Pippi in the South Seas (1970)
"Pippi Långstrump på de sju haven" (original title)

With the help of her friends Tommy and Annika, Pippi Longstocking ventures to the South Pacific island Porto Piluse to rescue her father, who was captured by ruthless pirates.

Director:

Olle Hellbom

Writers:

Fred Ladd, Astrid Lindgren (manuscript)

Stars:

Inger Nilsson, Maria Persson, Pär Sundberg

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Inger Nilsson	...	Pippi Långstrump
Maria Persson	...	Annika
Pär Sundberg	...	Tommy
Beppe Wolgers	...	Kapten Långstrump
Martin Ljung	...	Jocke med kniven
Jarl Borssén	...	Blod-Svente (as Jarl Borsén)
Alfred Schieske	...	Innkeeper
Wolfgang Völz	...	Oscar
Nikolaus Schilling	...	Kalle
Staffan Hallerstam	...	Marko
Öllegård Wellton	...	Annika's mother
Fredrik Ohlsson	...	Annika's father
Tor Isedal	...	Pedro
Håkan Serner	...	Franko

Storyline

With their parents on vacation, Tommy and Annika spend time with their wonderful friend Pippi Longstocking at her cottage Villa Villekulla, until she finds a bottle with a message from her father Captain Efraim Longstocking, who warns her that he was captured by a band of evil pirates led by Blood-Svente and Jock the Knife, who hold him prisoner in their castle on the island of Porto Piluse, so they can find the secret location of his treasure. Pippi, Tommy and Annika then travel to Porto Piluse to rescue her father before he is forced to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure...

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Plot Keywords:

pippi | pirate | island | treasure | beach | 

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Taglines:

Pippi, Tommy och Annika på jakt efter bortrövade pappa i ett härligt, spännande piratäventyr i Söderhavet. (Pippi, Tommy and Annika are on the hunt for their kidnapped father in a wonderful, exciting pirate adventure in the South Pacific.)

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Genres:

Adventure | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Sweden West Germany

Language:

Swedish

Release Date:

1 September 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pippi in the South Seas

Filming Locations:

Crane Beach, Barbados

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 7,265,000 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beta Film, Iduna Film Produktiongesellschaft, Nord Art

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.55 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is very loosely based upon the book "Pippi in the South Seas" ("Pippi Långstrump i Söderhavet" in Swedish), which was the third and final Pippi book. The book took place on the fictitious South Pacific island, Kurrekurredutt Island (which Pippi's father Captain Efraim Longstocking had been ruling as its chief; the now-friendly natives were originally cannibals, who were since converted by the captain, and now only hunt wild animals). In this adaptation, Kurrekurredutt is written out altogether, and the new setting is a pirate town on the island of Porto Piluse (called "Taka-Tuka-Land" in the German version; ironically, "Taka-Tuka-Land" is the name of Kurrekurredutt Island in the German edition of the books). The two antagonist pirates Blood-Svente (Jarl Borssén) and Knife-Jocke (Martin Ljung) may have been reworkings of the pirates Buck and Jim, the villains of the book.

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Goofs

When Pippi, Tommy and Annika hide in the well, all three sit in shoulder-deep water for several hours. Yet, when they finally climb out, the kids are bone-dry.

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Quotes

Blod-Svente: [entering the Inn after Pippi has thrown two pirates out the window] Where's Pedro?
Innkeeper: [points towards the broken window] Pedro fly out that way.
Blod-Svente: And Franco?
Innkeeper: [points towards the other window] Franco fly out that way.
Jocke med kniven: Have they turned into homing pigeons?

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Connections

Referenced in Neues aus der Anstalt: Episode #1.9 (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Merja Mojsi"
(Jocke the Knife sings a folk song with his pirate troops)
Composed by Georg Riedel
Lyrics by Astrid Lindgren
Performed by Martin Ljung

User Reviews

Would have been better if Bergman directed

I loved the Pippi films when I was little. I was always amazed by her superhuman powers and envied the life she led in Villa Villakula with Mr. Nilsson (her pet monkey), her treasure chest of gold, and a complete and utter lack of adult supervision. I read the books too, but always liked the movies better. I always wondered if maybe the English translations of the novels just weren't very good. They seemed a bit stilted.

Anyway, each of the Pippi films are pretty much interchangeable, and I remember at one point hearing that they were all filmed at the same time, which didn't come as a surprise. Each seems to involve Pippi, Tommy, and Annika (the two neighbor kids) engaging in a series of adventures that always end up making the local adults look like complete idiots, but in a rather harmless way. Pippi's father, an old, salty, sea-faring-type, pops up from time to time. He seems to have a remarkably close and loving relationship with his daughter, despite the fact that he's never around.

Watching these films now, it's obvious they were made on a very low budget. The English-dubbed versions used the same voice actress for the spoken parts of Pippi, Tommy, and Annika, who just modifies her voice slightly for each part. This is a bit distracting.

Even though it has to be acknowledged that the books made an important contribution to Children's Literature, time might forget these old Pippi movies. I hardly ever see them on TV anymore, and they're hard to find in the video store. They're kind of fun, kind of campy, but all in all, not worth going out of your way to see.