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Loved Pippi Longstocking, too, but note that she is yet another motherless child in children's literature. Of course, if she'd had a mother she wouldn't be having quite so many adventures.

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I wasn't trying to say that only Swedes are named Astrid, only that you're more likely to find an Astrid in a Swedish crowd. Maybe the Armenian Astrid's parents were Pippi fans too.

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pps....During Dancing with the Stars she looked, arguably amazing...but the skin was covered.

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I just want to hang out with this Swede:

http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/...dt,%20Victoria

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isn't Heloise?

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We haven't made it to the scissoring level of the relationship, but she is a good kisser.

She is French. Just to be clear - I'm talking about the mother here, not Astrid. Astrid is a very young girl.

You're fired
 

Thanks for clarifying.

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Yes.

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I agree. She was definitely Armenian, though. Go figure.

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Then you won't like Golden Compass either. The character is that book has a cool name too -- Lyra.

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Nice look. Subtle.

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Are they all motherless? or orphans?

I am just thinking of Harry Potter, the kids in the lion, witch & wardrobe and little orphan annie.

I suppose Nemo and Bambi do not have mothers. Also Cinderella.

Is the skew more towards motherless than orphan?

And why are they motherless/orphans? Is it so they are more heroic? Or because people like killing off mothers?

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Is that Bjorn Borg with fake tits?

http://img.timeinc.net/time/magazine...800630_400.jpg
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/...Victoria&seq=5

eta comparison photo

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Don't get me wrong - I liked Pippi Longstocking. I just can't believe how dominant the theme is.

I also note that had Pippi had a mother, her hair might not have been so disarmingly disheveled.

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amazing where do you find these links?

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In porn the actresses tend to be higher paid than the actors. Perhaps a similar economic in the films you cite, yes?

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So that the children are free to go off on dangerous adventures that their mothers would never permit. If the characters had mothers, real children's mothers would not be able to read the books aloud without interspersing such comments as "I don't know what Pippi Longstocking's mother is thinking, letting her spend all that time in that tree hole," and "Harry Potter's mother should spend less time at her PR job and more time finding out what's going on at that school!"

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It's a good literary device for creating tension -- alienation, loneliness, enemies (in the form of the evil stepparents or orphan-keepers), etc. The things that make a story interesting. It's also a good device for getting the kid into "adventures," by not having mom around to keep an eye on him/her.

I'm pretty sure Tom Sawyer had a mother, though. As did all the kids in The Great Brain series.

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AoN, at the DCF= Dutchess County Fair my older kid won a stuffed Nemo at like, skee ball or something so the baby is walking around handing us "nemo? fish? nemo? fish? nemmmmoooooooo?"

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Aha. That makes perfect sense.

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Don't you think it has something to do with the Cat in the Hat theme -- you do things you can't do when the grown-ups are around? It's hard to make Pippi's mother out all the time. How else to explain the horse in the house and the suitcase filled with gold coins?

ETA, yeah, what you said.

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Oliver, Tom Sawyer, and Annie, too. And also that gang in Warriors.

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He was raised by Aunt Polly. Did Hank steal your log-in?

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but some of the best porn has actresses playing mother/daughter combos, so at best that only partially explains it

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If there are parents, usually they are inattentive or away from home.

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My mom bought me my first lighter when I was 6, right after dad bought me a hunting knife.

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Also, note the total uselessness of the fathers in many stories. Cinderella's father is blind to the mistreatment of his beloved daughter by his horrible second wife; Nemo's father is an anxiety-addled twit; the kids who grow up in those books in Minnesota (I can never remember the name of the series) have a dad who is always away on business; Jane and Elizabeth's father, Mr. Bennet, is as ineffectual as they come (luckily, Elizabeth manages to marry someone quite unlike papa; although Lydia ended up with a cad and Jane, a gay). Perhaps some authors are working out their issues with daddy?

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And what you say about his company
Is what you say about society.

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A free web-based service called "Google." It has a relatively simple interface that's easy to learn. You type some text -- say, "Astrid name origin" -- into the window, and hit "Enter" on your keyboard, and within seconds it gives you list of websites of some relevance to your query. It's a great service. I wish I'd thought of it. Someone is going to make a lot of money with it, I'm thinking. Do you want the link?

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Indeed. That makes sense as well.

I have a hard time with children's movies. A few weeks ago, I watched Spirit with my nephew and couldn't stop crying about 2/3 of the way into the movie because it was so sad. My nephew is a little trickster, too. He kept saying "don't worry, Auntie [me], it's a happy ending." But then, he said "Actually, I just *think* it's a happy ending, it's probably a happy ending." I can safely report that it was indeed a happy ending and that my nephew and I are still on speaking terms.

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The girl in Labyrinth had a father and an evil stepmother. The Princess Bride appears to have been orphaned. The Little Princess was orphaned. Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Ariel (I'm so very, very excited that the Little Mermaid is going to be rereleased on DVD next month) only had their dads. Alladin, orphaned. Cinderella, evil stepmother. Snow White, evil stepmother. Sleeping Beauty, parents cursed. The Land Before Time dinosaurs, orphaned. Bambi, orphaned. The Lion King, orphaned.

Wendy in Peter Pan had both parents, though Peter appears to be orphaned.

ETA: Dumbo has a mom, but I can't watch the movie because of what happens to her. I've never seen Bambi for similar reasons. And I was traumatized by the mothers' deaths in the Land Before Time.

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You're going to hell.

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Damn you.

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Ariel didn't have a mom, but her dad was on the ball.

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On the other hand: No mercury poisoning!

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Nah. It's just been a few years since I've read it.

I've moved on to more grown-up literature, like My Darling, My Hamburger.

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I had Flinty's mom. And Penske's dad used to come on to me, but ineffectually.

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Or too busy. But, sometimes, the great instigator of adventure -- Dads in particular get to play that role.

Danny, The Champion of the World. Great case in point. (I love Roald Dahl, except not his freaky adult books)

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In Land of the Lost, it was Dad who caused them to be stuck among the sleestaks. You can just see their mom at home, pacing and seething and cursing her luck for having such a dolt of a husband. Hmm, maybe Land of the Lost was really a story about a custody dispute.

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Okay I was wrong. not Heloise but, "Eloise at the Plaza" I think she is orphaned? And was harriet the spy orphaned?