The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking

After her father's ship is carried off by a sudden storm, the spunky Pippi Longstocking is stranded with her horse, Alfonso, and monkey, Mr. Nilsson, and takes up residence in the old family home, which is thought by neighborhood children to be haunted. Soon, two children, Tommy and Annika, venture into the house only to meet up with Pippi. The three soon become friends and get into various adventures together, including cleaning the floor with scrubbing shoes, dodging the "splunks", going down a river in barrels, and helping Pippi with the problem of having to go to a children's home. Older children will probably get the most out of this movie.

It seems like I'm one of the few Americans who read translations of the Pippi Longstocking books, AND saw this movie as a kid. At this point, I can't remember what came first for me, the books or the movies, but I will say that as a child, I enjoyed both.

Pippi is a GREAT character in literature, I could consider her arguably one of the greatest female characters ever created.

She's strong, she's independent, she's fun, intelligent and gifted.

What girl WOULDN'T want to be like Pippi? I know that reading about her as a little girl, I was endlessly jealous of Tommy and Annika who got Pippi as a playmate. I wished she'd move next door to me.

This movie doesn't do such a great job of translating the Pippi character. She seems less creative and imaginative, and more crazy and dim. There's something about the character of Pippi that is lacking in the movie and the movie loses a lot because of that.

But Pippi aside, the movie isn't ALL bad. It's a late 80's kids movie with cheesy special effects, poor acting, and a silly story. But through all this, it is still enjoyable. The situations that Pippi and Tommy and Annika get in are still fun, and it's a good movie for young kids. If you do show this movie to your kids though, be sure to buy them the books afterwards and show them what Pippi is REALLY like. This movie is a good starting point to get kids introduced to the great character of Pippi.

There are many possible reactions to this curious adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's classic children's books, with most reactions being a bit polarized on the "liked it" or "hated it" scale. This review will hopefully be a non-polarized summary for those who are interested in finding out more about this movie.

This adaptation is true to the spirit of Lindgren's books (though it is set in America rather than Sweden), faithfully recreating the plucky, wildly pigtailed Pippi Longstocking and her endearing anarchy at the Villa Villekulla, complete with her horse, her monkey, her gold coins, her "whopper" tales, her superhuman strength, and her constant besting of adults. Though a bit old-looking for the role of a (supposedly) nine-year-old girl, Tami Erin does manage to capture Pippi's spunk, mischief, and childlike appeal.

The curious aspect of the film comes in the form of its incongruously modern-sounding songs, playing against a 1950s backdrop (though the songs are quite catchy), as well as a slightly choppy narrative, with several abrupt scene changes that make certain sections of the movie seem somewhat incomplete. There is a silly, cartoon-style feel to parts of the movie, though other parts are quite amusing.

It is a G-rated movie in the first sense, with absolutely nothing inappropriate (though do keep in mind that Pippi can do anything she wants, including climbing all over the roof of her house), and its fine supporting cast of adults include Dennis Dugan as the ever-exasperated father of neighbors Tommy and Annika, John Schuck as Pippi's father, and Eileen Brennan, who is her usual hilarious self as the stuffy head of the orphanage.

The most curious thing about this film is that, in spite of its little oddities, you find yourself feeling quite happy when the film is over. I was eight years old when the movie came out in 1988, and I absolutely adored it at the time. After all, Pippi gets to do all the things that children wish they could do if they knew they could get away with it. Though there is a slight 80s quality to the film, it seems to hold up fairly well, and can still be seen on video shelves at major retail stores, which says something about its appeal these decades later. It is a children's film (as opposed to a family film), which means it will greatly appeal to, of course, children. . .or children-at-heart. But since that is the essence of Pippi herself, then the film seems to hit the mark.

One of those movies I remember being a huge fan of when I was very little. And I am... definitely too old for nowadays.

This is technically one of those movies about a stranger that blows into a conservative town and teaches everyone to loosen up and let go of their inhibitions. Except now it's a kids movie about a chaotic little girl so unstoppable she's basically magic.

It's an extremely, extremely simple movie, full of actors trying to do their best impressions of living cartoon characters. It's over an hour of kids just... playing around, upsetting adults, and defying just about every physical and natural law on earth.

It's not the worst idea, but it's a lot of fluff. And I mean a lot. It goes down a lot easier when you're younger.

And the thing is, my memories from being a kid lead me to remember a lot more about the first half of the movie than the second half, because eventually it realizes it's run out of road. The last 20-30 minutes are practically a completely separate movie.

I may have been a bit bored, but honestly, I can't be too upset about it. It's not Pippi's fault. I'm hardly this movie's target audience anymore, and at the bare minimum, it's nice to revisit these memories. There was a version of me that loved this movie, and it's good to get in touch with that once in a while.

While I freely admit that this is not technically a great movie, I like it. I liked the music and Pippi's bravery. It's not meant to be watched critically, witha fine-tooth comb.

When I watch it, I feel ten years old again, and that's what it's all about. :)