PIPPI ON THE RUN

Gyberg's oversize technicolor photos of three real children may or may not correspond to a given reader's image of Pippi and her friends Tommy and Annika. For us, the problem is not that he has any of the details wrong but just that the wish-fulfilling life and exploits of the strongest girl in the world go a lot farther on their own. There's not much story here—Tommy and Annika decide to run away and Pippi goes along, ostensibly to watch over them but actually to stir up adventure. With the old bravado, Pippi eats a fish skeleton whole, rides a barrel over a waterfall, and drives into a lake in an old jalopy she's just repaired with glue; but other adventures—especially diverting a bull when the farmer's baby wanders into his reach—seem staged for the kiddie film this looks like. The prose, too, reads like a spin-off, and the format suggests a dime store market.