My Daddy Long Legs

My Daddy Long Legs
Julia Pendleton, Judy Abott and Sally McBride
私のあしながおじさん (Watashi No Ashinaga Ojisan)
Genre	Drama, Slice of Life, Romance
Anime television series
Directed by	Kazuyoshi Yokota
Written by	Nobuyuki Fujimota
Studio	Nippon Animation
Network	Fuji Television
Original run	13 January 1990 – 22 December 1990
Episodes	40

My Daddy Long Legs (私のあしながおじさん, Watashi No Ashinaga Ojisan) is a 1990 Japanese anime television series based on the novel Daddy-Long-Legs written by Jean Webster. The show was part of the container World Masterpiece Theater produced by Nippon Animation studios and was awarded the Excellent Movie Award for Television by the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs for Children in 1990.

Webster's story had been adapted into anime previously by Tatsunoko Productions in 1979 with the TV special Ashinaga Ojisan, which was directed by Masakazu Higuchi. The aforementioned special was dubbed in English and released in the US and is otherwise unrelated to this television series.

Premise

Judy Abbott is an orphan 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 Home orphanage, and ending with her finishing high school.

Characters

Judy Abbott (ジュディ・アボット, Judi Abotto)

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 Home, 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 seem to resemble like Pippi Longstocking, by having red-hair and braids sticking out.

Sally McBride (サリー・マクブライド, Sarī Makuburaido)

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 very 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.

Julia Rutledge Pendleton (ジュリア・ルートレッジ・ペンデルトン, Juria Rūtorejji Penderuton)

A wealthy and snobbish student, she is very 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.

Joanna Sloane (ジョアンナ・スローン, Joanna Surōn)

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. However, she seems to want to marry.

Jervis Pendleton (ジャーヴィス・ペンデルトン, Jāvisu Penderuton)

Julia Pendleton's uncle, whom Judy meets over her time at the Lincoln Memorial school. He is called eccentric misanthropy and is famous in business world, however the reason is because he hates polite society. He later develops feelings for Judy.

Walter Grigs (ウォルター・グリグス, Worutā Gurigusu)

Secretary of Judy's sponsor, "Daddy Long-Legs".

Jimmy McBride (ジミー・マクブライド, Jimī Makuburaido)

Sallie's elder brother, he is the highly popular ace of the Princeton University football team. He is very kind and an obliging person. He grows fond of Judy. Julia falls in love in him in her sophomore year and at the end of the series, they are engaged.

Bob (ボブ, Bobu)

Captain of Princeton University football team, a gentle man, albeit unreliable at times.

Leonora Fenton (レオノラ・フェントン, Reonora Fenton)

Judy's new roommate. She is 1 year old 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 novel which Judy wrote. However, she becomes a good senior of Judy immediately.

Catherine Lippett (キャサリン・リペット, Kyasarin Ripetto)

John Greer Orphanage's Director. Children in Orphanage hated her because she was too strict to the discipline. However, she loves children in reality. She retires while Judy is attending Lincoln Memorial High School.

Mary Lambart (メアリー・ランバート, Mearī　Ranbāto)

St. George Orphanage's Staff. She is a strong woman with humor and acting power, is adored by children. She has a very realistic idea for the education of the orphan. She is a prototype of Maria Florence in next series Trapp Family Story.

Original voice cast

• Mitsuko Horie as Judy
• Chie Satou as Sally
• Yuri Amano as Julia
• Hideyuki Tanaka as Jervis Pendleton
• Bin Shimada as Jimmy
• Yoshino Ohtori as Mrs. Sloane
• Tatsuko Ishimori as Harmond
• Hiromi Tsuru as Leonora Fenton (ep 20-22, 40)
• Hiroshi Masuoka as Griggs
• Kenichi Ogata as George Semple
• Hisako Kyouda as Eliza Semple
• Michitaka Kobayashi as Arthur
• Yuko Kobayashi as Carrie
• Toshiko Fujita as Mrs. Lippett and Margot Foster
• Masako Katsuki as Mary Lambart
• Yoku Shioya as Bob
• Yuriko Fuchizaki as Emily
• Eiko Yamada as Sadie

Episode list

Episode	Title	Summary
1	The Monday that Changed my Destiny	After her parents died, Judy is forced to stay in an orphanage managed by Ms. Lippett. She faced a lot of struggles as an orphan while also tending to younger orphans' needs. An opportunity came at most one of the five orphans to have a high-school scholarship and Judy was chosen to be the one.
2	Preparing for a Journey by Myself	Judy leaves to study at Lincoln Memorial School for Girls. She bought presents for all the other orphans using her own clothing allowance. However, one orphan did not like this gesture at all. She is informed that a John Smith is sponsoring her studies and she is required to write a letter to him regularly about her condition in the school.
3	The Long-Awaited Lincoln Memorial Girl's School
4	A Hurly-Burly Opening Ceremony
5	How to Decorate a Room Beautifully
6	Do You Hate Liars?
7	A Good Way To Use Gold Coins
8	The letter thrown away into the rubbish bin
9	Julia's Uncle is an Eccentric Person?
10	I'm Sorry I Betrayed You
11	I can't believe his name was there
12	A strange coincidence
13	Sallie's courageous challenge!
14	Was the first short story plagiarized?
15	A hot dog and a wallflower
16	A Present from a Quarterback
17	Unconfessable Heart
18	A Thanksgiving Dinner Invitation
19	My Friends, Let's Sing Together
20	An Older Classmate
21	Beauty and Sadness
22	Snow falling on the Window
23	Our Different Christmases
24	As You Like It
25	New York, My Birthplace
26	A Bridge to Tomorrow
27	Being a Tutor is no Easy Task
28	A Ruthless Order
29	Full of Memories
30	Love on a Summer Day
31	Girls in Full Bloom
32	A Twilight Meeting at the Station
33	Feelings That Just Miss Each Other
34	The Throbbing of My Heart
35	Loneliness in Youth
36	In Order to Seize the Day
37	A Farewell on Christmas Eve
38	A Sad Proposal
39	Graduating from the Past
40	Nice to Meet You, Daddy!

Music

Original Title	English Title	Artist	Description
Gurooing Appu	Growing Up	Mitsuko Horie	Opening Theme
Kimi no Kaze	Your Wind	Mitsuko Horie, SHINES	Ending Theme

External links

• My Daddy Long Legs (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia