| A Little Princess | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical re-release poster | |
| Directed by | Alfonso Cuarón |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | A Little Princess 1905 novel byFrances Hodgson Burnett |
| Produced by | Mark Johnson |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki |
| Edited by | Steven Weisberg |
| Music by | Patrick Doyle |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $17 million[2] |
| Box office | $10 million[3] |
A Little Princess is a 1995 Americanfantasydrama film directed byAlfonso Cuarón. Loosely based upon the 1905 novelA Little Princess byFrances Hodgson Burnett, the film starsEleanor Bron,Liam Cunningham,Liesel Matthews (in her film debut),Vanessa Lee Chester,Rusty Schwimmer,Arthur Malet, andErrol Sitahal. Its plot, heavily influenced by the1939 cinematic version, focuses on a young girl who is relegated to a life of servitude at aNew Yorkboarding school after receiving news that her father was killed in combat.
A Little Princess was released in the United States byWarner Bros., through theirFamily Entertainment label, on May 10, 1995. The film received critical acclaim and grossed $10 million.
In 1914, a kind-hearted and beautiful young girl named Sara Crewe lives inIndia with her widowed father Richard, a wealthyBritish Army Officer who shares her love for stories ofmyths andmagic. Called in to serve in theGreat War, Richard enrolls her at the all-girlsboarding school inNew York City which her late mother had attended. It is run by a haughty and spitefulheadmistress, Miss Maria Minchin, and her kindly sister Amelia.
Instructing Miss Minchin to spare no expense for his daughter's comfort, Richard furnishes the school's largest suite and leaves Sara with alocket once owned by her mother and adoll named Emily. These he tells her will keep them connected through magic.
Although stifled by Miss Minchin’s strictness, Sara becomes popular among the girls, including an African-Americanscullery maid, Becky, for her kindness and powerful imagination. In her spare time, she writes to her father. He gets caught in agas attack while trying to save a fellow soldier in thetrenches.
Hoping to extort more money from Richard, Miss Minchin throws Sara a lavish birthday party, but Richard'ssolicitor arrives with news that he has been killed in battle; the British government has seized his assets, leaving Sara penniless. Miss Minchin moves Sara to the school's attic with Becky to work as a servant and confiscates her belongings, including the locket, allowing her to keep only Emily and a book.
Though her life is bleak, Sara remains kind to others, but gets her revenge on Lavinia, the school bully. Charles Randolph, the elderly neighbor who lives near the school, receives word that his son John has been declaredmissing in action while fighting in Europe. Ram Dass, Charles' Indian associate, comes to notice Sara from the neighboring attic, overhearing her imaginative stories. When a wounded soldier suffering fromamnesia is misidentified as John, Ram Dass encourages Charles to take the man in.
Meanwhile, Sara's friends sneak into Miss Minchin’s office and recover her locket, visiting Sara that night to hear her tales of PrinceRama. After catching Sara with the other girls, Miss Minchin punishes her and has Becky locked up in the attic for an entire day. However, Sara stands up to Miss Minchin’s cruelty with her father's belief that "all girls are princesses" regardless of their lot in life. She later comforts Becky by imagining a feast and fine clothes for them. The next day, they awaken to find that the dream has come true, with their attic secretly transformed by Ram Dass.
With Sara's encouragement, Amelia runs away with the milkman, with whom she is in love. Later, Miss Minchin discovers that the locket is missing. Confronting Sara in the attic, she accuses her of "stealing" the finery left by Ram Dass and viciously locks Sara in her room while she summons the police.
With Becky's help, Sara narrowly escapes by making a perilous climb over to the Randolph house. As Miss Minchin and the police search for her, Sara discovers that her father Richard is the recovering soldier, but suffering fromamnesia, he does not recognize her. Although Miss Minchin clearly recognizes Richard, she instead lies by callously saying that Sara has "no father". As Sara is dragged away by the police, Ram Dass helps Richard regain his memory. Outside Richard saves her, and the two are happily reunited while Miss Minchin, defeated, angrily walks away.
Sometime later, Charles has taken over the school, now a much happier place for the girls, and has found peace in knowing that Richard tried to save his son. Richard's fortune has been restored, and he has adopted Becky. As punishment for her vile treatment of Sara and the other girls, Miss Minchin is reduced to working for a youngchimney sweep she mistreated earlier. Sara gives Emily to the girls and shares an unexpected hug with Lavinia, before she and Becky depart for home.
| A Little Princess | ||||
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| Film score by | ||||
| Released | May 9, 1995 | |||
| Length | 49:57 | |||
| Label | Varèse Sarabande | |||
| Patrick Doyle chronology | ||||
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All of the tracks were composed byPatrick Doyle. Three of the tracks feature soloists. The "String Quintet in C major Perger 108, MH 187" byMichael Haydn is also used in the film. The film also features theNew London Children's Choir.
On May 2, 2025,Varèse Sarabande released an expanded deluxe edition of the soundtrack which featured an 11-minute bonus section of unreleased cues and alternates with 7 tracks, including 3 suites. New liner notes for this release were provided by Daniel Schweiger.[4]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 97% of 38 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Alfonso Cuarón adapts Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel with a keen sense of magic realism, vividly recreating the world of childhood as seen through the characters."[5]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[6]
Janet Maslin called the film "a bright, beautiful and enchantingly childlike vision", one that "draw[s] its audience into the wittily heightened reality of a fairy tale" and "takes enough liberties to re-invent rather than embalm Miss Burnett's assiduously beloved story". She concluded:
From the huge head of an Indian deity, used as a place where stories are told and children play, to the agile way a tear drips from Sara's eye to a letter read by her father in the rain,A Little Princess has been conceived, staged and edited with special grace. Less an actors' film than a series of elaboratetableaux, it has a visual eloquence that extends well beyond the limits of its story. To see Sara whirling ecstatically in her attic room on a snowy night, exulting in the feelings summoned by an evocative sight in a nearby window, is to know just how stirringly lovely a children's film can be.[7]
Rita Kempley ofThe Washington Post called the film Cuarón's "dazzling North American [sic] debut" and wrote it "exquisitely re-creates the ephemeral world of childhood, an enchanted kingdom where everything, even make-believe, seems possible ... Unlike most distaff mythology, the film does not concern the heroine's sexual awakening; it's more like the typicalhero's journey described by scholar Joseph Campbell. Sara, the adored and pampered child of a wealthy British widower, must pass a series of tests, thereby discovering her inner strengths".[8]
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[9] | Best Art Direction | Bo Welch andCheryl Carasik | Nominated |
| Best Cinematography | Emmanuel Lubezki | Nominated | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[10] | Best Picture | 2nd place | |
| Best Production Design | Bo Welch | Won | |
| Best Music | Patrick Doyle | Won | |
| Young Artist Awards[11] | Best Family Feature - Drama | Nominated | |
| Best Young Leading Actress | Vanessa Lee Chester | Nominated | |
| Liesel Matthews | Nominated |
As of April 1997[update] Warner Bros. sold two million copies for an estimated $32 million in video revenue—the studio receiving 75%—greatly exceeding box office gross.[12] The film was first released onVHS andLaserDisc on September 19, 1995 and was first released onDVD on November 19, 1997.
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