is a Japanese animated television series based on the novel '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' by Jean Webster. This anime aired in 1990 as part of the '' World Masterpiece Theater'' series, produced by Nippon Animation and was awarded the Excellent Movie Award for Television by the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs for Children in 1990. It aired from 14 January to 23 December, with 40 episodes produced.

Premise

Judy Abbott is an

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

who has been given the opportunity to study at the prestigious Lincoln Memorial High School by a mysterious benefactor whom she only knows as "John Smith". She has only seen his shadow once, and because of his long legs, she calls him "Daddy Long Legs". The only payment she is to give her benefactor is that she write him letters every month, with no expectation of them being responded to. The anime covers three years of Judy's life, starting with her leaving the John Grier Orphanage, and ending with her finishing high school.

Characters

; :A cheerful and intelligent girl whose parents died when she was still a baby. She was found at Bayson Avenue at New York City and was taken into the John Grier Orphanage, where she develops her talent for writing. It is one of her essays that catches the attention of a trustee known as "John Smith", enabling her to earn a scholarship from him to attend the Lincoln Memorial High School. She does not know who John Smith is, and calls him "Daddy Long Legs". Even so, she considers him the only family she has, and becomes attached to him. She talks very much and loves story telling. Judy's roommates at Lincoln Memorial are Sallie McBride and Julia Pendleton. Judy has a considerable inferiority complex that she is orphan, she suffers not to be able to confide it to anyone. In the anime, Judy's appearance seems to resemble like Pippi Longstocking, by having red-hair and

braid A braid (also referred to as a plait; ) is a complex structure or pattern formed by interlacing three or more strands of flexible material such as textile yarns, wire, or hair. The simplest and most common version is a flat, solid, three-strand ...

s sticking out. ; :Julia Pendleton's uncle, whom Judy meets over her time at the Lincoln Memorial school. He is called an eccentric misanthropist and is famous in business world, but the reason is because he hates polite society. He later develops feelings for Judy. He, later in the series, admits to Judy that he was her 'Daddy Long Legs' all along. At the end of the series, he and Judy are married. ; :A shy but sweet girl who is one of Judy's roommates at the Lincoln Memorial High School. They become very close, and Sallie grows fond of Judy. She is often made fun of by Julia because of her short and chubby stature. She is strong-willed in spite of her appearance. ; :A wealthy and snobbish, but well-mannered student, she is tall and elegant and one of Judy's roommates at the Lincoln Memorial High School. She and Judy initially do not get along, with Julia constantly trying to uncover Judy's secret background, but she eventually becomes Judy's best friend along with Sallie. ; :The manager of the dormitory where Judy lives in Fergussen Hall, who tends to put up a mask of cruelty and anger to hide what she truly feels. She hates that she is called "Mrs." because she is still a bachelor, but she seems to want to marry. ; :Secretary of Judy's guardian, "Daddy Long-Legs". ; :Sallie's older brother, he is the highly popular ace of the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

football team. He is very kind and an obliging person. He grows fond of Judy. Julia falls in love with him in her second year. ; :Captain of Princeton University football team, a gentleman, albeit unreliable at times. ; :Judy's new roommate, she is a year older than Judy. She returned to Judy's class after having taken a leave of absence from school because of chest's disease for one year. She is good at poetry and sports, she was a famous player of basketball before. Judy disliked her because she criticized a novel which Judy wrote, but she becomes a good senior of Judy immediately. ; :A woman who works in John Greer Orphanage's Manger, the children in orphanage hated her because she was too strict to the discipline, but she loves children in reality. She retires while Judy is attending Lincoln Memorial High School. ; :A woman who is part of St. George Orphanage's staff, she is a strong woman with humor and acting power, and is adored by children. She has a realistic idea for the education of the orphan. She is a prototype of Maria Florence in the next series '' Trapp Family Story''.

Original voice cast

Mitsuko Horie is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer from Yamato, Kanagawa. She is known as the . Horie has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Shadow Galactica#Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Galaxia in ''Sailor ...

as Judy Abbott * Chie Satou as Sallie McBride * Yuri Amano as Julia Pendleton * Hideyuki Tanaka as Jervis Pendleton * Bin Shimada as Jimmy McBride * Yoshino Ohtori as Ms. Throne * Tatsuko Ishimori as Harmond * Hiromi Tsuru as Leonora Fenton (episode 20–22 & 40) * Hiroshi Masuoka as Mr. Griggs * Kenichi Ogata as George Sempleton * Hisako Kyouda as Eliza Sempleton * Michitaka Kobayashi as Arthur * Yuko Kobayashi as Carrie *

Toshiko Fujita was a Japanese actress, singer and narrator. She was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Biography At the age of eight, Fujita worked in radio and television as an actress, singer and comedian. She also sang theme son ...

as Mrs. Lippett and Margot Foster * Masako Katsuki as Mary Lambart * Yoku Shioya as Bob * Yuriko Fuchizaki as Emily * Eiko Yamada as Sadie

Staff

* Director: Kazuyoshi Yokota * Scenario: Hiroshi Ōtsuka, Nobuyuki Fujimoto * Character design: Shūichi Seki * Music: Kei Wakakusa * Sound director: Tadayoshi Fujino * Animation director: Atsushi Irie, Akira Kikuchi * Art director: Shigero Morimoto * Producer: Takaji Matsudo (Nippon Animation), Yoshihisa Tachikawa (Fuji Television) * Planning: Shōji Satō (Nippon Animation), Masunosuke Ōhashi ( Dentsu Osaka branch), Kenji Shimizu (Fuji Television) * Production management: Mitsuru Takakuwa, Junzō Nakajima (Nippon Animation) * Production desk: Akio Yogo

Premise

Characters

Original voice cast

Staff

Episode list

Music

References

External links

See also