The Prince and the Pauper

Adaptations

Theater

William Faversham and Ruth Findlay in the Broadway production of Amélie Rives' adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper (1920)

The Prince and the Pauper was adapted for the stage during Twain's lifetime, an adaptation that involved Twain in litigation with the playwright.[5] In November 1920, a stage adaption by Amélie Rives opened on Broadway under the direction of William Faversham, with Faversham as Miles Hendon and Ruth Findlay playing both Tom Canty and Prince Edward.[6]

A studio-cast musical adaptation with book/lyrics by Verna Tomasson and music by George Fischoff was recorded in 1963 on London Records (AM 98001/AMS 98001), with Joan Shepard as Tom Canty, Carol Blodgett as Prince Edward, John Davidson as Miles Hendon, Flora Elkins as Lady Anne, Joe Bousard as John Canty and Robert McHaffey.[7] Another version of this musical was recorded on Pickwick Records (SPC-3204) with the misleading cover blurb stating that it was the "Original Soundtrack from the New Movie".[8]

An Off-Broadway musical with music by Neil Berg opened at Lamb's Theatre on June 16, 2002.[9] The original cast included Dennis Michael Hall as Prince Edward, Gerard Canonico as Tom Canty, Rob Evan as Miles Hendon, Stephen Zinnato as Hugh Hendon, Rita Harvey as Lady Edith, Michael McCormick as John Canty, Robert Anthony Jones as the Hermit/Dresser, Sally Wilfert as Mary Canty, Allison Fischer as Lady Jane and Aloysius Gigl as Father Andrew. The musical closed on August 31, 2003.

English playwright Jemma Kennedy adapted the story into a musical drama which was performed at the Unicorn Theatre in London 2012–2013, directed by Selina Cartmell and starring twins Danielle Bird and Nichole Bird as the Prince and Pauper and Jake Harders as Miles Hendon.[10]

Comics

1946 Classic Comics cover

In 1946, the story was adapted into comics form by Arnold L. Hicks in Classics Illustrated ("Classic Comics") #29, published by Gilberton.[11]

In 1962, Dell Comics published Walt Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, illustrated by Dan Spiegle, based on the three-part television adaptation produced by Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.[12]

The British comic Nipper had a regular strip called Will and Bill which updated the concept to be about the young Prince William regularly swapping places with a working-class boy who looked identical to him.

In 1990, Disney Comics published Disney's The Prince and the Pauper, by Scott Saavedra and Sergio Asteriti, based on the animated featurette starring Mickey Mouse.[13]

Film

The novel has also been the basis of several films. In some versions, Prince Edward carries identification when he assumes Tom's role. While animations such as the Mickey Mouse version retell the story, other cartoons employ parody (including an episode of the animated television show Johnny Bravo in which Twain appears, begging cartoonists to "let this tired story die").[14] Film critic Roger Ebert suggested that the 1983 comedy film Trading Places (starring Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy) has similarities to Twain's tale due to the two characters' switching lives (although not by choice).[15]

A much-abridged 1920 silent version was produced (as one of his first films) by Alexander Korda in Austria entitled Der Prinz und der Bettelknabe. The 1937 version starred Errol Flynn (as Hendon) and twins Billy and Bobby Mauch as Tom Canty and Edward Tudor, respectively.

A Telugu film version, Raju Peda, was released in 1954, starring N. T. Rama Rao and directed and produced, for Indian television, by B. A. Subba Rao and dubbed in to Tamil as Aandi Petra Selvam in 1957. Later a Hindi film version, Raja Aur Runk, was released in 1968 and directed by Kotayya Pratyagatma. These films "Indianized" many of the episodes in the original story.

A 1983 Kannada movie Eradu Nakshatragalu was inspired by The Prince and the Pauper.

A 1977 film version of the story, starring Oliver Reed as Miles Hendon, Rex Harrison as the Duke of Norfolk, Mark Lester as Edward/Tom, Ernest Borgnine as John Canty, Charlton Heston as Henry VIII and Raquel Welch and directed by Richard Fleischer, was released in the UK as The Prince and the Pauper and in the US as Crossed Swords.

In 1990 Walt Disney Feature Animation released an animated featurette inspired by the novel and starring Mickey Mouse. In this version, Mickey "plays" both of the title roles, with a cast of other Disney characters.

It Takes Two, starring twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, is another loose adaptation of this story, in which two look-alike girls, one the wealthy daughter of a wireless service tycoon and the other an orphan, switch places in order to experience each other's lives.

The 1996 Bollywood film Tere Mere Sapne is loosely based upon this story, in which two boys born on exactly the same date switch places to experience the other's life, whilst learning valuable lessons along the way.

A 2000 film directed by Giles Foster starred Aidan Quinn (as Miles Hendon), Alan Bates, Jonathan Hyde, and identical twins Jonathan and Robert Timmins.

In 2004, The Prince and the Pauper was adapted into an 85-minute CGI-animated musical, Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper, with Barbie playing the blonde Princess Anneliese and the brunette pauper Erika. In 2012, a second CGI musical adaptation was released, entitled Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar. In it, Barbie plays a blonde princess named Victoria (Tori) and a brunette pop star named Keira. Both crave the life of another, one day they meet and magically change places.

In 2006, Garfield's second live-action film, entitled Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, was another adaptation of the classic story.

A 2007 film, A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper starred identical twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse.

Monte Carlo was another loose adaptation released in 2011 by 20th Century Fox and starred Selena Gomez.

In 2020 a Telugu film version, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was released, a Hindi-language remake titled Shehzada was released on 17 February 2023.

Television

A 1962 three-part Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color television adaptation featured Guy Williams as Miles Hendon. Both Prince Edward and Tom Canty were played by Sean Scully, using the split-screen technique which the Disney studios had used in The Parent Trap (1961) with Hayley Mills.

The 21st episode of The Monkees, aired on February 6, 1967, was entitled "The Prince and the Paupers".

The Josie and the Pussycats episode "Swap Plot Flop" has Valerie agreeing to pose as a kidnapped princess who looks just like her, only for the plan to backfire.

An episode of The Osmonds called "Jimmy and James in London" have Jimmy and Fuji switching places with their doppelgangers.

In a 1976 ABC Afterschool Special, Lance Kerwin played the dual role in a modern American-based adaptation of the story entitled P.J. and the President's Son.

The BBC produced a television adaptation by writer Richard Harris, consisting of six thirty-minute episodes, in 1976. Nicholas Lyndhurst played both Prince Edward and Tom Canty.

Ringo, a 1978 TV special starring Ringo Starr, involves the former Beatles drummer trading places with a talentless look-alike.

The BBC TV comedy series Blackadder the Third has an episode, "Duel and Duality", where the Prince Regent believes that the Duke of Wellington is after him. The prince swaps clothes with his butler Blackadder and says, "This reminds of that story 'The Prince and the Porpoise'." Blackadder corrects him: "and the Pauper," to which the prince replies, "Ah yes, the Prince and the Porpoise and the Pauper." Since Blackadder the Third is set during the early 1800s, this is an anachronism.

In 1996, PBS aired a Wishbone adaptation titled "The Prince and the Pooch" with Wishbone playing both Tom Canty and Edward VI.

The BBC produced a six-part dramatization of the story in 1996, adapted by Julian Fellowes, starring James Purefoy, with Keith Michell reprising his role of Henry VIII. This series was nominated for a British Academy Children's Award.[16][17][18]

A 2011 episode of Phineas and Ferb ("Make Play", season 2, episode 64) follows a similar storyline, with Candace switching places with Princess Baldegunde of Drusselstein and discovering that royal life is dull.

Switched at Birth is an American teen and family drama television series that premiered on ABC Family on June 6, 2011.

Starting with the episode "The Shepherd" (premiered on December 4, 2011), the TV series Once Upon a Time introduced a version of the story where a shepherd named David is the Pauper and Prince James is the Prince.

The 2017 Japanese anime series Princess Principal uses a similar story as the background for the characters Ange and Princess Charlotte; their history is revealed by Ange under the guise of a fairy tale named "The Princess and the Pickpocket". Ten years prior to the start of the series, Ange, who was actually the real Princess Charlotte, met Princess, who was actually a common pickpocket named Ange and looked identical to her. They befriended one another and eventually decided to trade places for a day. Soon after the switch, however, a Revolution broke out and divided their country, separating the girls and leaving them trapped in each other's roles.

In The Princess Switch (a Netflix romantic Christmas film released in November 2018 starring Vanessa Hudgens) Margaret, the Duchess of Montenaro, changes place with baker Stacy who she accidentally meets. That plot results in 2 new love stories. This film is the first installment in The Princess Switch trilogy. It was followed by a Sequel, The Princess Switch: Switched Again, which premiered on November 19, 2020, and the threequel, The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star, which premiered on November 18, 2021. The series is produced by Netflix and released exclusively through its streaming services as Netflix Original Films.

Sister Swap is an 2022 American series of TV films, starring sisters Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Ashley Williams. The films were originally broadcast on Hallmark Channel, as part of the channel's "Countdown to Christmas" seasonal programming.

Video games

In 1996, C&E, a Taiwanese software company, released an RPG video game for Sega Genesis entitled 新乞丐王子/Xīn qǐgài wángzǐ ("New Beggar Prince"). Its story was inspired by the book, with the addition of fantastic elements such as magic, monsters, and other RPG themes. The game was ported to PC in 1998. It was eventually licensed in an English translation and released in 2006 as Beggar Prince by independent game publisher Super Fighter Team. This was one of the first new games for the discontinued Sega platform since 1998 and is perhaps the first video game adaptation of the book.


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