Who is the author of Pippi Longstocking? Pippi Longstocking

  • 11.10.2021

Peppilotta (Pippi for short) Longstocking proved to girls around the world that the weaker sex is in no way inferior to boys. The Swedish writer endowed her beloved heroine with heroic strength, taught her to shoot a revolver, and made her the main rich woman of the city, who is able to treat all the children with a bag of candy.

Pippi Longstocking

A girl with carrot-colored hair, in multi-colored stockings, boots to grow, and a dress made from scraps of fabric, has a rebellious character - she is not afraid of robbers and representatives of internal organs, spits on the laws of adults and teaches young readers about humanity. Pippi seems to be saying: being yourself is a great luxury and a unique pleasure.

History of creation

The red-haired girl Pippi brought her creator Astrid Lindgren world fame. Although the character appeared completely by accident - in the early 40s, the future literary star, who would later give the world a fat prankster, had a daughter Karin become seriously ill. Before going to bed, Astrid invented various wonderful stories for the child, and one day she received an assignment - to tell about the life of the girl Pippi Longstocking. The daughter herself came up with the heroine’s name, and initially it sounded “Pippi,” but in the Russian translation the dissonant word was changed.


Gradually, evening after evening, Pippi began to acquire individual characteristics, and her life began to be filled with adventures. The Swedish storyteller tried to put into her stories an innovative idea that appeared at that time in terms of raising children. According to the advice of newly minted psychologists, offspring need to be given more freedom and listen to their opinions and feelings. That's why Pippi turned out to be so headstrong, flouting the rules of the adult world.

For several years, Astrid Lindgren wrapped her fantasy in evening fairy tales, until she finally decided to write down the result on paper. The stories, where a couple of other characters settled - the boy Tommy and the girl Annika, turned into a book with illustrations by the author. The manuscript flew to a major publishing house in Stockholm, where, however, it did not find any fans - Pippi Longstocking was mercilessly rejected.


Books about Pippi Longstocking

But the writer was warmly received at Raben and Schergen, publishing her first work in 1945. It was the story “Pippi settles in the Chicken Villa.” The heroine immediately became popular. Following this, two more books and several stories were born, which were bought like hot cakes.

Later, the Danish storyteller admitted that the girl had traits of her character: as a child, Astrid was the same restless inventor. In general, the character’s characterization is a horror story for adults: a 9-year-old child does what he wants, easily copes with formidable men, carries a heavy horse.

Biography and plot

Pippi Longstocking is an unusual lady, just like her biography. Once upon a time, in a small, unremarkable Swedish town, a freckled girl with red, raised braids settled in the old abandoned villa “Chicken”. She lives here without adult supervision in the company of a horse that stands on the veranda and a monkey, Mr. Nilsson. Her mother left the world when Pippi was still a baby, and her father, named Ephraim Longstocking, served as the captain of a ship that was wrecked. The man ended up on an island where the black aborigines called him their leader.


Pippi Longstocking and her monkey Mr. Nilsson

This is the legend the heroine of the Swedish fairy tale tells to her new friends, brother and sister Tommy and Annika Settergren, whom she met upon arriving in the city. Pippi inherited excellent genes from her father. The physical strength is so great that the girl drives away the policemen who came to send the orphan to an orphanage from the house. Leaves an angry bull without horns. The circus strongman wins at the fair. And the robbers who broke into her home are thrown onto the closet.

And Pippi Longstocking is incredibly rich, for which she also has to thank her dad. The daughter inherited a chest of gold, which the heroine happily spends. The girl does not go to school; she prefers dangerous and exciting adventures to tedious activities. Moreover, studying is no longer necessary, because Pippi is an expert in the customs of different countries of the world, which she visited with her father.


Pippi Longstocking lifts a Horse

While sleeping, the girl puts her feet on the pillow, rolls out the baking dough right on the floor, and on her birthday she not only accepts gifts, but also gives surprises to guests. Residents of the city watch in amazement as the child moves backwards when walking, because in Egypt that’s the only way they walk.

Tommy and Annika fell in love with their new friend with all their hearts, with whom it is impossible to get bored. Children constantly find themselves in funny troubles and unpleasant situations. In the evenings, together with Pippi, they make their favorite dishes - waffles, baked apples, pancakes. By the way, the red-haired girl makes great pancakes by flipping them right in the air.


Pippi Longstocking, Tommy and Annika

But one day the friends were almost separated by their father who came to pick up Pippi. The man really turned out to be the leader of the tribe of the distant island country of Veselia. And if earlier the neighbors considered the main character to be an inventor and a liar, now they immediately believed in all her fables.

In the last book from the original Lindgren trilogy, the parents sent Tommy and Annika on vacation to Veselia, where the children, in the company of the inimitable Pippi Longstocking, who became a black princess, received a scattering of unforgettable emotions.

Film adaptations

The Swedish-German serial film, which was released in 1969, is considered canonical. The name of the actress became famous throughout the world - Pippi was played believably by Inger Nilsson. The embodied image turned out to be closest to the book’s mischievous girl, and the plot differs little from the original. The film did not find love or recognition in Russia.


Inger Nilsson as Pippi Longstocking

But Soviet audiences fell in love with Pippi, who shone in a two-part musical film directed by Margarita Mikaelyan in 1984. Famous actors were involved in the production: they met on the set (Madam Rosenblum), (the swindler Blom), (Pippi’s father), and Peppilotta is played by Svetlana Stupak. The film was filled with catchy compositions (just look at “The Pirates’ Song”!) and circus tricks, which added to the film’s charm.


Svetlana Stupak as Pippi Longstocking

The role of Pippi for Svetlana Stupak was the first and last in the cinema. The girl did not pass the casting at first: the director rejected her for her blonde hair and adult appearance - Sveta did not look like a 9-year-old child. But the young actress got a second chance. The girl was asked to imagine herself as the daughter of the leader of a black tribe, to show spontaneity and enthusiasm.


Tami Erin as Pippi Longstocking

Stupak coped with the task, demonstrating to the cinema bison a stunning trick that did not require the participation of doubles. The authors of the film decided to film her, which they later regretted: Sveta’s character turned out to be even worse than the main character of the fairy tale. The director either grabbed the validol or wanted to pick up the belt.

In 1988, the red-haired beast reappeared on television screens. This time, the USA and Sweden teamed up to create the film “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking”. Tami Erin appeared in the cinema for the first time.


Pippi Longstocking in the cartoon

The Canadian series, released at the end of the last century, became a striking animated film. Pippi's voice was provided by Melissa Altro. The directors did not take liberties and followed the literary pattern carefully created by the Swedish storyteller.

  • Inger Nilsson's acting career didn't work out either - the woman worked as a secretary.
  • In Sweden, on the island of Djurgården, a museum of fairy-tale heroes by Astrid Lindgren was built. Here you can visit Pippi Longstocking's house, where you can run, jump, climb and ride a horse named Horse.

Pippi Longstocking's House in the Astrid Lindgren Fairytale Heroes Museum
  • The theater stage cannot do without such a bright character. During the 2018 New Year holidays, at the capital’s Cherry Orchard theater center, children are invited to the play “Pippi Longstocking,” staged in the best Vakhtangov traditions. Director Vera Annenkova promises deep content and circus entertainment.

Quotes

“My mom is an angel, and my dad is a black king. Not every child has such noble parents.”
“Grown-ups never have fun. They always have a lot of boring work, stupid dresses and cuminal taxes. And they are also stuffed with prejudices and all sorts of nonsense. They think that a terrible misfortune will happen if you put a knife in your mouth while eating, and so on.”
“Who said you have to become an adult?”
“When the heart is hot and beating strongly, it is impossible to freeze.”
“A real well-mannered lady picks her nose when no one is looking!”
Pippi Longstocking
Creator Astrid Lindgren
Works Pippi moves into the villa "Chicken"
Floor female
Role plays Inger Nilsson
Files on Wikimedia Commons

Name Pippi was invented by Astrid Lindgren's daughter, Karin. The established Russian rendering of the name “Pippi” instead of the transcription “Pippi” (Swedish Pippi) was proposed by the first translation by L.Z. Lungina in order to avoid obscene connotations in the Russian language.

Characters

Pippi Longstocking is independent and does whatever she wants. For example, she sleeps with her feet on a pillow and her head under the blanket, wears multi-colored stockings when returning home, backs away because she doesn’t want to turn around, rolls out dough right on the floor and keeps a horse on the veranda.

She is incredibly strong and agile, even though she is only nine years old. She carries her own horse in her arms, defeats the famous circus strongman, scatters a whole company of hooligans, breaks off the horns of a ferocious bull, deftly throws out of her own house two policemen who came to her to forcibly take her to an orphanage, and with lightning speed throws two of them onto a closet. smashed the thieves who decided to rob her. However, there is no cruelty in Pippi's reprisals. She is extremely generous to her defeated enemies. She treats the disgraced police officers with freshly baked heart-shaped gingerbread cookies. And she generously rewards the embarrassed thieves, who have completed their invasion of someone else's house by dancing with Pippi the Twist all night, with gold coins, this time honestly earned.

Pippi is not only extremely strong, she is also incredibly rich. It costs her nothing to buy “a hundred kilos of candy” and a whole toy store for all the children in the city, but she herself lives in an old dilapidated house, wears a single dress, sewn from multi-colored scraps, and a single pair of shoes, bought for her by her father “for growing up.” .

But the most amazing thing about Pippi is her bright and wild imagination, which manifests itself in the games that she comes up with, and in amazing stories about different countries where she visited with her captain dad, and in endless pranks, the victims of which are klutzes. adults. Pippi takes any of her stories to the point of absurdity: a mischievous maid bites guests on the legs, a long-eared Chinese man hides under his ears when it rains, and a capricious child refuses to eat from May to October. Pippi gets very upset if someone says that she is lying, because lying is not good, she just sometimes forgets about it.

Pippi is a child’s dream of strength and nobility, wealth and generosity, freedom and selflessness. But for some reason the adults don’t understand Pippi. And the pharmacist, and the school teacher, and the circus director, and even Tommy and Annika’s mother are angry with her, teach her, educate her. Apparently, this is why Pippi doesn’t want to grow up more than anything else:

“Grown-ups never have fun. They always have a lot of boring work, stupid dresses and cuminal taxes. And they are also stuffed with prejudices and all sorts of nonsense. They think that a terrible misfortune will happen if you put a knife in your mouth while eating, and so on.”

But “who said you need to become an adult?” No one can force Pippi to do what she doesn't want!

Books about Pippi Longstocking are full of optimism and constant faith in the very best.

Video on the topic

Books about Pippi

  1. "Pippi moves into the villa "Chicken""(Pippi Långstrump) (1945)
  2. "Pippi hits the road"(Pippi Långstrump går ombord) (1946)
  3. "Pippi in the Land of Fun"(Pippi Långstrump i Söderhavet) (1948)
  4. "Pippi Longstocking in the Park Where the Hops Grow" (short story)(Pippi Långstrump i Humlegården) (1949)
  5. “Robbing the Christmas Tree, or Grab What You Want” (short story)(Pippi Långstrump har julgransplundring) (1950)

There are also a number of “picture books” that were not published in Russia. They mainly present illustrated editions of individual chapters of the original trilogy.

Translation:
All three stories were translated into Russian by Lilianna Lungina. It is her translation that is now considered classic. There is another translation - by Lyudmila Braude together with Nina Belyakova. Two later stories were translated only by Lyudmila Braude.
Artists:
The main illustrator of books about Pippi is the Danish artist Ingrid Wang Nyman. It is her illustrations that are most famous throughout the world.

Reissue

In a 1970 newspaper interview "Express" Astrid Lindgren admitted that if she wrote books about Pippi today, she would “remove several idiocy from there” - in particular, she would not use the word “Negro.” In 2015, with the consent of her daughter Karin, a new edition of the books was released, in which Pippi's father was described as the "King of the South Sea" rather than the "Negro King".

Astrid Lindgren composed a fairy tale night after evening about the girl Pippi for her daughter Karin, who was ill at the time. The name for the main character, long and difficult to pronounce for a Russian person, was invented by the writer’s daughter herself.

This fairy tale turned sixty years old in 2015, and we present its summary. Pippi Longstocking, the heroine of this fantastic story, has been loved in our country since 1957.

A little about the author

Astrid Lindgren is the daughter of two Swedish farmers and grew up in a large and very friendly family. She settled the heroine of the fairy tale in a small, dull town, where life flows smoothly and nothing changes. The writer herself was an extremely active person. At her request and the support of the majority of the population, he adopted a law according to which it is forbidden to harm domestic animals. The theme of the fairy tale and its brief content will be presented to your attention below. Pippi Longstocking's main characters, Annika and Tommy, will also be featured. Besides them, we also love Baby and Carlson, who were created by the world famous writer. She received the most cherished award for every storyteller - the H.K. medal. Andersen.

What Pippi and her friends look like

Pippi is only nine years old. She is tall, thin and very strong. Her hair is bright red and glows with flame in the sun. The nose is small, potato-shaped, and covered with freckles.

Pippi walks around in stockings of different colors and huge black shoes, which she sometimes decorates. Annika and Tommy, who became friends with Pippi, are the most ordinary, neat and exemplary children who want adventure.

At the Villa "Chicken" (chapters I - XI)

Brother and sister Tommy and Annika Settergegen lived opposite an abandoned house that stood in a neglected garden. They went to school, and then, after doing their homework, played croquet in their yard. They were very bored, and they dreamed of having an interesting neighbor. And now their dream came true: a red-haired girl who had a monkey named Mr. Nilsson settled in the “Chicken” villa. She was brought by a real sea ship. Her mother died a long time ago and looked at her daughter from the sky, and her dad, a sea captain, was washed away by a wave during a storm, and he, as Pippi thought, became a black king on a lost island.

With the money that the sailors gave her, and it was a heavy chest with gold coins, which the girl carried like a feather, she bought herself a horse, which she settled on the terrace. This is the very beginning of a wonderful story, its summary. Pippi Longstocking is a kind, fair and extraordinary girl.

Meet Pippi

A new girl walked down the street backwards. Annika and Tommy asked her why she was doing this. “That’s how they walk in Egypt,” the strange girl lied. And she added that in India they generally walk on their hands. But Annika and Tommy were not at all embarrassed by such a lie, because it was a funny invention, and they went to visit Pippi.

She baked pancakes for her new friends and treated them to great delight, even though she broke one egg on her head. But she wasn’t confused, and immediately came up with the idea that in Brazil everyone smears eggs on their heads to make their hair grow faster. The whole fairy tale consists of such harmless stories. We will only recount a few of them, since this is a short summary. "Pippi Longstocking", a fairy tale full of various events, can be borrowed from the library.

How Pippi surprises all the townspeople

Pippi can not only tell stories, but also act very quickly and unexpectedly. A circus has come to town - it's a big event. She went to the show with Tommy and Annika. But during the performance she couldn’t sit still. Together with a circus performer, she jumped onto the back of a horse racing around the arena, then climbed under the circus dome and walked along a tightrope, she also put the strongest strongman in the world on his shoulder blades and even threw him into the air several times. They wrote about her in the newspapers, and the whole city knew what an unusual girl lived there. Only the thieves who decided to rob her did not know about this. It was bad for them! Pippi also saved the kids who were on the top floor of a burning house. Many adventures happen to Pippi on the pages of the book. This is just a summary of them. Pippi Longstocking is the best girl in the world.

Pippi is getting ready for the road (chapters I - VIII)

In this part of the book, Pippi managed to go to school, take part in a school excursion, and punish a bully at the fair. This unscrupulous man scattered all his sausages from the old seller. But Pippi punished the bully and made him pay for everything. And in the same part, her dear and beloved dad returned to her.

He invited her to travel the seas with him. This is a completely quick retelling of the story about Pippi and her friends, a summary of “Pippi Longstocking” chapter by chapter. But the girl will not leave Tommy and Annika in sadness; she will take them with her, with the consent of their mother, to hot countries.

On the island of the country of Veselia (chapters I - XII)

Before leaving for warmer climes, Pippi’s impudent and respectable gentleman wanted to buy her villa “Chicken” and destroy everything on it.

Pippi quickly dealt with him. She also “put in a puddle” the harmful Miss Rosenblum, who gave out gifts, boring ones by the way, to what she considered the best children. Then Pippi gathered all the offended children and gave each of them a large bag of caramel. Everyone except the evil lady was satisfied. And then Pippi, Tommy and Anika went to the country of Merry. There they swam, caught pearls, dealt with the pirates and, full of impressions, returned home. This is a completely summary of Pippi Longstocking chapter by chapter. Very briefly, because it is much more interesting to read about all the adventures yourself.