Princess Sissi

A 1997 animated series created in Germany, very loosely based on the younger years of Elisabeth of Bavaria.

More specifically, the story focuses on the plucky young farm girl nicknamed Sissi who falls in love with Prince Franz from Austria. The rest of the series tells of the trials and troubles it takes for the two of them to actually get married. There's her future mother-in-law, who's looking for a better girl to marry her son; political tensions, Sissi's own father, and lots of danger and wacky adventures in between.

The show aired in France, Canada, Italy, Germany, Greece, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, and some countries of Latin America (through Discovery Channel in the late 90s). Several DVDs have been released in Germany.

Compare Liberty's Kids, an American series with similar animation and genre, and Elisabeth, a deeply cynical (but possibly more fantastic) musical also based on Elisabeth of Bavaria.

---

Tropes related to the series:

• Arranged Marriage: Several attempts.
• Catch Phrase: Tina's cute "Simple as that!" Also, Fritz's ridiculous "My golly!", which is mocked when Sissi tries to expose him.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Sissi seems to suffer from it, rescuing a girl from a roof and Helene among others even when inconvenient.
• Country Mouse: Sissi
• Feuding Families
• Gold Digger: Helene wants to marry Franz to be the Empress.
• Gilded Cage: One episode title refers to this, as when Sissi is alone as royalty without Franz, she's trapped into learning dull manners.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: If you saw it on Teletoon, it's easy to tell that Sissi's voice is the same as Sailor Moon's.
• Historical Beauty Update: Not so much with Sissi, who was beautiful to begin with, but Franz and others are really Egregious cases.
• Historical Hero Upgrade: While Sissi was very beautiful in Real Life, she was much more of a Broken Bird, unable to withstand the pressure coming from the Habsburg Court and plagued by disgraces and illnesses. The TV series makes her a borderline Purity Sue instead.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Helene. In Real Life, after an Heroic BSOD that almost had her becoming a nun, Nene actually got over Franz and was Happily Married to the Prince of Thurn Und Taxis (And not to mention, she and Sissi were close enough to have Sissi right next to Nene's deathbed when she died). In the series, she's an ungrateful and clingy Gold Digger who hates Sissi with all of her soul and won't stop causing trouble to her.
• Historical Fiction
• Meaningful Name: Sissi's horse's name means "turbulent wind" in German.
• Melodrama
• Multicolored Hair: Sissi has pale yellow bangs and the rest of her hair is honey-auburn. No explanation why.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: Mean old Queen Sophie, constantly coming up with other brides for Franz.
• Parental Marriage Veto
• Pimped-Out Dress: Especially that wedding dress!
• Plucky Girl: Sissi
• Requisite Royal Regalia
• Saving the Orphanage: Sissi almost can't thanks to political slander but succeeds anyways.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Helene, even after Sissi saves her from drowning.