A Little Princess Plot

A Little Princess (1995) is a film directed by Alfonso Cuarón based upon the novel, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This adaptation was heavily influenced by the 1939 cinematic version with Shirley Temple and took great liberties with the original story. The action was moved to New York during World War I.

When her father enlists to fight for the British in WWI, young Sara Crewe goes to New York to attend the same boarding school her late mother attended. She soon clashes with the severe headmistress, Miss Minchin, who attempts to stifle Sara's creativity and sense of self-worth. Sara's belief that "every girl is a princess" is tested to the limit, however, when word comes that her father was killed in battle and his estate has been seized by the British government.