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Princess Sissi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the animated series. For the Austrian princess, see Empress Elisabeth of Austria.

Princess Sissi
"Princess Sissi" title screen
Also known asSaban's Sissi the Princess
GenreAdventure
Drama
Historical
Romance
Created byBruno Bianchi
Directed byBruno Bianchi
Richard Pare
Voices ofTerri Hawkes
Terrence Scammell
Jacob Tierney
Rick Jones
Michael Caloz
Sonja Ball
Mark Camacho
Opening theme
  • Season 1
  • "Rien ni personne", performed by Douchka Esposito
  • Season 2
  • "Si simplement Sissi", performed by Douchka Esposito
  • English
  • "Nobody Else", performed by Sonja Ball
Ending theme
  • Season 1
  • "Si simplement Sissi"
  • Season 2
  • "Rien ni personne"
  • English
  • "Let Me Be Myself and Stay", performed by Sonja Ball
Composers
Country of originFrance
Canada
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52
Production
Executive producerVincent Chalvon-Demersay
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesSaban International Paris
Animation Ciné-Groupe J.P. Inc.
ARD Degeto
RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana
Original release
NetworkFox Kids (International)
RAI (Italy)
France 3 (France)
Das Erste (Germany)
ReleaseOctober 29, 1997 (1997-10-29) –
1998 (1998)

Princess Sissi (French: Princesse Sissi, Italian: La Principessa Sissi, also known as Saban's Sissi the Princess) is a children's animated series. It debuted on October 29, 1997[1] on France 3 and within the same time in Italy on Rai 1, and later premiered in Canada on Radio-Canada on September 5, 1998. A co-production between Saban International Paris, Animation Ciné-Groupe J.P. Inc., ARD Degeto, France 3 and RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana, the series is loosely based on the life of the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, nicknamed "Sissi".[2]

Story

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A unique Bavarian girl, Sissi's, life changes forever after the day she meets the charming and noble princes, Franz and Karl. It doesn't take long until Sissi and Franz fall in love and start to make plans for a future together, but there are so many people trying to make sure that the magnificent wedding day is delayed and postponed several times. Sissi and Franz must face jealousy, deceit, treason, and danger between the fronts of Austria and Hungary.

Episodes

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Season 1

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No. Title Written by Story by Original airdate
1"Sissi Gets Her Way"Catherine Guillot-BontéDab SivalonOctober 29, 1997 (1997-10-29)
Sissi and her family make preparations to welcome Duke Max home, when Sissi finds her twin brothers are missing. She finds them up a mountain searching for something special to give to their father upon his return. The duke returns with presents for the family, including a puppy Sissi calls Shadow. After Duke Max aids in a village fire, the evil Count Arkas wrongfully arrests the estate agent Broner.
2"The Unexpected Guests"Claude ScassoNatalie AltmannTBA
3"An Imperial Surprise"Jean-Pierre LiccioniDab SivalonTBA
4"Possi's Little Thief"Marie-Odile HannsNatalie AltmannTBA
5"Helena the Terrible"Jean-Pierre LiccioniDab SivalonTBA
6"Time to Say Goodbye"Annabelle PerrichonNatalie AltmannTBA
7"Taking Changes"TBATBATBA
8"An Unusual Woodsman"TBATBATBA
9"Arkas Gets His Revenge"TBATBATBA
10"The Innsbruck Kiss"TBATBATBA
11"The Parents Refuse"TBATBATBA
12"A letter from Franz"TBATBATBA
13"The Engagement Ball"TBATBATBA
14"Missed Reunions"TBATBATBA
15"First Steps in the Royal Court"TBATBATBA
16"A Gilded Cage"TBATBATBA
17"The Zaniouchka Circus"TBATBATBA
18"The Mirror's Secret"TBATBATBA
19"An Eventful Christmas"TBATBATBA
20"The Fortress"TBATBATBA
21"Running Against Time"TBATBATBA
22"Lover's Tif"TBATBATBA
23"They've Stolen Tempest"TBATBATBA
24"A Well-Deserved Victory"TBATBATBA
25"Danger at the Prater"TBATBATBA
26"Sissi and Franz Keep Their Promises"TBATBATBA

Season 2

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No. Title Written by Original airdate
1"The Tiara is Gone"Danielle Aubry and Claude Scasso (story)TBA
2"The Opera Caper"François GaschetTBA
3"Sissi's Sacrifice"Claude ScassoTBA
4"Hooray Erzsebet!"Dab Sivalon and Claude ScassoTBA
5"Jealousy"Annabelle PerrichonTBA
6"Goodbye Budapest"Annabelle PerrichonTBA
7"Possi Must Be Saved"TBATBA
8"Sissi and the Apaches"TBATBA
9"Hard Times"TBATBA
10"The Mysterious Horsewoman"TBATBA
11"Hide and Seek at Schonbrunn"TBATBA
12"The Great Chase"TBATBA
13"Confessions in Venice"TBATBA
14"Ahriman Island"TBATBA
15"The Shipwreck"TBATBA
16"Arkas' Prisoners"TBATBA
17"Private Sissi"TBATBA
18"Sissi in the Eye of the Storm"TBATBA
19"The Three Pigeons"TBATBA
20"Be Careful, Princess"TBATBA
21"Tommy's Mystery"TBATBA
22"Arkas Never Gives Up"TBATBA
23"Dr. Fritz's Elixer"TBATBA
24"Prince Fritz"TBATBA
25"The Double-Crossed Game"TBATBA
26"The Triumph of Love"TBATBA

Production

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Officially a France-Canada co-production (as stated in the closing credits), the writing for the series was primarily done in France, while producers from the United States and Italy also had input on the scripts. Having writing discussions among representatives of four countries often resulted in differing opinions, sometimes directly opposing one another. According to episode writer Claude Scasso [fr]:[3]

The episodes would have logically been written half in France and half in Canada but the fact is all the story and developments of the arches were made in France. And I was led to rewrite several times Canadian scenarios that were not up to the standard without getting credit for it.

Obviously, their authors were working too far away from our energy that was in perpetual motion; ideas did not circulate well.

The texts were reread and discussed not only in France and Canada but also by the Italian co-producers and the U.S. broadcaster. This often led to lots of contradictory remarks: the French commented more on the structure ... The Italians wanted romance to always be present, the Canadians were not involved much and the Americans were obsessed with anything that might offend the young audience ...

I remember one of my episodes that the Italians had found too violent and the Americans too romantic. I gathered that I didn't have to change anything, it was perfect.

While the story features many genuine historical figures, their roles were often changed and numerous plot points were invented for the series when the real story was found to be lacking adventure. Major events such as Sissi's trip to Paris, her father's exile, and even an imminent Austro-Hungarian war were added largely for this purpose. Scasso notes that the latter addition proved particularly fascinating and exciting to the American producers.[3]

Release

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Broadcast

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The series aired on Fox Kids stations in Latin America and Europe. The series also rebroadcast on Jetix Play in the regions it broadcast in. The series was aired in the Philippines on GMA Network in 2000.

The series briefly aired in the United States on girlzChannel, and in Canada on Teletoon.

Home media

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VHS

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In France between 1997 and 1999, PolyGram Video (and later Universal Pictures Video) released five VHS volumes of the series, containing three episodes each.[4]

In the United Kingdom, two volumes containing two episodes each, titled "Sissi in Possenhofen"[5] and "Imperial Guests"[6] were released on January 14, 2000 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

DVD

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As with many other Saban Entertainment series, the only major English-language DVD release is by Czech distributor North Video, featuring both Czech and English audio and original video (with English-language text) in the original production order. All 52 episodes were released on 16 volumes, from June 4[7] to December 18, 2010.[8]

See also

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  • Sissi: La Giovane Imperatrice, an Italian-animated adaptation produced in 2017 by Mondo TV which did 2 seasons (56 episodes) in 2D and is scheduled to release a 3rd season (52 episodes) in 3D.

References

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  1. ^ "sissi-n-en-fait-qu-a-sa-tete". inatheque.ina.fr. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 99. ISBN 9781476672939.
  3. ^ a b "The redanimation blog". Archived from the original on November 29, 2011.
  4. ^ "Sissi Princesse - Vol.1 : Une rencontre Impériale".
  5. ^ "Sissi: Sissi in Possenhofen". Amazon UK. January 14, 2000.
  6. ^ "Sissi: Imperial Guests". Amazon UK. January 14, 2000.
  7. ^ "North Video – Princezna Sissi 1 | DVDINFORM.cz". March 6, 2010.
  8. ^ "Princezna Sissi 16 (DVD)".
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