First of all, I'm very surprised to find this movie at this site. I hardly expected any Swedish movies at all.
Of course, I'm Swedish, but I'm afraid this book doesn't appeal to people of other countries as much as it does to my people. The reason why Pippi Longstocking, or Pippi Långstrump, as I like to call her, since it's her Swedish name, is much more popular outside Sweden than Madicken, is of course that Pippi can appeal to other people too. Madicken lives in a very realistic world, in a small town in Sweden in the 1910s, while Pippi Longstocking, who grew up with pirates, is strong enough to lift up a horse on her hands, and has a suitcase full of gold cons, is almost like a fairy-tale and far more international. However, Pippi is one of the most popular Astrid Lindgren characters within Sweden too, while "Madicken" never gets the same kind of admiration. I prefer "Madicken" though, and the stories about her are by far my favorites in the Astrid Lindgren production.
I don't think anyone outside Sweden can understand the status Astrid Lindgen has within our country. When she died in 2002, all other TV shows were cancelled to be replaced by specials about Astrid, and her funeral was shown on TV too. And still, she wrote hardly anything but children's books! However, Swedish children have been brought up with Astrid Lingdren for 60 years.
I must also explain, that child nudity is much more accepted in Sweden than in America. Of course, child porn is not accepted, but back in 1979, when no one really knew there was such a thing as pedophilia or child porn, there was no problem with showing children naked in a movie as they got dressed or went for a swim. But I actually think there would be more problems, if a movie was done this way today, because nowadays, child porn unfortunately is a well-known issue.
And I also must agree, that the "Madicken" TV series and movies really have nailed what it was like here in Sweden back in the 1910s. Everything about them, especially the clothes and hairstyles, are very authentic. And we're reminded of how much social classes still mattered back then.
