A LITTLE PRINCESS (1995)

Name: A LITTLE PRINCESS (1995)
Item: A LITTLE PRINCESS (1995)
Author: Review

"Every Little Girl is a Princess"

Family Content: +2 Moderately questionable elements.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

A LITTLE PRINCESS is about a young girl named Sara, whose father enrolls her in a boarding school when he must leave to fight in World War I. Sara is popular at school because she's wealthy and treated like a princess; however, when her father dies in combat and the money is gone, the headmistress, Miss Minchin, makes Sara into a servant and treats her cruelly. But Sara proves that no matter what the circumstances are, she's still a little princess. An unexpected reunion makes for a light-hearted ending.

A LITTLE PRINCESS flows together well with a score that matches the emotions of the film. While a few parts of the film were superfluous, the story was cohesive and effectively communicated the theme that circumstances don't affect one's inward worth. It has strong moral elements of kindness, family, and forgiveness. The father and daughter have a deep bond with each other. Sara forgives her bully at the end. However, there is magic in parts of the movie, as Heaven and angels are discussed, but from a child's fantasy perspective, incorporating magical themes. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger viewers

Content:

(BB, C, Pa, L, V, N, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

A strong moral worldview with elements of kindness and standing up for the weak. Family is shown as very important, and the film puts focus on the father-daughter relationship. Heaven and angels are talked about but from a child's fantasy perspective, mixing magical themes into it. It contains some light pagan worldview mixed throughout the film;

Foul Language:

Four profanities and some disrespectful dialogue between a child and an adult.

Violence:

A war scene which has no blood but shows dead soldiers in it. One soldier saves another soldier by dragging him to safety while bombs go off around them. There are a couple scenes of jeopardy, one of which the main character slips off a board spanning the roof and almost falls to her death. Multiple characters yell at each other. The chimney sweep boy is dragged and thrown out of the house by his ear for falling down the chimney. The main character has imaginary stories of monsters that are trying to eat a princess.

Sex:

Quick kissing scene from afar between two characters in an imaginary story

Nudity:

Woman in crop top seen in a story main character made up in her imagination, along with that is a bare-chested man. A picture hanging on the wall depicts a shirtless man. A boy is shirtless

Alcohol Use:

One bottle of alcohol is briefly seen.

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

None, and

Miscellaneous Immorality:

One of the schoolgirls tells another that they don’t talk to the servant girl because of her dark skin. Two of the girls dump soot down the chimney, smoking up the house, to get revenge on the headmistress.

More Detail:

The movie A LITTLE PRINCESS, initially released in 1995, tells an exciting story about Sara, a young girl who grew up living a comfortable life in India. But when World War 1 breaks out, her father, an English officer and the only family she has, must go and fight. Before going, he takes her to America and enrolls her in a boarding school. Because her father is wealthy, the headmistress, Miss Minchin, spoils Sara, which makes her some enemies at school.

However, her imagination, storytelling abilities, and generosity make her many friends, including the servant girl, Becky. Things take a drastic turn on her birthday when word arrives that Sara’s father has been killed and that no more money will come to pay Miss Minchin. Miss Minchin’s attitude toward Sara turns dark, and she makes her a servant. Sara is stripped of all her possessions, even the precious locket of her father and mother, and made to live in the cold, rodent-infested attic. Sara is devastated by the loss of her father, and she slips into the role of a silent servant.

The only light in all of it is that she gets to live next door to Becky in the attic. Becky and Sara share stories and become best friends. During this time, the man who lives next door to the boarding school, Charles Randolph, receives news that his son, who has been missing in action, may have been found. Upon arrival at the hospital, he discovers that it isn’t his son. His Indian servant, Ram Dass, however, encourages him to take the man home with him anyway to care for him, since he has amnesia and can’t remember anything. Randolph does so, and the man, who happened to be Sara’s father, begins to recover at his house.

Back at the boarding school, some of Sara’s friends decide to steal her locket back from Miss Minchin to give to Sara. When Miss Minchin finds Sara with the necklace, she accuses her of stealing and calls the police. Sara, with no other options, climbs out of her window and into the house next door to hide. Her father discovers her, but while she recognizes him, he doesn’t recognize her. The police show up at the house to take her away. As she gets into the police car, her father finally remembers and he rushes out to reunite with his daughter.

Overall, A LITTLE PRINCESS is a well-made and put-together movie. The score fit the film perfectly and effectively accentuated both the low and high points. The editing was choppy in parts, and some scenes were superfluous; however, despite these issues, the story remained cohesive, and the filmmakers effectively conveyed the theme that circumstances don’t affect one’s inner worth.

A LITTLE PRINCESS contains a mixed worldview. It has strong moral elements throughout, with Sara showing kindness to Becky, the servant girl, whom everyone else shunned. It also portrays a beautiful relationship between Sara and her dad. However, there are times when magic shows up in a more spiritual sense. There are multiple instances of peril, one of which is in a war zone that shows dead soldiers and bombs going off. There is also the imaginative story Sara tells, which features a multi-headed beast chasing a princess. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger children.