Ronja, The Robber's Daughter

The beloved children's author and the creator of "Pippi Longstocking," Astrid Lindgren, brought a unique strength to her young characters, particularly the female ones, and the title character in "Ronja, The Robber's Daughter" is no exception. Studio Ghibli and director Goro Miyazaki have adapted Lindgren's standalone novel into a limited television series that, now dubbed in English, crosses many different cultures and still maintains the soul of its source – character truth and humanity.

The story springs up in an early-Medieval fantasy setting where there aren't a lot of women at all to stereotype, but Ronja is never treated a particular way because of her gender, and she's never mollycoddled for being a child. In fact, she's not oppressed by any of the limitations that the modern 10 year-old faces. For her childhood is an open doorway into a world that is packed full of things to discover, and although it is a dangerous world, Ronja receives very few limitations from adults and no cautionary tone from the narrator. These are no "Grimm's Fairy Tales," the walls of her father's fortress are thrown open and the child is allowed to discover uninhibited.

The woodlands that Ronja ventures into are a mystical place, full of magical creatures and fantastic adventures, but this young girl's concerns are realistic and universal – the discovery of nature and other people, negotiating oneself in an adult world and realizing that world is full of moral inconsistencies.

The animation is styled and eye catching; of course, it's anime. But it's also remarkably realistic with descriptive segments detailing facial expression and the nature. And the English language dub adds an interesting new dimension to the characters with its use of working class British accents.

Now available on Blu-ray; this complete series collection includes a making of featurette and an interview with the director.

"Ronja, The Robber's Daughter"
Blu-ray $29.97
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