Bunting (1961 – mid-1980s) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
halfbreed
grey horse made famous for his participation in
Olle Hellbom
Nils Olof "Olle" Hellbom (8 October 1925 – 5 June 1982) was a Swedish film director, film producer, producer, and screenwriter. He is most famous for directing films based on novels by Astrid Lindgren. His 1960 film ''The Children of Bullerbyn V ...
's
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi Longstocking () is the fictional main character in a series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story when she was off school.
Pippi is ...
films. He played Pippi's horse Lilla gubben.
Bunting was first called Illbatting and then Batting; he was owned by Rudolf Öberg, and had been a gift for him at his 60th birthday. When it was time to film the Pippi movies the film crew contacted him and used Bunting during filming. Bunting was completely white so the crew had to paint black dots onto his skin to make him look like the horse in the books.
It was during filming that
Inger Nilsson
Karin Inger Monica Nilsson (born 4 May 1959) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is a former child actress. She is primarily known for her portrayal of Pippi Longstocking in the Swedish-produced TV series of the same name during 1969 which was ...
, the actress who played Pippi, chose the name of Lilla gubben. In the books her horse is only mentioned as "the horse".
After the final film was completed Bunting returned to a riding school, and was later moved to a stable in
Vallentuna
Vallentuna is the seat of Vallentuna Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden, with 33,219 inhabitants in 2018. Vallentuna's cultural landscape is well preserved, and human habitation in the area has been traced back as far as the Stone Age. Arche ...
where he later died at the age of 24.
Filmography
*TV - 1969 - ''Pippi Långstrump''
*1970 - ''Pippi Långstrump på de sju haven''
*1970-''På rymmen med Pippi Långstrump''
*1973 - ''Här kommer Pippi Långstrump''
References
Horse actors
Horses in film and television
{{Horse-stub