Although Pippi Longstocking has been around since the 1940s, she's one of those definitively Generation X characters: the original latchkey kid living on her own without benefit of adult supervision, with only a horse and a monkey for company. Independently wealthy, thanks to her sailor-father's adventures in the South Seas, Pippi buys toys and candy for the town kids, pigs out on cakes and cookies, and is assuredly a bad influence on her young next-door-neighbors. Based on the popular books by Astrid Lindgren, the four films (dating from 1969-1973) in The Pippi Longstocking Collection are powered by Inger Nilsson's wild, tomboyish performance as the title character—an instantly iconic turn that remains a goofy pleasure to watch. Of course, it's hard to imagine any filmmaker daring enough today—with our culturally entrenched overprotection of children—to mount a screen adaptation of a tale in which a free-spirited kid prepares a dinner of soup with nails and spikes in it (and consumes it!), builds an airplane out of wood (and flies it!), or engages in countless other activities that would today require the proverbial warning for kids not to try this at home. All four Pippi films collected here—Pippi Longstocking, Pippi Goes on Board, Pippi in the South Seas, and Pippi on the Run—boast nice new digital transfers. And yes, the cheesy dubbing into English from the original Swedish is part of their appeal. Recommended. (M. Johanson)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 20, 2015—Hen's Tooth, 4 discs, 370 min., English-dubbed, G, $64.95—Making their first appearance on Blu-ray, 1969's Pippi Longstocking, 1969's Pippi Goes on Board, 1970's Pippi in the South Seas, and 1970's Pippi on the Run all feature good transfers and DTS-HD soundtracks. Extras include photo galleries and a filmography. Bottom line: Pippi has never looked better.]
The Pippi Longstocking Collection
Hen's Tooth, 4 discs, 358 min., G, DVD: $59.95 Volume 20, Issue 6
The Pippi Longstocking Collection
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