Little Lord Fauntleroy (TV series)


Little Lord Fauntleroy, also known as Little Prince Cedie, is a Japanese anime series produced by Nippon Animation in 1988 and was broadcast on the World Masterpiece Theater. The series is based on Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1886 book Little Lord Fauntleroy.
In the Philippines, the series aired on ABS-CBN in the early 1990s under the title of Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe, with the spin-off live-action film of the same title released in 1996 by Star Cinema. The film adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy starred former child actor Tom Taus Jr. as the eponymous character.
In the United Kingdom, the series premiered in the form of an English-dubbed version that aired on ITV between 1995 and 1998.

Outline

The series is a home drama which depicts the process of a grumpy grandfather and the surroundings of a noble family moved by his grandson and becoming mild. Several animal characters also appear in the series.
The story is divided into two parts: part one takes place in New York and part 2 takes place in the United Kingdom.

Plot

The story concerns an American boy named Cedric Errol, who at an early age finds that he is the sole heir to a British earldom and leaves New York City to take up residence in his ancestral castle. After some initial resistance, he is joined by his middle-class mother, widow of heir James Errol.
His grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, intends to teach the boy to become an aristocrat, but Cedie inadvertently teaches his grandfather compassion and social justice, and the artless simplicity and motherly love of Dearest warms the old man's heart.

Characters

Main characters

Cedric "Ceddie" Errol : The main character of this anime, Cedric is an innocent and warm-hearted 7-year-old boy who likes baseball and is good at playing the flute.James Errol : The father of Cedie, he is kind and respected man. A reporter of a newspaper company, James was born in an earl family of the United Kingdom. He married a US citizen, Annie, despite his family's opposition, and was estranged from his family as a result. Due to fatigue from over work, he died of a heart attack at the age of 32 at the end of episode 5.Annie Errol : The mother of Cedie, Annie is pretty, young, and kind-hearted woman.Earl Dorincourt : The grandfather of Cedie, Earl is a grumpy, bitter, and selfish old man at first. He eventually leared to love Cedie and, in the process, accept Annie as his late son's husband and the mother of his grandson.

Part 1: New York

Alec : The stubborn chief editor of the Morning Journal where James is on work.Silas Hobbes : An aged man who runs a greengrocer who initially despises aristocrats. He is also one of Cedie's closest adult friends in the neighborhood alongside Dick.Dick Tipton : A bootblack who is one of Cedie's closest adult friends in the neighbourhood outside of Mr. Hobbes. He treats Cedie as a younger brother. He, together with Mr. Hobbes, help clear Cedie's name when the latter had issues with his legitimacy as the Earl of Doringcourt.Ms. Eliza : A teacher at the school Ceddie attends.Eric : A "best friend" and classmate of Ceddie.Mickey : A friend and classmate of Ceddie.Roy : A friend and classmate of Ceddie.Catherine : A friend and classmate of Ceddie.Sara : Catherine's mother.

Part 2: United Kingdom

Mrs. Lesley Melon : The chief maid of the Dorincourt family, who cares for Ceddie.Jane Short : A maid of Cedie, who becomes one of his close friends.Wilkins : The keeper of the territory of Earl Drincourt and the keeper of the stables.Cocky/Colleen : A precocious 5-year-old girl who became Ceddie's best friend. Orphaned from both parents, she was raised under her grandmother that lives in Court Lodge near the Dorincourt family. Mrs. Errol also lives there at some Point.Brigette : Cedie's distant cousin. Initially she despised Cedie, but by an incident caused by her, she reconciled with Cedie.Harris : The mother of Bridget and is malicious against Cedie.Guard: An unnamed member of the palace guards who protects the queen and freezes, Cedric just called him a doll, and he also doesn't speak.Mr. Jefferson : The butler of the Dorincourt castle, and who constantly looks after the Earl which always annoyes him.Kathy/Katy : Cocky/Coline's grandmother.Peter : A boy a little older than Ceddie that works in the fields that befriends him.

Animal characters

Dougal: Cedie's pet dog, and a dog of the Dorincourt family.Little Prince: A white horse presented for Cedie.Searim: Earl Dorincourt's horse.Lyla: Cocky's pet cat.

Staff

  • Director: Kōzō Kusuba
  • Scenario: Fumio Ishimori
  • Character design: Michiyo Sakurai
  • Music: Kōichi Morita
  • Sound director: Etsuji Yamada
  • Animation director: Michiyo Sakurai, Hideaki Shimada, Hidemi Maeda, Megumi Kagawa, Toshiki Yamazaki, Hisatoshi Motoki, Yūko Fujii
  • Art director: Nobuaki Numai
  • Producer: Shigeo Endō, Junzō Nakajima, Jirō Komaki
  • Planning: Shōji Satō, Taihei Ishikawa
  • Production management: Mitsuru Takakuwa, Junzō Nakajima
  • Production desk: Shun'ichi Kosao

Theme songs

Hikaru Nishida, who sang the opening and ending themes of the series, was not part of the voice cast, but she did play Cedie in the musical adaptation.

Trivia

Shōkōshi Cedie was a runaway hit in the Philippines, as was Hodgson-Burnett's other anime-adapted work, Princess Sarah. Both series were adapted into feature-length, live-action films by Star Cinema. The film adaptation of Little Lord Fauntleroy stars former child actor Tom Taus Jr. as the eponymous character.

Legacy

Ai Orikasa, who made her voice acting debut with the series, said as follows on Twitter:
In other words, she is happy that she got her voice acting start on the series due to having a happy experience of being part of the voice cast.