Sarah... Ang Munting Prinsesa


Sarah, Ang Munting Prinsesa is a 1995 Filipino family-drama film adapted from the 1985 Nippon Animation anime, Princess Sarah, which in turn was based on the 1905 children's novel A Little Princess by British playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. The film was directed by Romy Suzara and starred Camille Prats as Sarah Crewe, Angelica Panganiban as Becky and Jean Garcia as Ms. Minchin.

Plot

Sarah Crewe, who was born in India, is sent to a boarding school in England, leaving her life in India and her father, Captain Crewe. Life is rather hard for Sarah, so he bought her a doll named Emily.
Sarah quickly became the center of attention at school and befriends almost all students, even the school's scullery maid, Becky. The rich yet selfish Lavinia Herbert, who was once the most popular girl in school, grows jealous of Sarah.
Sarah is then informed during her birthday party that her father died in the war. Out of greed, Miss Minchin locked Sarah away in the attic, taking her possessions and forcing her into servitude to make her earn her keep, telling people outside that the girl had disappeared. Upon the downfall of her perceived rival, a gloating Lavinia and her coterie of girls then torment Sarah and Becky.
In the end, her father's friend discovers that Sarah, the person they were searching for a very long time, just lives next door. eventually adopting the girl to repay her father's kindness of saving himself.

Cast

Main cast

Most of the film was shot on location in Scotland, with other scenes shot on set in Baguio, Philippines.
A departure from the original novel and the anime are that the girls taught Spanish as a foreign language instead of French.

Reception

Upon its release, the film and its cast earned a number of accolades, among them a 1996 FAMAS Awards nomination for Camille Pratts as Best Child Actress, Best Production Design for Manny Morfe, and a Best Child Actress award for Angelica Panganiban during the 1996 Star Awards.