ryuuseipro Reviews

Pippi Longstocking (1969)

Definitely the ultimate Pippi Longstocking movie, though it does its source material no justice!

[9/10 · 19 July 2011]

This, the first compilation film of the PIPPI LONGSTOCKING TV series (which I reviewed elsewhere here on IMDb), is where most of the world got its first major exposure to Pippi! Especially here in the US, where it has become a children's cult film classic, presented at kiddie matinées, and being played on local television stations in the 70s and early 80s. My older sister remembered these from her childhood!

I don't recall if the movie got released in Sweden, but it was originally compiled and released in West Germany (where the TV series was co-produced), where it's known by Pippi's German name, PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF. One point being that the film uses the German arrangement of Jan Johansson's theme song, "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" (called "Hey, Pippi Longstocking!" in Germany) arranged here by Konrad Elfers (who also did the new soundtrack that completely replaces that of Georg Riedel from the Swedish version, although Elfers rearranges some of Riedel's songs from the show). While I prefer Riedel's compositions, Elfers' work is not half bad, either!

Having seen the entire Olle Hellbom-helmed TV series, starring the wonderful Inger Nilsson in the title role, it overall had a very strong continuity flow, and a lot of great moments in each episode. You only get a fraction of those great moments in this compilation film. The movie essentially takes all of the TV series' best moments, as well as all of its major plot lines, and puts them together, with the intent of making this the one ultimate Pippi Longstocking film. In the process, it makes the sequel PIPPI GOES ON BOARD rather redundant, especially in relation to the book of the same name. (Needless to say, the entire TV series is superbly made up of the first two books, PIPPI LONGSTOCKING and PIPPI GOES ON BOARD, with a few elements from the third book, PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS. Combining the first two books, and usually ending with the latter, seems to be a very popular practice with most adaptations.) This is basically a very condensed version of the TV series, told at a clipped pace. Thus, if you're used to the series as a whole, its impact is somewhat lost in this compilation.

The English dubbing, supervised by Gordon Zahler, is a mixed bag (but something casual viewers will no doubt get a laugh out of). The voices for Pippi (Nilsson), Tommy (Pär Sundberg), Annika (Maria Persson), and the other children, obviously done by adults, are rarely convincing. Pippi, at times, sounds a little like Velma from SCOOBY-DOO! On the other hand, the adult characters, of course, sound just right. Most amusing is that Pippi's father Captain Longstocking (Beppe Wolgers) is dubbed with an Italian accent! Needless to say, the quality of the dubbing would be greatly improved with PIPPI GOES ON BOARD (where Fred Ladd took over dubbing the rest of the series).

Maybe I'm being unfair to this film. Is it recommendable? Yes! Definitely. If you're a fan of Pippi Longstocking and Inger Nilsson, and you're looking for 90 minutes to spare, this film is still very fun, fast-paced, and never a dull moment. As a matter of fact, as far as feature-length Pippi movies go, you can't go wrong with this film!

For the trivially curious, Episodes 1, 3, 2, 5 (partly), 9, 10, 11 (brief scenes), 12, and 13, in that order, are the bases for this compilation.

Despite the criticism of Pippi fans here in the US (myself included) and abroad, this film was a box-office success! So successful that the producers in Germany did the sequel compilation film, PIPPI GOES ON BOARD, to capitalize on this film's success.

In summary, despite its faults, this compilation film is definitely a classic! Undoubtedly THE Pippi Longstocking motion picture to watch.

Pippi Goes on Board (1969)

The weaker of the Pippi films on one level, a major improvement on another!

[8/10 · 19 July 2011]

PIPPI GOES ON BOARD (known in Germany as DIE NEUESTEN ABENTEUER VON PIPPI LANGSTRUMPF: PIPPI GEHT VON BORD/THE NEWEST ADVENTURES OF PIPPI LONGSTOCKING: PIPPI GOES ON BOARD), the second German compilation film of the 1969 Swedish PIPPI LONGSTOCKING TV series (which I reviewed elsewhere here on IMDb), is admittedly a mixed bag on one level. If you remember, the first PIPPI LONGSTOCKING compilation film is basically a cut & paste pastiche of most of the best parts of the TV series (on the intent of making that the ultimate Pippi film), right? Well, PIPPI GOES ON BOARD further capitalizes on its success by taking the *leftover* best parts from the series! If you're used to the series and its solid structure, the result is somewhat of a mess.

On the other hand, this film is a major improvement over the first film on another level, as the English dubbing uses real kids to do the dubbing voices of Pippi (Inger Nilsson) and her pals Tommy (Pär Sundberg) and Annika (Maria Persson)! Despite their obvious New York accents (all of the films from this point on were dubbed in NY; I think the first was dubbed in California; either way, the distribution for all four was handled by the Boston-based film distribution company, G.G. Communications), the children voice actors did a great job, and lent much needed charm to the characters they performed. Fred Ladd, best known for bringing classic anime shows (ASTRO BOY, GIGANTOR, etc.) to the US, takes over the dubbing for the series from this point forward, and you'll recognize some of the adult voice actors here, too! (Some are veterans at Titra Studios on the dubbing for various Japanese sci-fi film classics.) The funny thing is, the US dub got the policemen Kling (Ulf G. Johnsson) and Klang (Göthe Grefbo)'s names mixed up! Despite that, veterans Gil Mack and Ray Owens ("Klang" and "Kling," er, Kling and Klang, respectively) did a great job dubbing their voices. And from this point onwards, Captain Longstocking (Beppe Wolgers) has the voice of a classic Italian movie Hercules than the, well, Italian accent he got in the first film!

This film's music score is done by German composers Konrad Elfers (who scored the previous film), and Christian Bruhn, who turns up very good music and songs that compare quite well with the works of original Swedish composer Georg Riedel. While the German version uses Elfers' same arrangement of Jan Johansson's "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" (AKA: "Hey, Pippi Longstocking!") in the opening credits, the US version uses a whole new rearrangement, which I like even better! This new arrangement of the theme song (with lyrics by E. Jonny Graff and Lenny Whitcup) recalls the tune for the classic Tootsie Roll animated commercials, and is sung by little kids. It's really cute!

Now, let's consider this film's title. The climax/ending of the last film (which really *should've* been the climax/ending of this film, as in the book of the same title) is put at the beginning as a flashback, so the extracted material from the series used in this film is totally retconned! In a way, that's actually funny. Probably so much so that the movie was retitled HERE COMES PIPPI LONGSTOCKING (HÄR KOMMER PIPPI LÅNGSTRUMP) when released in Sweden! I gather that it must've been Astrid Lindgren's decision, as it would have been rather a deviation of the book it was based on.

But I'll admit it; despite this film being the weaker of the films, it's definitely *not* unwatchable. We still get great Pippi fun in this film! You'll see a lot of great moments you never got to see in the first film. And, as I said, with much better dubbing! It's very entertaining, even very touching.

The first half of the film uses Episodes 13, 3, 4, 5, 11, and 2 (in that order), which are practically cut and pasted all over the place, but we get a far more consistent flow with the usage of Episodes 6, 7, and 8 in the second half.

In summary, I still recommend this film very highly! It is best seen as a double-feature with the first PIPPI LONGSTOCKING film. Of course, this movie would be followed by the two feature-length movie sequels to the TV series, PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS and PIPPI ON THE RUN!

Shirley Temple's Storybook: Pippi Longstocking (1961) Season 2, Episode 15

The first good adaptation of Pippi Longstocking, and historically important, too!

[10/10 · 13 December 2010]

This episode of THE SHIRLEY TEMPLE SHOW (AKA: SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK), the first episode of 1961, was the 2nd movie/TV adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking books, but is also very historically important; it was the first American adaptation, the first Pippi done in color, and the very first adaptation where Pippi is played by a child actress, as opposed to an adult (as was the case with the very first adaptation, the 1949 B&W Swedish film PIPPI LONGSTOCKING, which starred then 26 year old Viveca Serlachius in the title role). One could even say that this teleplay would set the pace for the more well-known Swedish TV series starring Inger Nilsson 8 years later! Shirley Temple hosts the story, about a little girl named Susan Scholfield, who, along with her little sister Betsy, is frustrated about having to go to bed so early, and wants to imagine a wonderful little girl, identical in appearance to herself, who's free from all grown-up rules, so she tells Betsy about the girl she imagined named Pippi Longstocking! And the story proper begins from there.

Pippi, her pet monkey Mr. Nilsson, and her friends Tommy and Annika are all accounted for. Pippi's horse, unnamed in the books, is called Horatio here. The teacher, Ms. Lindquist, is a combination of the unnamed schoolteacher (from the first two Pippi books) and the cruel teacher Ms. Rosenblom (from PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS). As in the book, the two policemen who confront Pippi are unnamed. The two sibling robbers, "Scarface" Seymour and "Mad Dog" Jerome, are actually renamed versions of Thunder-Karlsson and Bloom (only the former has an added scar on his face, as per his new name).

The story is very close to the books, as is Pippi's very appearance (minus the freckles!), but there are some liberties taken with the story. The setting, of course, is changed from Sweden to the US, and still works pretty well. However, Pippi's house, Villa Villekulla, is not referred to by name (despite its somewhat faithful appearance), and neither is the island, Kurrekurredutt Island, which her father Captain Efraim Longstocking ended up living on. This version of Pippi is shown to be extremely intelligent, answering Mrs. Lindquist's questions flawlessly; a far cry from the Pippi we all know! (She attributes this intelligence to staying away from school and learning everything from her world travels firsthand.) Pippi can also fly, Peter Pan style (at least land very softly onto the ground). And in the climax, Captain Longstocking appears in his cannibal king clothing straight away, and comes along in an offscreen jungle-made zeppelin (as opposed to his ship, the Hoppetosa/Hoptoad, from the books). Even more than the 1988 film with Tami Erin did, they cut right to the chase with Pippi sadly having to leave Villa Villekulla with her pappa on the spot, but a little twist is added to the ending to keep things from being *too* sad! (The Susan Scholfield portion of the story has a funny conclusion, too!) Veteran Mousketeer Gina Gillespie did a great job in the title role, as well as playing her aforementioned alter-ego, Susan Scholfield. (Aptly, Gina's younger sister Jennifer played Susan's younger sister Betsy.) Also of note is Swedish wrestler/actor Tor Johnson (BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, etc.), diversifying into more family-friendly territory in one of his last roles as the circus strongman, the Mighty Adolf (a character from the books), and he speaks a lot in this role, too! Tor gets my vote for the best portrayal of that character in any adaptation, hands down. (I can only imagine him squaring off with Inger Nilsson's Pippi, considering they're both Swedish!) The rest of the cast is good, too! Gregory Irvin and Kelly Smith were very good as Tommy and Annika, and looked very accurate to their appearance from the books, rare for an adaptation. (Tommy was dark-haired, and Annika was blonde.) Willard Waterman plays Pippi's father Captain Longstocking, and does a pretty good job with the role. (He also plays Susan's father, along with Barbara Eiler as the mother.) Renie Riano played Ms. Lindquist as comically strict but very well-meaning. Ted DeCorsia and William Edmondson are the two police officers who set out to take Pippi to the children's home, and Bernard Kates and James Horan play the two robbers "Scar Face" and "Mad Dog".

This TV episode is readily available on DVD (double-featured with an adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's KIM), so I recommend this to Pippi fans. Despite the aforementioned liberties to the story, this is a very worthy adaptation! Especially for its historical importance.

Pippi Longstocking (1969)

The ultimate adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's famous character!

[10/10 · 10 October 2010]

Besides being one of my favorite girl characters, the wild, untamed, and super-strong Pippi Longstocking (known in Sweden as Pippi Långstrump) has become my favorite superheroine, bar-none. Despite being the proverbial bull in a china house, Pippi is very innocent and playful, and treats everyone as equals. She's a heroine to all children, especially her best friends Tommy and Annika Settergren (who are the exact opposite of her; clean-cut and well-behaved), and is very nice to well-meaning adults (despite their having weak constitutions over her mischievous behavior). She only reserves her worst behavior on bullies and condescending adults. (And even villains like crooks, pirates, etc.) People may question Pippi as a role-model, which is understandable, but I saw her as an exciting, funny, and lovable character. And she deserves to be the empowerment figure fans young and old look to her as.

I had finally watched all 13 episodes of this 1969 TV series, based on the "Pippi Longstocking" books by Astrid Lindgren (which I had read before seeing this series; I had only seen bits and pieces until then).

This is technically the third adaptation of Pippi Longstocking (the first, made in 1949, cast 26-year old Viveca Serlachius in the title role; and Gina Gillespie was the first child actress and American to play Pippi in an adaptation for SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK in 1961), but frankly, this series is the crowning achievement of all adaptations of the character. (I do, however, also like the critically-lambasted American 1988 film with Tami Erin; That was my first exposure to Pippi, leading to my interest in the books and this series.) One ingredient for this series' success is the fact that Astrid Lindgren herself did the screenplays for the whole series, not to mention that she was very proud of it. (A much deserved opportunity, as she was unhappy with the 1949 adaptation.) Yes, there are some changes, but otherwise, this series is *remarkably* true to the books! Even if you don't understand Swedish (I think this entire series truly deserves a subtitled release in the US!), you'll nonetheless know what's going on, if you already read the books. The result is a series that's every bit as fun and compelling as the books, so much that you'll wish there were more episodes!

It goes without saying that 9-year old Inger Nilsson has magically captured the very spirit of Pippi from the books. (She also superbly resembles Ingrid Vang Nyman's illustrations from the original Swedish books!) She did such a wonderful job of handling the difficult and demanding responsibility of playing a world-beloved character. (She also sang the series' classic theme song in the Swedish version!) Pär Sundberg and Maria Persson as Pippi's best friends Tommy and Annika share the same screen power as their freckled companion, given that they're essentially the main protagonists of the story by default. And of course, there's Pippi's little monkey companion Mr. Nilsson, and her spotted horse Lilla Gubben (originally unnamed in the books). The rest of the cast is great! There's Ulf G. Johnsson and Göthe Grefbo as the inept cops Kling and Klang (also originally unnamed in the books), Fredrik Ohlsson and Öllegård Wellton as Mr. and Mrs. Settergren, and veteran Beppe Wolgers as Pippi's jolly father, Captain Efraim Longstocking. German cast members Margot Trooger (as Ms. Prysselius, a character created especially for the series), Hans Clarin, and Paul Esser (as the thieves Thunder-Karlsson and Bloom, respectively) were dubbed in the Swedish version, but nonetheless did a superb job in their roles. (As this series was a German co-production, the three actors were on loan from Germany.) Director Olle Hellbom did such a remarkable job helming the entire series. His direction really did justice in bringing the wonderful world in the original books to life, with a timeless and beautiful neo-1930s-style setting. The sets especially had distinct styles to them, from Villa Villekulla (Pippi's colorful, ramshackle cottage) to the signs in the town shops. We also get to see many of the beautiful Swedish landscapes the characters travel to, from beaches, to gardens, to rivers. There are also some very good special effects, from Pippi lifting her horse (an iconic image often associated with her) to other amazing feats! They may seem outdated or "cheesy" to some, but for exceptional television budgets, they are very imaginative and spectacular. The late Jan Johannson's African samba-style theme song, "Here Comes Pippi Longstocking" ("Här Kommer Pippi Långstrump"), written by Astrid Lindgren and sung by Inger Nilsson in the Swedish version, is so unbelievably cool and catchy! It really gave Pippi a very exotic and outlandish feel. Georg Riedel's music score is awesome! Lots of beautiful tracks, comical ones, even atmospheric ones. You wish it would get a CD release. Riedel did many of the other songs in the show as well.

The episodes themselves? It's hard for me to pick a favorite, as they're all memorable and have a very strong continuity. It's very close to the book, so you know what to expect. But I'd rather not go into any comparisons here, as my descriptions would not do this series any justice. It has to be seen to be believed! The series was followed by two theatrical films, PIPPI IN THE SOUTH SEAS, and PIPPI ON THE RUN (both 1970), both of which I'll review later. The entire series would be edited into two compilation films, PIPPI LONGSTOCKING and PIPPI GOES ON BOARD, which are still fun to watch, but they don't do the series any justice! These are from which the series got the most exposure in the US (in kiddie matinées and television), and that's all right with me.

In closing, this series is a classic in any language or format! The original Swedish-language version is definitely the best, as you get to really appreciate the performance of the cast. Highly recommended!

The Mighty B! (2008–2011)

The girl scouts version of REN & STIMPY!

[10/10 · 19 June 2009]

I don't know about the many detractors of this series, but I really love and must show support for THE MIGHTY B!, one of Nickelodeon's latest shows, and the network's best new show, in my opinion. After almost a whole decade of cartoons that got unfortunately canceled by Nickelodeon, including INVADER ZIM, MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, THE X's, and EL TIGRE: THE ADVENTURES OF MANNY RIVERA, I'm just glad to see yet another good show that isn't SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, a show which is just okay, but Nick seems to treat it as the Center of the Universe (like RUGRATS before it). I just hope they don't cancel THE MIGHTY B! after one season like the aforementioned shows (although MLAATR lasted for three, and IZ a season-and-a-half), just to make room for *more* SPONGEBOB! (And face it, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is gracefully finished and done with, so leave it alone!)

Having seen this series since last year, I thought of it as the girl scouts version of REN & STIMPY, as it's got the same animation style, same selection of vintage library music, and even the same kind of gross-out humor. Yes, gross-out humor in a girls' cartoon! That's something you don't see every day. Erik Wiese, one of the three creators of this show, was a former John Kricfalusi animator. In fact, John K seems to have given this series his blessing, as he was featured in the "Special Thanks" credit in the first episode! He was definitely with this series in spirit.

Series co-creator and UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE/Saturday NIGHT LIVE alumni Amy Poehler voices the titular character, Bessie Higgenbottom, a hilariously spastic and high-strung, but altruistic and lovable girl scout; she's a member of the San Francisco Honeybee Scouts. Other members include Bessie's obese friend Penny Lefkowitz (Dannah Feinglass), and her snobbish frenemies Portia Gibbons (Grey Delisle) and Gwen Wu (Jessica DiCicco). Portia's mother Mary Francis Gibbons (Sarah Thyre) is the Honeybees' bourgeois troop leader, and, like her daughter, has a love-hate thing for Bessie (because she wants Portia to succeed). Other supporting characters include Bessie's single mother, Hillary (Megan Canavagh), her little brother Ben (Andy Richter), her rock band friend Rocky Rhodes (Nickelodeon vet/Poehler's SNL colleague Kenan Thompson), and last but not least, her reluctant but loyal pet dog Happy (Dee Bradley Baker). Bessie's goal is to collect every single Honeybee badge, so that, as said in the Honeybee Handbook, she will become a superhero called the "Mighty Bee," which Bessie envisions as her imaginary superhero alter-ego with a tall, muscular body.

Poehler's performance of Bessie is, as expected of her, irrepressible, and it also adds to Bessie's outcast status. You know she's considered an annoying outcast, but she's also funny and lovable at it, and some can actually empathize with her. Poehler based her Bessie character on a similar character she played in UCB, a girl scout named Cassie. (One would probably go on about how this series is an UCB spin off!) I'm also impressed with Dee Bradley Baker as Happy! He was so convincing, sounding like a real dog trying to talk. One such golden moment in the series is in the episode "Sweet Sixteenth," in which Bessie and Happy do "vocal warm ups" on a roller-coaster ride! It was just so funny and cute at the same time. The other voice talents are equally well done, including Delisle as the snobbish Portia. The theme song by Amy Miles and Michael Robertson, as well as the accompanying main title sequence, are among the craziest ever, and captures the essence of Bessie's adrenaline rush.

At this writing, a full half-hour special episode, "Dragonflies," premiered just a week ago, and I can say that it was the most exciting episode yet! Plenty of non-stop action throughout.

Yes, I can handle gross humor, as well as loudmouth humor, as long as the cartoon is *good*, which I think THE MIGHTY B! is. For me, it nostalgically hearkens back to the glory days of REN & STIMPY, and has become one of my favorite cartoons. In closing, I highly recommend this series to everyone, especially fans of R&S and thereabouts! Otherwise, those expecting SPONGEBOB and AVATAR may as well stay away, or at least *try* to enjoy it!