History YMMV / ALittlePrincess

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Less a casting issue than a hairdressing one, but Sara in the book feels she is ugly specifically because of her lack of blonde curls. The two most well-known film adaptions cast Shirley Temple and Liesel Matthews respectively, and gave them blond curls. But as the films lack Sara's internal narration, IAmNotPretty is not brought up.
** Applied much more in the case of the first ever adaptation. Mary Pickford played Sara Crewe. She was a slight woman, but she was still 25 years old when she played the schoolgirl, and looked - well, like an adult. Mary Pickford would play a lot of little girls despite being in her twenties, and silent audiences were more forgiving of this kind of DawsonCasting (as it was done frequently on the stage too).

** It's possible to read Sara as mixed-race in the book. Phrases like 'her little brown hand' and 'small, dark face' are ambiguous, and her belief that she is not pretty because she is dark, as compared to the blonde, blue-eyed prettiness of a childhood friend, makes all the more sense if she is a non-white child in white society. This may have been Burnett's original intention, based on historical facts which had been all but buried: We are in 1905, a century and more past Indophilia (English admiration and respect for India cultures) and the days of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Mughals White Mughals]]. Nearly all British men in India [[GoingNative went native]] to the point of converting to Islam, marrying high-born India women and having children who were accepted in both worlds. A crackdown by later officials, influenced by Evangelical Christianity, established [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Indian_sentiment#Historic_anti-Indian_sentiment institutionalized subjugation]]. What ''is'' possible is that ''Captain Crewe'' was the grandson or great-grandson of such a couple. Had Sara been perceived to be one of ''those'' children, it would add to her perceived alienness and "uncanny" ambience. It would also mean that she actually had royal ancestry and was, in that sense, a princess. Miss Minchin's hatred of Sara being fueled by bigotry would also make a lot of sense in the text as written - that she is made furious by the wealth and 'uppity' behaviour of this non-white girl.\\\

* HilariousInHindsight: In the book, there was a passage where Sara once read a story about dolls being able to come to life when humans leave the room, because if humans found out they were sentient, they would make them work and wouldn't be able to have fun anymore. Sara tries to test this by seeing if her doll comes to life, by closing and quickly opening the door to catch the doll in the act. This becomes hilarious after ''Franchise/ToyStory'' and many children who grew up watching the film series would try similar tricks on their toys like Sara did. Not only that, but ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' and an adaptation of A Little Princess both released in 1995.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Miss Amelia (from the 1986 miniseries) is [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Professor Sprout]]

** It's possible to read Sara as mixed-race in the book. Phrases like 'her little brown hand' and 'small, dark face' are ambiguous, and her belief that she is not pretty because she is dark, as compared to the blonde, blue-eyed prettiness of a childhood friend, makes all the more sense if she is a non-white child in white society. [[note]]We are in 1905, a century and more past the days of the White Mughals and the once-common practice by British men in India of completely GoingNative to the point of converting to Islam, marrying high-born India women and having children who were accepted in both worlds. There was a time when nearly all British men in India did this, until a crackdown by later officials, influenced by Evangelical Christianity, led to a kind of apartheid to avoid mixing too much with the locals, or identifying with them too much. What ''is'' possible is that ''Captain Crewe'' was the grandson or great-grandson of such a couple. Had Sara been perceived to be one of ''those'' children, it would add to her perceived alienness and "uncanny" ambience.[[/note]] Miss Minchin's hatred of Sara being fueled by bigotry would also make a lot of sense in the text as written - that she is made furious by the wealth and 'uppity' behaviour of this non-white girl. Sara's treatment from her fellow servants would similarly make sense. Their resentment seems extreme if their only point of irritation with Sara is that she used to be pampered. If you imagine Sara is from a demographic these low-staus women are used to seeing as being the only people they can comfortably feel superior to, their resentment of Sara's wealth and their schadenfreude at her losing it makes a lot of sense. Although it's worth noting that Victorian writers referring to someone as "dark" could just mean Sara is tanned from growing up in an arid climate.[[note]]A tan was considered very unattractive before the 1950s as it usually indicated lower class (someone getting a tan from working out in the Sun all day).[[/note]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow: As noted under Values Dissonance below, Becky's fate doesn't read too well these days. Most adaptations change it so that she has been either adopted or established as Sara's equal in some way.

* BrokenBase: The adaptations giving Sara's father a DisneyDeath. He actually does die in the book. There is a small justification in the fact that he died partially of [[BrainFever the shock of apparently going bankrupt]] - which is now known to not be an actual disease in real life.

* StoicWoobie: When she falls on hard times, Sara does her best to maintain her dignity and inner strength, not letting on that she is suffering to any of her friends. The [[Anime/PrincessSarah anime adaptation]] takes this trope UpToEleven, showing how she [[YamatoNadeshiko bravely accepts her fate]], but many adaptations, particularly those made in the States, make her a SpiritedYoungLady, so that she doesn't seem passive. It's worth noting that Sara's stoicism is shakey. She's got a lot of courage and foreberance, but she's not the perfect angel of lesser Victorian books (or even the unbearably angelic little heroines of Dickens). In fact, Burnett flat-out states "She was not an angel." Her 'stoicism' at first is as much pride as anything and it makes her isolate herself further and treat her friends unfairly. She has fits of anger and despair and struggles to do the right thing in the face of her own privations.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Miss Amelia.

* HilariousInHindsight: In the book, there was a passage where Sara once read a story about dolls being able to come to life when humans leave the room, because if humans found out they were sentient, they would make them work and wouldn't be able to have fun anymore. Sara tries to test this by seeing if her doll comes to life, by closing and quickly opening the door to catch the doll in the act. [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory This becomes hilarious after watching Toy Story]] and many children who grew up watching the movie would try similar tricks on their toys like Sara did. Not only that, but Toy Story and an adaptation of A Little Princess both released in 1995.

* TheWoobie: Becky, especially in the book.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** The powerful swelling orchestral piece, titled "Papa", that plays in the 1995 version as Captain Crewe is reunited with Sara.
** The 1995 version also has a beautiful {{Leitmotif}} played on the harp whenever 'the magic' happens. This culminates in a beautiful rendition as Becky and Sara leave the school at the end.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Miss Amelia, especially her BigFun portrayal in the 1995 film.
* FridgeBrilliance: Lavinia becoming paranoid about her hair falling out in the 1995 film. She's used to the other girls brushing it for her so she likely has no idea that stray hairs are going to come off. But at the time Sara 'curses' her, all her GirlPosse has grown sick of her and she must brush her hair by herself.

* MoralEventHorizon: Lavinia, despite knowing Sara was starved, is the one who told Miss Minchin about her attic party, knowing that Sara would be punished severely with the possibility of being thrown out. {{Downplayed|Trope}} in the 1995 film due to her later change of heart, unlike the original book where she doesn't repent.
** Miss Minchin's reaction to the attic party qualifies as this, if not her treatment of Sara upon her sudden poverty. The 1995 film takes it even further at the climax with her recognizing the amnesiac Captain Crewe, then promptly lying and saying Sara's father is dead, dragging the tearful girl away with the police on false charges.
* NightmareFuel:
** The film adaptation adds Ravana, a great big grizzly Hydra creature made out of thorns, to the opening story.
** From the original book, Sara's fate at the hands of Miss Minchin. Sara had no clue she hated her until her father dies and Miss Minchin no longer has to treat her like a parlor boarder anymore. She had sensed earlier, however, that Miss Minchin fawned on her mainly because she was rich. Nonetheless, Miss Minchin is definitely one of the cruelest {{Sadist Teacher}}s in fiction.
** The 1995 adaptation turns the question of resentment into a bit of a TearJerker by implying that her father wasn't nearly as kind to her as Sara's was. Still, the scene in that same adaptation, in which we see Sara's father in the war zone, with all of the dead around him, is plenty scary.
*** In said adaptation, Minchin is scary; she threatened to throw Sara out in the street because she took Sara's insights into her behavior so personally, and Sara was trying to reach out to her.
** Sara escaping from Miss Minchin and the police in the 1995 version. Not only is she using a small and rickety piece of wood to climb from the boarding house over to the building [[spoiler: where her father is,]] but she does it all in the rain. It becomes worse when the cops actually ''wriggle'' the board, first causing her to lose her balance and cling onto the board, then nearly fall to her death after the board eventually falls off.
* RetroactiveRecognition: [[Series/GameOfThrones Ser Davos]] is Sara's father!
** Miss Amelia (from the 1986 miniseries) is [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets Professor Sprout]]

* TearJerker: Has [[TearJerker/ALittlePrincess its own page]].

* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people are aware that there's a book, but certain elements of the films are so ingrained in the audience's awareness of the story that it's quite a shock to go back and discover how different the original text is. Mostly striking is that Sara's father doesn't go off to war (UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar in the 1939 version, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI in the 1995 version), he really ''does'' die (of BrainFever, after losing his fortune in a bad investment), Sara was at Miss Minchin's for at least ten years, and Becky isn't black.

* BrokenBase: The adaptations giving Sara's father a DisneyDeath. He actually does die in the book. There is a small justification in the fact that he died of BrainFever after the shock of apparently going bankrupt - which is now known to not be an actual disease in real life.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The book was meant to be a critique of Britain's "welfare system", with the goal of making sure everyone has gainful employment. Boys get sent to the Navy and girls to domestic service. They are MadeASlave instead of becoming productive members of society.

* HollywoodHomely: Early in the book, when Sara encounters Becky asleep in her room, she sees her as “. . . an ugly, stunted, worn-out little scullery drudge.” While the accompanying illustration depicts Becky dressed as a scullery maid, her face is actually quite pretty.

** Sara escaping from Miss Minchin and the police in the 1995 version. Not only is she using a small and rickety piece of wood to climb from the boarding house over to the building [[spoiler: where he father is,]] but she does it all in the rain. It becomes worse when the cops actually ''wriggle'' the board, first causing her to lose her balance and cling onto the board, then nearly fall to her death after the board eventually falls off.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Most people are aware that there's a book, but certain elements of the films are so ingrained in the audience's awareness of the story that it's quite a shock to go back and discover how different the original text is. Mostly striking is that Sara's father doesn't go off to war (UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar in the 1939 version, UsefulNotes/WorldWarI in the 1995 version), he really ''does'' die (of BrainFever, after losing his fortune in a bad investment), Sara was at Miss Michin's for at least ten years, and Becky isn't black.

** There are three possible explanations for Miss Minchin's hatred towards Sara. One is the scene when Sara unwittingly embarrasses her, where she reveals she's fluent in French. The second is stated towards the very end, when her sister says that she couldn't stand the fact that Sara saw through her from the very beginning, suggesting that Miss Minchin felt inferior to her, even when she lost everything. The third is more substantial: Miss Minchin thought that Sara would be the key to a lot of money. Instead she ended up with a lot of debts. Miss Minchin seems to resent Sara's precocious self possession, intelligence and ability to read people, even adults.

** It's possible to read Sara as mixed-race in the book. Phrases like 'her little brown hand' and 'small, dark face' are ambiguous, and her belief that she is not pretty because she is dark, as compared to the blonde, blue-eyed prettiness of a childhood friend, makes all the more sense if she is a non-white child in white society. [[note]]We are in 1905, a century and more past the days of the White Mughals and the once-common practice by British men in India of completely GoingNative to the point of converting to Islam, marrying high-born India women and having children who were accepted in both worlds. There was a time when nearly all British men in India did this, until a crackdown by later officials, influenced by Evangelical Christianity, led to a kind of apartheid to avoid mixing too much with the locals, or identifying with them too much. What ''is'' possible is that ''Captain Crewe'' was the grandson or great-grandson of such a couple. Had Sara been perceived to be one of ''those'' children, it would add to her perceived alienness and "uncanny" ambience.[[/note]] Miss Minchin's hatred of Sara being fueled by bigotry would also make a lot of sense in the text as written - that she is made furious by the wealth and 'uppity' behaviour of this non-white girl. Sara's treatment from her fellow servants would similarly make sense. Their resentment seems extreme if their only point of irritation with Sara is that she used to be pampered. If you imagine Sara is from a demographic these low-staus women are used to seeing as being the only people they can comfortably feel superior to, their resentment of Sara's wealth and their schadenfreude at her losing it makes a lot of sense. Although it's worth noting that Victorian writers referring to someone as "dark" could just mean Sara is tanned from growing up in an arid climate.[[note]]A tan was considered very unattractive before the 1950s as it usually indicated lower class (someone getting a tan from working out in the sun all day.[[/note]]

* HilariousInHindsight: In the book, there was a passage where Sara once read a story about dolls being able to come to life when humans leave the room, because if humans found out they were sentient, they would make them work and wouldn't be able to have fun anymore. Sara tries to test this by seeing if her doll comes to life, by closing and quickly opening the door to catch the doll in the act. [[WesternAnimation/ToyStory This becomes hilarious after watching Toy Story]] and many children who grew up watching the movie would try similar tricks on their toys like Sara did. Not only that, but Toy Story and an adaptation of The Little Princess both released in 1995.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Almost all the adaptations have this with regards to Sara's redecorated room. In the book, Mr Carrisford and Ram Dass secretly decorate Sara's quarters and leave her things like hot food, warm blankets, and a fire in the grate. Most films (the 1917, the 1939 and the 1995 amongst others) have Miss Minchin discover this, [[MistakenForThief assume that Sara and Becky have stolen the finery]], and this event prompts the climax of the story. In the book, Miss Minchin never sees the room. And when Carrisford sends over a lot of packages with beautiful clothes, delivered at the ''front'' door, he includes a note. Minchin correctly concludes Sara has a rich relative or friend, and resumes [[SycophanticServant acting obsequious]] toward her.

** The situation involving Becky coming along as Sara's maid may be due to the fact that, as a lower-class member, Becky doesn't have the education to gain other employment or respectability in her era. This trope is likely the reason the 1995 film implies that Sara's father has adopted Becky at the end. Plus the fact that social class was largely cast in concrete at that time. Becky ''could not'' rise above her station even if she wanted to. In this rigidly stratified environment, the best Becky could hope for would be to secure a place in a nice house with a kind-hearted mistress who would make sure she was well-fed, clothed, and sheltered...which is exactly what she gets (and the ending strongly implies that Becky's place in the household is more a companion to Sara than a servant, anyway). By the time the first film adaptation of the book was made (the Mary Pickford version), a mere twelve years after publication, this inequality had already become less palatable to audiences: in the 1917 version, Becky ends up as equal adoptee instead of Sara's maid.