Little Lord Fauntleroy (TV series)

Lore & Background

The series is a home drama depicting the process of a grumpy grandfather and the noble family around him being moved by his grandson and becoming mild. The story is divided into two parts: part one takes place in New York and part two in the United Kingdom. The plot concerns an American boy named Cedric Errol (called 'Ceddie'), who at an early age finds he is the sole heir to a British earldom and leaves New York City to take up residence in his ancestral castle. After 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.

Reader's Guide

Little Lord Fauntleroy holds significance as a key entry in Nippon Animation's World Masterpiece Theater, a long-running anthology of literary adaptations. The series was a runaway hit in the Philippines, where it aired on ABS-CBN in the early 1990s under the title Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe, and inspired a 1996 live-action film by Star Cinema starring Tom Taus Jr. In the United Kingdom, an English-dubbed version aired on ITV between 1995 and 1998. The series also marked the voice-acting debut of Ai Orikasa as Cedie, a role she later credited with launching her career. A video game based on the series was released for the Nintendo Family Computer in December 1988. The anime's legacy includes its influence on later series such as Romeo and the Black Brothers and Moero! Top Striker, which share staff and thematic similarities.

Did You Know?

• Ai Orikasa made her voice-acting debut as Cedie in this series.
• In the Philippines, the series aired as Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe and a live-action film adaptation starring Tom Taus Jr. was released in 1996 by Star Cinema under the title 'Cedie'.
• The opening and ending themes were sung by Hikaru Nishida, who also played Cedie in the musical adaptation.

Production & Broadcast History

Produced by Nippon Animation and released in 1988, Little Lord Fauntleroy (known in Japan as Little Prince Cedie) was crafted as an entry in the long-running World Masterpiece Theater anthology, a program dedicated to adapting classic Western literature into animated form. The source material is Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1886 novel of the same name, which the studio reimagined for a Japanese television audience. The series found audiences well beyond its home market. In the Philippines, ABS-CBN picked up the show in the early 1990s, broadcasting it under the Tagalog title Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe, and kept it on the air with reruns for roughly another decade or two. In the United Kingdom, an English-dubbed version was commissioned and aired on ITV from 1995 through 1998, giving British viewers a chance to encounter the story through a Japanese animated lens. This multi-regional distribution helped the series build a cross-cultural following that extended far past its original Japanese broadcast window.

Narrative Structure & Thematic Core

Structured as a two-part home drama, the anime splits its narrative geography between New York City and the English countryside. Part one follows young Cedric Errol, a seven-year-old who discovers he is the sole heir to a British earldom and must leave his familiar neighborhood to take up residence in his family's ancestral castle. Part two unfolds in the United Kingdom, where the boy adjusts to aristocratic life. The emotional engine of the series is a deliberate reversal of expectations. The Earl of Dorincourt, a grumpy and self-centered old man, sets out to mold his grandson into a proper aristocrat. Yet it is Cedie, with his innocent warmth and unpretentious kindness, who ends up teaching his grandfather compassion, social awareness, and the value of genuine human connection. Cedie's mother Annie, a middle-class widow he calls "Dearest," further softens the Earl's heart through her simple, motherly devotion. The story is ultimately about how a child's unguarded goodness can thaw even the most bitter adult, transforming an entire noble household in the process.

Character Ensemble & Voice Performances

The cast is anchored by Ai Orikasa as Cedric "Ceddie" Errol, a cheerful seven-year-old who loves baseball and plays the flute. His father James, a newspaper reporter who married an American woman against his family's wishes, is voiced by Shinji Ogawa; his death from a heart attack at age thirty-two at the close of episode five sets the entire plot in motion. Tomoko Munakata lends her voice to Annie, Cedie's kind and pretty mother, while Takeshi Watabe portrays the initially bitter Earl Dorincourt. Supporting characters are divided by geography. In New York, Cedie befriends bootblack Dick Tipton and greengrocer Silas Hobbes, both of whom later help vindicate his claim to the earldom. In England, the ensemble expands to include maid Jane Short, the precocious orphan Cocky/Colleen, distant cousin Brigette, and field worker Peter. Animal companions round out the world: Dougal the family dog, a white horse named Little Prince, the Earl's mount Searim, and Cocky's cat Lyla.

Cultural Legacy & Spin-offs

The most notable offshoot of the anime came in the Philippines, where the series' long run on ABS-CBN in the early 1990s and its subsequent reruns over the following decade or two made Cedie a household name. That popularity culminated in a 1996 live-action film, Cedie, Ang Munting Prinsipe, produced by Star Cinema and starring former child actor Tom Taus Jr. in the title role—a direct cinematic adaptation that brought the story to a new generation of Filipino audiences. Musically, the series left its own mark. Both the opening theme "Our Cedie" and the closing theme "For Loving Someone" were performed by Hikaru Nishida, with lyrics by Michio Yamagami and compositions by Kōichi Morita, arranged by Kazuo Ōtani. A third track, the insert song "You Are My Friend," was sung by Ai Orikasa herself, the voice of Cedie, adding a personal layer to the soundtrack. Together, these elements helped cement the show's identity across the multiple markets that embraced it.