentally the same: Sarah Crewe, a little girl of almost nine, is the daughter of a wealthy English widower living in India. To complete her education, she is sent to a "Select Seminary for Young Ladies" in London, run by the forbidding [[SadistTeacher Miss Minchin]] and her kind but ineffectual sister, Amelia. Though Miss Minchin takes a dislike to her, Sarah wins over most of the pupils with her kindness and her storytelling skills. Among the most important friends she makes are the [[BookDumb kind-hearted class dunce, Ermengarde]], the scullery maid, Becky, and the school's youngest pupil, Lottie (aged 4), who has also lost her mother and whom [[PromotionToParent Sarah unofficially "adopts"]]. She is also a gifted pupil -- especially in French, her late mother's language -- which earns her the admiration of the Mayor's wife during a school inspection. The quintessential AlphaBitch, Lavinia, resents her wealth and popularity, and this gets worse when Sarah learns that her father has invested in diamond mines, and replaces Lavinia as the class representative.

** Sarah herself, when Miss Minchin unfairly accuses her of laziness and informs her that her duties as a remedial French tutor for Ermengarde and the younger children will no longer be required.

* BarefootPoverty: In Episode 23, Sarah bought five loaves of bread and gave all but one to a girl who's even poorer and hungrier than she is. The other girl's lack of shows is one of the clues to her level of poverty.

* HonorBeforeReason: In the anime, unlike in the novel, Sarah seems to fit this trope quite well, believing that -- despite all her trials -- she must not run away, but must remain at the Seminary and face life there. She even makes it explicit in episode 39 when she turns down Peter's offer to run away from the Seminary and stay with his family. This becomes especially poignant three episodes later, where Sarah [[spoiler:is kicked out of the Seminary anyway by an irate Miss Minchin, who falsely accuses her of setting fire to the stable. It's as close as Sarah gets to showing any kind of aggression in the series, as she finally calls Miss Minchin out on her treatment of her, but in her own dignified way.]]

%%* Five Man Band: Actually four ''girls'' and one man, but the principle holds good:
%%** TheHero: Sarah.
%%** TheLancer: Becky, who is Sarah's inseparable companion and GirlFriday through all their misfortune.
%%** TheSmartGuy: Peter, street-smart, plucky and resourceful. And he has a [[PuppyLove crush on Sarah]] to boot.
%%** TheBigGuy: Ermengarde. Not the most articulate or intelligent, but loyal, gentle and even motherly -- think of the time she looks after a gravely ill Sarah for an entire night, or how she tries to care for Lottie when Sarah isn't around.
%%** TheChick: Lottie. She can be annoying at times, but she often stands up for Sarah when no one else does.
%%** ''as well as''
%%** TeamPet: Caesar the fat cat, who provides many of the show's rare moments of comic relief.
%%** TheMentor: Monsieur Dufarge, a father-figure for Sarah until he is [[FiredTeacher forced to leave]].
%%** TheSixthRanger: Amelia Minchin, who genuinely likes and admires Sarah, refuses to join the others in demeaning her, and tries to be kind to her whenever this is possible.
%%* There's also a second team whose objective is to humiliate Sarah rather than take over the world, but they're evil all the same -- though many of them undergo precipitous [[HeelFaceTurn changes of heart]] near the end.
%%** BigBad: Miss Minchin, who has it in for Sarah from episode 2, and who openly encourages the other members of the band to attack their victim.
%%** TheDragon: Molly the cook, whose hobby is being vicious to Sarah and Becky.
%%** TheEvilGenius: Lavinia. Good Lord, ''Lavinia''. Only the fact that she's a girl of twelve or thirteen, in a Victorian boarding school, limits the kinds of schemes she can dream up.
%%** TheBrute: James, Molly's husband, who is short-tempered, and physically abusive to Becky.
%%** TheDarkChick: Jessie. She's good at mocking people and reducing them to tears, and she's the second-in-command of Lavinia's GirlPosse.
%%** ''..also featuring..''
%%** TheSixthRanger: Gertrude, who is not so much evil as just a follower and admirer of Lavinia's. Notably, she's portrayed more comically than Jessie -- she's overweight (and gets mocked for the same) and is often slow to catch on to what's happening.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* AdultFear: The series deals with several. For a parent, the most relevant would be "What will become of my beloved child if I die suddenly, or fail to provide for them?" and "What if the seemingly ideal school I put my child into turned out to be nothing of the sort?" A number of other adolescent and adult fears -- bullying, loss of social status, ostracism, homelessness, unemployment, poverty, alcoholism and child labor -- are also woven seamlessly into the main arc of the story.

* AllLovingHero: Sarah never has a bad word for anyone and [[spoiler:forgives her ememies at the end]].

%%* FiveManBand: Actually four ''girls'' and one man, but the principle holds good:

* EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys: Ram Dass' monkey Surya, who provides much-needed comic relief at times, and also helps bring about the crucial encounter between Sarah and Mr. Carrisford.

* DubNameChange: Sarah becomes Sally in the Arabic dub.

* CinderellaCircumstances: Literally, but also meta-fictionally. At the beginning of the story, Sarah tells Becky the story of Cinderella, and tells her that Cinderella ended up being a very happy young girl in the end. [[{{Foreshadowing}} This is pretty much what happens to both of them at the end of their tribulations.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Used to great effect in two early episodes. In episode 5, Lottie goes missing, and Sarah goes looking for her all over London in her carriage, comes back empty-handed, and then spots her, almost by accident, in a park just opposite the Seminary. This exactly parallels [[spoiler:Mr. Carrisford and Mr. Carmichael's later search for Sarah -- chasing a false trail in France, before finding her in the Seminary right next to them.]] In episode 8, Sarah wonders [[CinderellaCircumstances what it would be like to be Cinderella]], only to [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor find out for herself]] when her father loses his fortune and dies suddenly.

** Early on in the series, Sarah narrates the story of Cinderella to her classmates, and an obvious parallel is drawn between her and Becky, which [[CinderellaCircumstances extends to Sarah herself]] later on.