History YMMV / PippiLongstocking

* UnfortunateNames: “Pippi” sounds exactly like(and is one letter away from) the word “pipi”, wich is french for “piss”.

* ValuesDissonance: Pippi's father is titled "Negro King of the South Sea" or "Cannibal King". The books were written in the middle of the 20th century, when this was still considered socially acceptable. Lindgren made it clear early on that the Kurrekurredutt were not really cannibals, having given it up many years before Ephraim was there. The AnimatedAdaptation from 1997 tried to get rid of the UnfortunateImplications by changing it to "Rear Admiral of the Kingdom of Kurrekurredutt", and recent Swedish editions of the book as well as the modern Norwegian audio adaptations refer to him only as a "King of the South Sea". Astrid Lindgren herself later expressed embarrassment at giving him that title.

* TheWoobie: Dunder-Karlsson and Blom. They're so poor that their time in jail is one of the few times when they're relatively happy.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: From the 1997 animated movie, Blom and Dunder-Karlsson's song of wishing for a bowler and a gold tooth, respectively. While it does have a [[EarWorm catchy tune]] and offers an introduction to these two and their motives, it comes right out of left field and is never addressed again afterward.

* EarWorm: Along with being a song just about every kid in Sweden can sing, [[http://youtu.be/5x-bUTWTTcs the opening to the 1969 series is this.]] "Här kommer Pippi Långstrump, tjolla hopp, tjolla hej, tjolla hoppsan-sa..."
** There's also the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ulG3-QJeAA theme to the 1988 movie]] ("Pippi Longstocking is coming into your town!...").
*** The songs in the 1997 animated movie can qualify as well. For instance, anyone who grew up with the film can just type "Standing on top of Mount Kilimanjaro..." and they'll be mentally singing the opening number.
*** Also from the 1997 animated movie: "I want a bowler, an English bowler..."

* ValuesDissonance: Pippi's father is titled "Negro King of the South Sea" or "Cannibal King". The books were written in the middle of the 20th century, when this was still considered socially acceptable. Lindgren made it clear early on that the Kurrekurredutt were not really cannibals, having given it up many years before Ephraim was there. The AnimatedAdaptation from 1997 tried to get rid of the UnfortunateImplications by changing it to "Rear Admiral of the Kingdom of Kurrekurredutt", and the modern Norwegian audio adaptations refer to him only as a "King of the South Sea". Astrid Lindgren herself later expressed embarrassment at giving him that title.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The 1969 TV opening song has gone memetic. Just about every child in Sweden knows it. It's especially popular in Germany, to the point that it's been [[http://youtu.be/nrT5gXkOzYg covered by punk bands,]] [[http://youtu.be/2b_RrsQbHFk remixed by techno DJs,]] [[http://youtu.be/1o9FecbI1OU and even big crowds at soccer games will spontaneously sing it.]] Also ''very'' popular in Finland.

* TheWoobie: Dunder-Karlsson and Blom. They're so poor that their time in jail is one of the few times when they're relatively happy.

* AnimationBump: While the 1997 animated movie has generally decent animation, during Blom and Dunder-Karlsson's [[IWantSong 'I Want' Song]] 'A Bowler and a New Gold Tooth', the animation quality suddenly takes an upturn, utilizing more fluent motion, ambitious cinematography and unusual lighting techniques than the rest of the film's animation.

** Mrs. Prysselius in the animated adaptation as well. While she was certainly overbearing and stern, she may have been genuinely concerned for Pippi's well-being, considering how Pippi was possibly an orphan who needed proper adult supervision to avoid running into dangerous situations, or even causing any trouble, as she was admittedly a rather loose cannon. However, she could have also been solely looking to maintain order in the town by having Pippi out of the picture, and the fact that she sends two (albeit harmless) criminals to capture her could paint her as either a WellIntentionedExtremist, or an overly persistent ControlFreak.

* AnimationBump: While the 1997 animated movie has generally decent animation, during Blom and Dunder-Karlsson's [[IWantSong 'I Want' Song]] 'A Bowler and a New Gold Tooth', the animation quality suddenly takes an upturn, utilizing more fluent motion, ambition cinematography and unusual lighting techniques than the rest of the film's animation.

* AnimationBump: While the 1997 animated movie has generally decent animation, during Blom and Dunder's [[IWantSong 'I Want' Song]] 'A Bowler and a New Gold Tooth', the animation quality suddenly takes an upturn, utilizing more fluent motion, ambition cinematography and unusual lighting techniques than the rest of the film's animation.

** There's also the theme to the 1988 movie ("Pippi Longstocking is coming into your town!...").

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Blom and Dunder-Karlsson in the 1997 animated movie. Considering how they mean no real harm towards Pippi, and how their motivations are revealed to be relatively harmless in their IWantSong, they could be analyzed as a couple of tragically poor buffoons who desperately want to live a better life. On the other hand, they make no qualms about robbing a little girl blind, and they had to have done something to land themselves in jail in the first place.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The 1969 TV opening song has gone memetic. Just about every child in Sweden knows it. It's especially popular in Germany, to the point that it's been [[http://youtu.be/nrT5gXkOzYg covered by punk bands,]] [[http://youtu.be/2b_RrsQbHFk remixed by techno DJs,]] [[http://youtu.be/1o9FecbI1OU and even big crowds at soccer games will spontaneously sing it.]]
** Also ''very'' popular in Finland.

* RuleAbidingRebel: You'd think a child with [[BewareTheSuperman superhuman strength and a complete disregard for rules]] would be indiscriminately violent or even murderous, but she only gets into relatively innocent mischief. She was more rebellious in the original version of the book, which was published after Astrid Lindgren's death. It was given the title ''Ur-Pippi''.
* ObviouslyEvil: In the animated adpatation, Mrs. Prysselius is pretty much the BigBad who wants to send Pippi Longstocking off to a children's home. The lengths she goes to just to have Pippi put in the children's home are questionable. The only reason she relents at the end is because now that Pippi's father returned, that just took away her only justification for her goal, and had no choice but to fake a HeelFaceTurn.
* TooDumbToLive: Kling and Klang, from the 1997 film, who obliviously oblige to give Blom and Dunder-Karlsson the tools they need to escape jail. They don't get any better from there... (neglecting their police duties just to go fishing, one has to wonder how they haven't been fired yet)

** Mrs. Prysselius in the animated adaptation as well. While she was certainly overbearing and stern, she may have been genuinely concerned for Pippi's well-being, considering how Pippi was possibly an orphan who needed proper adult supervision to avoid running into dangerous situations, or even cause any trouble, as she was admittedly a rather loose cannon. However, she could have also been solely looking to maintain order in the town by having Pippi out of the picture, and the fact that she sends two (albeit harmless) criminals to capture her could paint her as either a WellIntentionedExtremist, or an overly persistent ControlFreak.

** Mrs. Prysselius in the animated adaptation as well. While she was certainly overbearing and stern, she may have been genuinely concerned for Pippi's well-being, considering how she was possibly an orphan who needed proper adult supervision to avoid running into dangerous situations, or even cause any trouble, as she was admittedly a rather loose cannon. However, she could have also been solely looking to maintain order in the town by having her out of the picture, and the fact that she sends two (albeit harmless) criminals to capture her could paint her as either a WellIntentionedExtremist, or an overly persistent ControlFreak.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: From the 1997 animated movie, Blom and Dunder-Karlsson's song of wishing for a bowler and a gold tooth, respectively.

** There's also the theme to the 1988 movie ("Pippi Longstocking is coming into your world!...").

* StrawmanHasAPoint: In the animated adpatation, Mrs. Prysselius is pretty much the BigBad who wants to send Pippi Longstocking off to a children's home. She is pretty much portrayed as an ObviouslyEvil villain... and while some of the things she does are questionable, one actually can't blame her for thinking Pippi ''should'' have someone responsible looking out for her. In fact, it's not hard to interpret Mrs. Prysselius as being even ''more'' concerned because she thinks Pippi doesn't have a father, judging by how she immediately pulls a 180 the second Pippi's father enters the scene.
* TooDumbToLive: Kling and Klang, from the 1997 film, who obliviously oblige to give Blom and Dunder-Karlsson the tools they need to escape jail. They don't get any better from there...

* StrawmanHasAPoint: In the animated adpatation, Mrs. Prysselius is pretty much the BigBad who wants to send Pippi Longstocking off to a children's home. She is pretty much portrayed as an ObviouslyEvil villain... and while some of the things she does is questionable, one actually can't blame her for thinking Pippi ''should'' have someone responsible looking out for her. In fact, it's not hard to interpret Mrs. Prysselius as being even ''more'' concerned because she thinks Pippi doesn't have a father, judging by how she immediately pulls a 180 the second Pippi's father enters the scene.

* CriticalResearchFailure: Except from [[ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything useless pirates]] that is [[APirate400YearsTooLate 300 years late]] to a country which never even practised pirating (unless you count [[HornyVikings vikings]]), do the [[PoliceAreUseless useless polices]] in the live action series and movies paradoxically have the police uniforms of 1979, while there appears to only be two polices in the town, despite Sweden since 1973 have been divided into police districts. Also, no governmental organization has had the authority to take a child into custody of the Child-and-Charity-organization, if the child resides in a house that either belongs to a legal guardian or a legal guardian have given to the child.[[note]]According to the first book, Ephraim bought the house years ago, as a place to live when he retired. He could have made her co-owner legally, or simply put the house in her name, anticipating he'd be away a lot.[[/note]] The 1988 movie takes this UpToEleven.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Blom and Dunder-Karlsson in the 1997 animated movie. Considering how they mean no real harm towards Pippi, and how their motivations are revealed to be relatively harmless in their IWantSong, they could be analyzed as a couple of tragically poor buffoons who desperately want to live a better life. On the other hand, they make no qualms about robbing a little girl blind, and they had to have done something to land them in jail in the first place.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Blom and Dunder-Karlsson in the 1997 animated movie. Considering how they mean no real harm towards Pippi, and how their motivations are revealed to be relatively harmless in their IWantSong, they could be analyzed as a couple of tragically poor buffoons who desperately want to live a better life. On the other hand, they make no qualms about robbing a little girl blind, and they have to have done something to land them in jail in the first place.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: In the animated adpatation, Mrs. Pressylus is pretty much the BigBad who wants to send Pippi Longstocking off to a children's home. She is pretty much portrayed as an ObviouslyEvil villain... and while some of the things she does is questionable, one actually can't blame her for thinking Pippi ''should'' have someone responsible looking out for her. In fact, it's not hard to interpret Mrs. Pressylus as being even ''more'' concerned because she thinks Pippi doesn't have a father, judging by how she immediately pulls a 180 the second Pippi's father enters the scene.