Moomins

For other uses, see Moomins (disambiguation).

The Moomins, comic book cover by Tove Jansson. From left to right, Sniff, Snufkin, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Moomintroll (Moomin), Mymble, Groke, Snork Maiden and Hattifatteners

The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Finnish writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish. They are a family of Scandinavian trolls who are white, round and furry in appearance, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley, though in the past their temporary residences have included a lighthouse and a theatre. They have many adventures along with their many friends.

They are particularly popular in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Russia, Japan, Israel and the United Kingdom and have been the basis for several television series, and a film, as well as many items of merchandise, and even a theme park.

The Books

Naantali, Finland, Moomin Houses in Moomin World

The books in the series, in order, are:

• Prequel. The Moomins and the Great Flood (Originally Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen) - 1945

1. Comet in Moominland some editions The Happy Moomins - (Originally Kometjakten / Kometen kommer) - 1946
2. Finn Family Moomintroll (originally Trollkarlens hatt) - 1948
3. The Exploits of Moominpappa some editions Moominpappa's Memoirs (originally Muminpappans bravader / Muminpappans memoarer) - 1950
4. Moominsummer Madness (originally Farlig midsommar) - 1954
5. Moominland Midwinter (originally Trollvinter) - 1957
6. Tales from Moominvalley (originally Det osynliga barnet) - 1962 (short stories)
7. Moominpappa at Sea (originally Pappan och havet) - 1965
8. Moominvalley in November (originally Sent i november) - 1970 (in which the Moomin family is absent)

The first book, known in English as The Moomins and the Great Flood (original Swedish title Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen) was finally published in English in 2005 (though only in Finland).

There are also four Moomin picture books by Tove Jansson:

• The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (Hur gick det sen) - 1952
• Who will Comfort Toffle? (Vem ska trösta knyttet) - 1960)
• The Dangerous Journey (Den farliga resan) - 1977)
• An Unwanted Guest (Skurken i Muminhuset) - 1980) (never translated into English.)

The books and comic strips have been translated from their original Swedish and English into many languages.

The Comic Strip

File:Moofam.gif

The Moomins, from Japanese–European television-animation. From left to right, Sniff, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Moomintroll (Moomin) and Little My

The Moomins also appeared in the form of comic strips; their first appearance was in the popular London newspaper The Evening News in 1954. Tove Jansson drew and wrote all the strips until 1959 when she lost inspiration. After this her brother Lars Jansson, who could duplicate the style of drawings and texts accurately, took over the job until 1975 when the last strip was released. The strips were made in English and then translated to other languages.

Drawn and Quarterly, a Canadian graphic novel publisher, is releasing a new reprint series of The Evening News strips, beginning in October 2006. The first volume of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip is currently available, with four more volumes planned to follow.

In the 90's, a comic book version of the Moomin was made in Scandinavia after the animated series were shown on television. Neither Tove nor Lars Jansson had any involvement in it, though.

Television Series and Films

The story of the Moomins was made into television series on many occasions by various groups, the most recent of which have been Japanese–European collaboration works which have also produced a feature-length movie. However, there are also two Soviet series (puppet animation Mumi-troll (Moomintroll) and cutout animation Shlyapa Volshebnika (Magician's hat)) of three films each and Polish puppet animation TV series, Opowiadania Muminków (Moomin Stories).

In all, 9 television series and one film have been made:

• Die Muminfamilie ("The Moomin Family", Germany, 1959-1961)
• Mumintrollet ("Moomintroll", Sweden, 1969)
• Tove Jasson no Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka ("Moomin", Japan, 1969-1970)
• Shin Muumin ("New Moomin", Japan, 1972)
• Mumi-troll ("Moomintroll", USSR, 1978)
• Opowiadania Muminków (Moomin Stories, Poland, 1977-1982, English title: The Moomins)
• Shlyapa Volshebnika ("Magician's Hat", USSR, 1980-1983)
• Tove Jasson no Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka ("Tove Jannson's Delightful Moomin Family", Japan, 1990-1991, English title: Moomin)
• Tanoshii Moomin Ikka: Bōken Nikki (TV series) ("Delightful Moomin Family: Adventure Diary", Japan, 1991-1992)
• Tanoshii Moomin Ikka: Muumindani no Suisei (movie) ("Delightful Moomin Family: Comet in Moominland", Japan, 1992)

Moomin characters

See Characters in the Moomin series

On Moomin characters

The life partner of Tove Jansson was the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, whose personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter. Moomintroll and Little My can be seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist. The Moomins, generally speaking, relate strongly to Jansson's own family - they were bohemian, lived close to nature and were very tolerant towards diversity. Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as straight portraits of Jansson's parents Viktor Jansson and Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. Some of Jansson's characters are on the verge of melancholy, such as the always formal Hemulens, or the strange Hattifatteners who travel in concerted, ominous groups. The novelist Alison Lurie has described the Groke, a black, hill-shaped creation with glowing eyes, as a walking manifestation of Nordic gloominess - everyone she touches dies, and the ground freezes everywhere she sits.

The Moomin stories have a very humane message. The books have caprices and utterances which ponder life and ways of the world. Snufkin comments on freedom: "One can never be entirely free, if one admires someone else too much." Little My expresses possession: "Possession means worries and luggage bags one has to drag along."

Moomin music

The Moomin novels often describe the musical activities of the Moomins, particularly those of Snufkin, his harmonica with "trills" and "twiddles." However, the reader could never hear any of these "songs" before the Moomins went live on theater stage in Stockholm. Director Vivica Bandler told Jansson in 1959: "Listen, here the people want songs".

Helsinki based pianist and composer, Erna Tauro was commissioned to write the songs to lyrics by Jansson. The first collection consisted of six Moomin Songs: Moomintroll’s Song (Mumintrollets visa, Muumipeikon laulu), Little My’s Song (Lilla Mys visa, Pikku Myyn laulu), Mrs. Fillyjonk’s Song (Fru Filifjonks sång, Rouva Vilijonkan laulu), Theater Rat Emma’s Words of Wisdom (Teaterråttan Emmas visdomsord, Teatterirotta Emman laulu), Misabel’s Lament (Misans klagolåt, Miisan valituslaulu) and Final Song (Slutsång, Loppulaulu).

More songs were published in the 1960s and 70s when Jansson and later also her brother Lars Jansson produced a series of Moomin dramas for Swedish Television. The simple, yet effective melodies were well received by the theater and TV audiences. The first songs were either sung unaccompanied or accompanied by a pianist. While the most famous moomin songs in Scandinavia are undoubtedly Moomintroll’s Song and Little My’s Song, they appear in no context in the novels.

Interpretations of the Moomin stories have been made for the screen in Poland, Great Britain and Japan. They each contain their original theme music and scoring, but with no lyrics by Tove Jansson. These lyrics often contain simple slogans, and the music is written in a children's pop music style. This contrasts sharply with the original Moomin novels and Jansson's pictorial, descriptive, witty lyrical rhyming, as well as Erna Tauro's Scandinavian-style songs (visor), with occasional influences from Kurt Weill.

The original songs by Jansson and Tauro remained scattered after their initial release. The first recording of the complete collection was made in 2002 by composer and arranger Mika Pohjola on the Moomin Voices / Muminröster CD, as a tribute to the late Tove Jansson. Tauro died in 1993 and some of Jansson's last lyrics were instead composed by Pohjola. Pohjola was also the arranger of all songs for a vocal ensemble and chamber orchestra. The same recording was released in 2005 in a Finnish version, Muumilauluja. The Finnish lyrics were translated by Kirsi Kunnas and Vexi Salmi.

The Moomin Boom

Finnair MD-11 decorated with Moomin characters serving the Japanese route

The Moomin Boom (muumibuumi in Finnish) started in the 1990s, when Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson produced a 104-part animation series in Japan named Tales From Moominvalley, which was followed by a full length movie Comet in Moominland. Moomin books had always been steady bestsellers in Finland, but the animation started a new Moomin madness both in Finland and abroad, especially in Japan. A large merchandising industry was built around the Moomin characters, covering everything from coffee cups and t-shirts to plastic models. New Moomin comic books and comic strips were published. Moomins were used to advertise Finland abroad: the Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport was decorated with Moomin images and Finnair painted big Moomin figures to its Japan-line airplanes. The peak of the Moomin Boom was the opening of the Moomin World theme park in Naantali, Finland, which has become one of Finland's international tourist destinations.

The Moomin Boom has been criticized for commercializing the Moomins. Friends of Tove Jansson and many old Moomin enthusiasts have stressed that the animations banalize the original and philosophical Moomin world to harmless family entertainment. An antithesis for the Disneyland-like Moomin World theme park is the Moomin Museum of Tampere, which exhibits the original illustrations and hand-made Moomin models by Tove Jansson.

The Jansson family has kept the rights of Moomins and controlled the Moomin Boom. The artistic control is now in the hands of Lars Jansson's daughter, Sophia Jansson. Wanting to keep the control over Moomins, the family has turned down offers from the Walt Disney Company.

The theme tune for the television series was originally "The Moomins" but then it was replaced with "True" by Spandau Ballet.

See also

The short story The Littlest Jackal by Bruce Sterling, published in A Good Old-Fashioned Future, mentions the Flüüvins, child characters created by a reclusive Finland Swedish woman from the Åland islands, that have become a fad in Japan.

Moomins in New York City

An interactive playroom about the Moomins is located at Scandinavia House.

Moomins in EuroVision song contest

In eurovision song contest 2007, Scandanavia's introduction movie featured Santa Claus playing chess against Moomintroll.

External links

• Moomin Characters, Finland Official Website
• Moomin Characters, Japan Official Website
• Moomin Cartoon shown in Taiwan FTV
• [1] Moomin wiki in Finnish
• Japanese Moomin Webring
• TheMoomins.com / DieMoomins.com English/Germany Moomin Fansite
• Moominworld in Naantali, Finland
• Moomin Voices The original Moomin Music
• Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland
• The Moomins Photo, facts and links
• The Moomins and the Great Flood - Online translation of the first Moomin book, Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen.
• The Moomin Trove - Comprehensive lists of Tove Jansson's Moomin books
• Research Paper by the Finnish Institutions on Tove Jansson and the Moomin phenomena
• Zépé's Virtuelles Muminforschungszentrum - "Moomin Research Center": exhaustive body of Moomin information, including an exhaustive list of characters (with translated names in several languages), synopsis of all Moomin books and Moomin comics (in German).
• Сайт, посвящённый творчеству Туве Янссон - The biggest Russian Moomin/Tove Jansson site contains a lot of resources: a long biographical section, extensive extracts from the Russian Moomin editions, some illustrations and several reviews and articles.(in Russian).
• Moomintroll Quote of the Day