Arabic Cartoons - Cartoons on DVDs - Sally "Little Princess Sara"

Sally was the Arabic name given to the Japanese anime adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnetts famous novel A Little Princess. Her real name was Sara.

The anime was made by Nippon Animation in 1985, and got translated into French, German, Italian and Arabic. The story in its essence criticises child labour by taking us on a magnificent journey through the life of a little girl called Sara (known as Sally in the Arabic version). She captured our hearts when we saw her on TV, her smiles were charming and her tears cut deep down in our souls.
It is the story of a girl born in India to a wealthy English man and his French wife. She lost her mother at a younger age; and because of work demands in India her father enrolled her in an elite boarding school in England where they taught her mother?s native language, French. She was kind, gentle, clever and very good- hearted. No wonder she made friends and also jealous enemies.
In the beginning it was all well for little Sally, treated like a little princess in the boarding school until the day the unfortunate news came that her father died and had lost all his fortune. She was degraded to a servant by Ms Minchin, ill-treated by the cook and the cleaner, teased and insulted by some of her previous mates who deeply hated and envied her.
But in the depth of her misery she made friends with Peter and Becky, and learnt to cope and smile and dream of a better tomorrow. In a ?fairytale- like? twist of fate she regained her original status, adopted by her father?s best friend and trade partner who lived next door to the boarding school. Sally the servant became the little princess once again.

Sally was a story of inner strength and resilience, good- heartedness, faith and tolerance that overcomes life s mishaps and forgives people s prejudice and cruelty.

From her we learnt that life is a cycle, a cycle of happiness and sadness, cruelty and kindness, poverty and wealth; and that nothing remains the same, but in the darkest hours we could always hope for a brighter future.

All episodes ( from the first till the last episode in spoken arabic!) are to be found here only, on 5 DVDs to provide you with the best quality.

Characters	Details
	Sara Crewe "Sally" After the tragic death of her father, Sara herself must live in poverty. But the hard life as a scullery-maid of the Seminary reveals Sara's most impressive qualities. Despite the many hardships she has to bear, she manages to keep the right spirit and she is firm in her belief that you can survive everything if you only try hard enough. The way her fight is held in the series is a bit different than in the original novel. The novel is mainly focused on Sara's imagination, her fancy to "pretend" things. She especially likes pretending to be a princess; the thought helps her to bear her life. In the anime, Sara does not pretend to be a princess. It is just her character and her ability to make up stories that make people think she is a like a princess and they are probably right. The Sara from the anime has got a very strong will. The help of her friends (old and new ones) and her intention to never give up hope give her the strength to survive.
	Miss Minchin It is easy to hate the headmaster of the Seminary. Miss Minchin is a dominant and unfriendly person and can be very cruel. When Sara lost all her wealth Miss Minchin made her a servant of her school but not out of symphathy. Sara is treated even worse than her fellow servant, Becky. It may be concluded that Miss Minchin simply likes to persecute Sara but things are not that easy. There are several reasons that Miss Minchin is so mad at Sara.
	Lavinia There is no doubt about it, Lavinia hates Sara. She was used to be given her own way in everything until Sara arrived at the Seminary. Lavinia is egocentric and arrogant but she is no fool. She has easily looked through Miss Minchin and is therefore inordinately jealous of Sara. Even after Sara has lost all her wealth, Lavinia continues to hate her although she would never admit it voluntarily. There is a simple reason for this: no matter what Lavinia is trying, Sara would not give in to her. Never.
	Becky Sara has been at Miss Minchin's school for a while when Becky arrived at the Seminary to work as a scullery-maid. Her work is not easy but she desperately needs the money to support her family. In the beginning Sara was just sorry for her. But when Sara herself was turned into a servant, Becky proved as a true and reliable companion who does not let her down.
	Peter Peter's father was supposed to drive Sara's carriage but he suddenly got injured. With Sara's help Peter was allowed to do the job instead of him. He is a cheerful and active fellow and can be sometimes a little insolent. Nevertheless he is friendly and often is of great help for Sara. In his view Sara always remained the gentle little princess who once helped him to get his job. Sara had a hard time to convince him to call her just "Sara".
	Ermengarde Poor Ermengarde is the worst pupil in class. She tries hard but all those facts and numbers and words just do not want to get into her head. She is used to be laughed at for that reason so it is like a dream to her that the model pupil Sara of all people wants to be her friend. Sara has done well to choose Ermengarde for her friend. She is good-hearted and is loyal to Sara no matter if she is rich or poor.
	Lottie Sara is generally liked by the little ones because she always relates those wonderful stories, but Lottie adores her. Sara soon became Lottie's "Mamma Sara" because her real mother has died. It is not to be denied that people are quite right when they say that Lottie is a cry-baby. Indeed she cries very often but she can also be very bold (for her age). For example when she decided to visit Sara on the attic in spite of those creepy steps up to her room.
	Miss Amelia Miss Amelia is the younger sister of Miss Minchin. She is very friendly but always is in the shade of her dominant sister. Miss Minchin makes all the decisions and Miss Amelia never dares to contradict her although she does often not agree, especially as far as Sara is concerned. But slowly a change takes place inside Miss Amelia. It can be noticed for the first time near the middle of the series and more and more it becomes clear that one day Miss Amelia will lose her awe of her older sister.
	Emily Well, not really a character but this doll plays a quite important role. Sara pretends that dolls actually can walk and talk like humans but hide their secret. When somebody enters the room they return to the place where they have been before like lightning and it seems as if they were there all the time. Sara managed to keep Emily when everything was taken from her.
	Crewe