After their parents go on holiday, youngsters Tommy (Pär Sundberg) and Annika (Maria Persson) are left in the care of their neighbour, Pippi Longstocking (Inger Nilsson), the world’s strongest little girl. She receives a bottled message from her father Captain Ephraim Longstocking that says he is being held captive on a tropical island. Pirates are threatening torture and starvation unless he reveals the whereabouts of his hidden treasure! Pippi sets off with Tommy, Annika and rascally monkey Mr. Nilsson to rescue her beloved papa, first by way of a hot air balloon/four poster bed combo she dubs “Myskodile”, that winds up stranded atop a snowy mountain. Then via a pedal-powered, homemade aeroplane that crash lands on deserted island. Stealing a galleon from a gaggle of dopey pirates, the friends arrive on the island of Taka-Tuka, where they rescue bullied servant boy Marco (Staffan Hallerstam) and tangle with bristling buccaneers Blood-Svente (Jarl Borssen) and Knife-Jocke (Martin Ljund). Are Pippi’s magic powers strong enough to take on a whole town full of pirates? Can she save her papa, rescue his marooned crew and find the treasure in time?
Pippi in the South Seas taps universal children’s fantasies: flying off to exotic islands, hunting treasure and fighting pirates. It conjures a world where grownups are either absent (Tommy and Annika’s parents), powerless (Pippi’s papa), or dumb as an ox (the rather camp pirates) leaving kids free to indulge their wildest dreams. Winningly these are all rather physical fantasies where child heroes climb palm trees, jump in lakes, race up hills, hide in cannons (!), and leap into frenzied duels with nasty villains. Worth considering with society’s current concerns about childhood obesity. Unlike its predecessors, this third movie in the Pippi Longstocking series wasn’t cobbled together from episodes of the popular television series. It’s an original production, filmed on location in Barbados with a slightly bigger budget and less haphazard continuity. Although not a faithful adaptation of Astrid Lindgren’s south seas set novel, the new story is full of inventive ideas and veteran director Olle Hellbom creates appealing, sun drenched visuals.
Series star Inger Nilsson apparently hated being away from home and suffered terribly throughout the long shoot, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her. She gives her all, bounding across the screen with super-confidence, hurling pirates twice her size into the stratosphere and swashing her buckle like a born buccaneer. Supporting characters Tommy and Annika and are appealingly played by Pär Sundberg and Maria Persson, and grow in confidence throughout this strange, psychedelic romp. Little Annika even flirts with Marco. Gasp! In all seriousness, the siblings blossoming self-reliance (born of their friendship with ‘kid’s lib’ icon Pippi) is one of the most engaging aspects of the film series. The musical numbers are a bit hit and miss, although the trio’s song ‘Kom an kom an Pirater!” was released as a Swedish pop single. Pippi in the South Seas also carries an lovably anachronistic aspects with galleons, whiskery pirate rogues, spy-microphones, mod outfits, magic and Heath Robinson-esque contraptions all co-existing in late sixties Sweden. A last minute twist even suggests Pippi’s amazing powers of make believe may have dreamed this whole, strange affair into life!
