Man, the stuff they got away with on kids’ TV in the sixties. In the previous episode, the producers literally launched the tiny monkey into the river on a little plank of wood. That’s after they send the monkey up into the sky on a kite. I’m almost prepared to accept that the kite might have been some trick photography, but not the river bit. They must have got the monkey’s handler drunk or something.
This time, Pippi finds a collection of her pirate father’s old handguns up in the attic of Villa Villekula, brings one downstairs, and fires that pistol at the ceiling, bringing a cascade of sawdust down on top of her. Watch Nickelodeon for an evening and try to imagine that happening in any of their programming!
I think that I preempted Daniel getting frightened this time, because Pippi wants to celebrate her birthday by going hunting for “spooks” in the attic. I knew enough to tell my son that Pippi would be pretending that there are ghosts in the attic, and that her make-believe was going to look and sound scary, but Pippi would only be pretending. That worked… until an owl breezed by Anna and Tommy and the kids shrieked, anyway!
Fire Breathing Dimetrodon Time 