Ouida is the pen name of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé, born in Bury St Edmunds, England, on January 1, 1839. She was a prolific author who wrote more than forty novels, along with short stories, essays, and children's books, during the Victorian era. Her pseudonym was derived from her own childhood pronunciation of her given name, Louise. She lived a flamboyant life, eventually settling in Italy, where she continued to write until her death in Viareggio on January 25, 1908. Throughout her career, she was also known for her passionate advocacy of animal rights.

In the context of Japanese anime and manga, Ouida is recognized as the original creator of the 1872 novel A Dog of Flanders. This book, which tells the tragic story of a poor Flemish boy named Nello and his devoted dog Patrasche, became a classic work of children's literature in Japan and other parts of Asia, even though it remained relatively obscure in her native England and Belgium. Its profound popularity in Japan led to multiple animated adaptations, making Ouida's work a foundational source for the industry.

The most notable of these adaptations is the 1975 television series A Dog of Flanders, produced by Nippon Animation as the inaugural entry in its acclaimed World Masterpiece Theater series. This fifty-two episode anime, directed by Kuroda Yoshio, introduced the story to a massive television audience. A second anime television series, My Patrasche, was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and aired in 1992. This version, directed by Kenji Kodama, retold the story in twenty-six episodes. In 1997, a theatrical remake of the 1975 series, also titled The Dog of Flanders, was released. These productions confirm Ouida's lasting influence as the original literary source for numerous major anime projects.

The core themes of Ouida's original story have remained central to all its anime adaptations. These works consistently explore poverty, class discrimination, artistic aspiration, and the unwavering bond of loyalty between a boy and his dog. The narrative is renowned for its deeply tragic and emotional conclusion, a hallmark that has made A Dog of Flanders a landmark of sad and dramatic storytelling in the anime medium.

Ouida's significance to the anime industry is substantial. As the author of A Dog of Flanders, she provided the source material for one of the most important and enduring franchises in Japanese animation history. The 1975 series helped establish the World Masterpiece Theater format, which adapted Western literature for a family audience and became a staple of Japanese television for decades. The repeated adaptations of her work in 1975, 1992, and 1997 demonstrate the profound and lasting impact of her single novel on multiple generations of Japanese animators and audiences, cementing her legacy as an original creator whose 19th-century literature became a cornerstone of 20th-century anime.