Pippi Longstocking

Over 8,000 girls auditioned for the lead role of Pippi during casting in autumn 1967, and the winner, Inger Nilsson, was announced to the press on 17 December 1967.

Astrid Lindgren, who wrote the screenplay herself, was dissatisfied with the earlier 1949 film version of Pippi Longstocking, which partly motivated this new TV adaptation.

Actress Margot Trooger, who played Miss Prysselius (a character absent from the original books and created for the TV series), sewed her own costume and was not always completely sober during filming.

The comedy duo Hans Alfredson and Tage Danielsson were initially considered for the roles of policemen Kling and Klang, having already appeared together in an earlier Pippi feature film, but were never actually asked to join this production; Alfredson later appeared in the 1970 sequel 'Pippi on the Run'.

Villa Villekulla was an old estate manager's house near Oscarsstenen outside Visby, painted bright yellow with garish colors and fitted with a hollow tree that could dispense soda bottles; the house was later moved a few kilometers in winter 1969 and is now part of the Kneippbyn tourist resort.

Filming ran from 20 February to 15 August 1968, with the winter scenes shot first, in Røros, Norway, while many other scenes were filmed in and around Visby on Gotland, including the opening ride through the Brunnsporten gate in the town wall.

Herr Nilsson the monkey was changed from a capuchin monkey in the books to a borrowed spider monkey for the TV series, which caused filming difficulties since the animal was not house-trained and required constant costume changes.

Pippi's horse, unnamed in the books, was named 'Lilla Gubben' at actress Inger Nilsson's suggestion; he was actually a white gelding whose spots were created using hair dye.

Inger Nilsson had several stand-ins for scenes she could not perform herself: director Olle Hellbom's daughter Tove doubled for diving shots filmed from behind, his son Jan doubled for Pippi in distant rowing shots, and co-star Pär Sundberg (who played Tommy) doubled for Pippi in amusement park scenes thanks to his gymnastics background.

The series was an immediate hit in Sweden, drawing about three million viewers per episode, and directors Olle Hellbom and Olle Nordemar were among the first people in Sweden to be vaccinated against the Hong Kong flu to ensure they could finish post-production in time for the broadcast.

For a 2014 45th-anniversary HD-restored rebroadcast, Sveriges Television edited out material later deemed offensive, including a scene where Pippi twice refers to her father as a 'negro king' (changed to just 'king') and a scene where she pulls the skin around her eyes to imitate a Chinese person.

In the German dub of the series, the folk song 'Der Lindenbaum' from Schubert's Winterreise was used, sung by Hans Lindgren dubbing actor Paul Esser.