fabricated characters created by finnish generator and illustrator Tove Jansson
“ Moomin ” redirects hera. For other uses, see Moomin ( disambiguation ) The Moomins ( swedish : Mumintroll ) are the central characters in a series of books and a amusing leach by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson, in the first place published in swedish by Schildts [ sv ] [ 2 ] in Finland. They are a family of white, round fairy narrative characters with large snouts that make them resemble the hippopotamus. however, despite this resemblance, the Moomin family are trolls. The family live in their theater in Moominvalley, though in the by, their impermanent residences have included a beacon and a dramaturgy. They have had many adventures along with their diverse friends. In all, nine books were released in the series, together with five picture books and a comic strip being released between 1945 and 1993.

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The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, films and tied two theme parks : one called Moomin World in Naantali, Finland, and another Akebono Children ‘s Forest Park in Hannō, Saitama, Japan .

etymology [edit ]

In a letter to Paul Ariste, an estonian linguist, Jansson wrote in 1973 that she had created an artificial bible which expresses something soft. She came up with an ad hoc Swedish bible mumintrollet, because, in her opinion, the consonant audio of m in detail conveys a sensation of softness. As an artist, Jansson gave the Moomins a condition that besides expresses softness, as opposed to flabbiness. [ 3 ]

outline and characters [edit ]

finnish Moomin toy dog from the 1950s The Moomin stories refer several eccentric and oddly-shaped characters, some of whom are related to each other. The central class consists of Moominpappa, Moominmamma and Moomintroll. [ 4 ] other characters, such as Hemulens, Sniff, the Snork Maiden, Snufkin and Little My are accepted into or attach themselves to the family group from time to time, generally living separate lives in the wall Moominvalley, where the series is set. It is in this fictional valley, that the Moomin family decides to live at the end of The Moomins and the Great Flood .

Characters [edit ]

  • Moomintroll, also referred to as “Moomin” in some of the English translations: The main protagonist, the little boy of the family, interested in and excited about everything he sees and finds, always trying to be good, but sometimes getting into trouble while doing so; he is very brave and always finds a way to make his friends happy.
  • Moominpappa: Orphaned in his younger years, he is a somewhat restless soul who left the orphanage to venture out into the world in his youth but has now settled down, determined to be a responsible father to his family.
  • Moominmamma: The calm mother, who takes care that Moominhouse is a safe place to be. She wants everyone to be happy, appreciates individuality, but settles things when someone is wronged. She always brings good food as well as whatever else may be necessary on a journey in her handbag.
  • Little My: A mischievous little girl, who lives in the Moomin house and has a brave, spunky personality. She likes adventure, but loves catastrophes, and often does mean things on purpose. She finds messiness and untidiness exciting and is very down to earth when others are not.
  • Sniff: A creature who lives in the Moomin house. He likes to take part in everything, but is afraid to do anything dangerous. Sniff appreciates all valuables and makes many plans to get rich, but does not succeed.
  • Snork Maiden: Moomin’s friend. She is happy and energetic, but often suddenly changes her mind on things. She loves nice clothes and jewelry and is a little flirtatious. She thinks of herself as Moomin’s girlfriend.
  • Snufkin: Moomin’s best friend. The lonesome philosophical traveller, who likes to play the harmonica and wanders around the world with only a few things, so as not to make his life complicated. He always comes and goes as he pleases, is carefree and has many admirers in Moominvalley. He is also shown to be quite fearless and calm in even the most dire situations, which has proven to be a great help to Moomintroll and the others when in danger.
  • The younger Mymble, also referred to as “the Mymble’s daughter“: Little My’s amiable and helpful big sister, and half-sister of Snufkin. She often has romantic daydreams about the love of her life, particularly policemen.
  • The Snork: Snorkmaiden’s brother. He is an introvert by nature and is always inventing things. The residents of Moominvalley often ask Snork for help solving tricky problems and building machines. Snorks are like moomintrolls, but change colour according to their mood.
  • Too-Ticky: A wise woman, and good friend of the family. She has a boyish look, with a blue hat and a red-striped shirt. She dives straight into action to solve dilemmas in a practical way. Too-Ticky is the one of the people in Moominvalley, who does not hibernate, instead spending the winter in the cozy sauna building of the Moominhouse.
  • Stinky: A small furry creature that always plays jokes on the family in the house, where he sometimes lives. He likes pinching things, is proud of his reputation as a crook, but always gets found out. He is simple and only thinks of himself.

biographic interpretation [edit ]

Critics have interpreted respective Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, particularly members of the author ‘s family, and Tove Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters. [ 5 ] The first two books about the Moomins were published in 1945 and 1946 respectively, and deal with natural disasters ; they were influenced by the upheavals of war and Jansson ‘s depression during the war years. [ 6 ] Tove Jansson ‘s liveliness collaborator was the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, whose personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] Moomintroll and Little My have been seen as psychological self-portraits of the artist. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] The Moomins, by and large speaking, relate strongly to Jansson ‘s own class – they were bohemian, lived close to nature and were very tolerant towards diverseness. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson ‘s parents Viktor Jansson and Signe Hammarsten-Jansson. [ 5 ] [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Most of Jansson ‘s characters are on the brink of melancholy, such as the constantly dinner dress Hemulen, or the strange Hattifatteners, who travel in concert, ill groups. Jansson uses the differences between the characters ‘ philosophies to provide a venue for her satirical impulses. [ 9 ]

list of books [edit ]

The books in the serial, in order, are :
All of the books in the main series except The Moomins and the Great Flood ( originally : Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen ) were translated and published in English during the 1960s and 70s. This first reserve would finally be translated into English in 2005 by David McDuff and published by Schildts [ sv ] of Finland for the sixtieth anniversary of the series. A by and by 2012 version of the lapp transformation featuring Jansson ‘s new foreword to the 1991 scandinavian printing, was published in Britain by Sort Of Books, [ 10 ] and was more widely distributed. There are besides five Moomin video books by Tove Jansson :
The beginning official translation of Villain in the Moominhouse by Tove Jansson historian Ant O’Neill was premiered in a reading at the ArchWay With Words literary festival on 25 September 2017. [ 11 ] The books and comedian strips have been translated from their master Swedish and English respectively into many languages. The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My is the foremost Moomin book to be adapted for iPad .

The amusing strip [edit ]

The Moomins besides appeared in the form of amusing strips. Their inaugural appearance was in 1947 in the children ‘s section of the Ny Tid newspaper, [ 12 ] and they were introduced internationally to English readers in 1954 in the democratic London newspaper The Evening News. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Tove Jansson drew and wrote all the strips until 1959. She shared the work burden with her buddy Lars Jansson until 1961 ; after that he took over the job until 1975 when the concluding strip was released. [ 15 ] Drawn & Quarterly, a canadian graphic novel publisher, released reprints of all The Evening News strips created by both Tove and Lars Jansson beginning in October 2006. [ 16 ] The first five volumes, Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip have been published, whilst the sixth bulk, published in May 2011, began Moomin: The Complete Lars Jansson Comic Strip. The 2015 publication Moomin: The Deluxe Anniversary Edition collected all of Tove ‘s study. In the 1990s, a comic book adaptation of Moomin was produced in Scandinavia after Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson ‘s animate series was shown on television. Neither Tove nor Lars Jansson had any involvement in these comedian books ; however, in the wake island of the serial, two newfangled Moomin comic strips were launched under the artistic and content oversight of Lars and his daughter, Sophia Jansson-Zambra. Sophia now provides exclusive supervision for the strips. [ 13 ]

television series and films [edit ]

The narrative of the Moomins has been made into television series on many occasions by assorted groups, possibly the most well known of which is a japanese – Dutch collaboration, that has besides produced a feature-length movie. however, there are besides two soviet serials, creature animation Mumi-troll ( Moomintroll ) and cutout animation Shlyapa Volshebnika ( Magician’s Hat ) of three parts each, and the polish – Austrian puppet animation television series, The Moomins, which was air and became popular in an edit mannequin in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. Two feature of speech films re-use the footage of the Polish-Austrian series : Moomin and Midsummer Madness had its release in 2008, and in 2010 the Moomins appear in the first Nordic three-d film production, with the deed song by Björk, in Moomins and the Comet Chase. The animate movie titled Moomins on the Riviera is based on Moomin amusing strip narrative Moomin on the Riviera and was first released on 10 October 2014 in Finland [ 17 ] and made premier on 11 October 2014 at BFI London Film Festival in United Kingdom. [ 18 ] In an October 2014 web log article at Screendaily, Sophia Jansson states that the film ‘s “ artistic team has made an attempt to be on-key to the original drawings and the original textbook ”. [ 19 ]
The Moomins, from the 1990–91 television animation. From left to right, Sniff, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Moomintroll ( Moomin ) and little My

Moomin music [edit ]

The Moomin novels describe the melodious activities of the Moomins, particularly those of Snufkin, his harmonica with “ trills ” and “ twiddles ”. All Moomin characters sing songs, frequently about their thoughts and themselves. The songs often serve as core statements of the characters ‘ personalities .

original songs [edit ]

The Moomin Voices CD release from 2003, arranged by Mika Pohjola, in swedish containing Tove Jansson ‘s original Moomin songs. A finnish version was released in 2005. This music was heard outside Moominvalley after they went live on dramaturgy stage in Stockholm. Director Vivica Bandler told Jansson in 1959 : “ Listen, here the people want songs ”. [ 24 ] The earlier adaptation of the act was cast in Helsinki with no music. Helsinki based pianist and composer Erna Tauro was commissioned to write the songs to lyrics by Jansson. The first solicitation consisted of six Moomin Songs ( Sex muminvisor ) : Moomintroll ‘s Song ( Mumintrollets visa ), Little My ‘s Song ( Lilla Mys visa ), Mrs. Fillyjonk ‘s Song ( Fru Filifjonks sång ), Theater Rat Emma ‘s Words of Wisdom ( Teaterråttan Emmas visdomsord ), Misabel ‘s Lament ( Misans klagolåt ) and Final Song ( Slutsång ). More songs were published in the 1960s and 1970s, when Jansson and Lars Jansson produced a series of Moomin drama for swedish Television. The childlike, so far effective melodies by Tauro were well received by the dramaturgy and television receiver audiences. The first songs were either sung unaccompanied or accompanied by a pianist. While the most celebrated Moomin songs in Scandinavia are undoubtedly “ Moomintroll ‘s Song ” and “ Little My ‘s Song ”, they appear in no context in the novels. The original songs by Jansson and Tauro remained scattered after their initial turn. The beginning record of the complete collection was made in 2003 by composer and arranger Mika Pohjola on the Moomin Voices cadmium ( Muminröster in Swedish ), as a tribute to the belated Tove Jansson. Tauro had died in June 1993 and some of Jansson ‘s last lyrics were composed by Pohjola in cooperation with Jansson ‘s heir. Pohjola was besides the organizer of all songs for a vocal music ensemble and bedroom orchestra. All voices were sung by Åland native singer, Johanna Grüssner. The lapp recording has been released in a finnish translation in 2005, Muumilauluja. The finnish lyrics were translated by Kirsi Kunnas and Vexi Salmi. [ 25 ] The swedish and finnish recordings of Moomin Voices, and their respective musical scores, have been used as course material at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. [ 25 ] The Moomin Voices Live Band ( aka. Muumilauluja-bändi ) is dedicated to entirely performing the original lyrics and unaltered stories by Tove Jansson. This band is led by Pohjola on piano, with vocalists Mirja Mäkelä and Eeppi Ursin. [ 26 ]

Read more: Lille OSC

other musical adaptations [edit ]

autonomous musical interpretations of the Moomins have been made for the nineties zanzibar copal, by Pierre Kartner, with translate versions being made including in Poland and the Nordic countries. Their lyrics, however, much contain simple slogans and the music is written in a children ‘s pop music manner and contrast precipitously with the original Moomin novels and Jansson ‘s pictorial and descriptive, however rhyming lyricality, ampere well as Erna Tauro ‘s Scandinavian-style songs ( visor ), which are occasionally influenced by Kurt Weill. A Moomin opera was written in 1974 by the Finnish composer Ilkka Kuusisto ; Jansson designed the costumes. [ 27 ] Musicscapes from Moominvalley is a four-part work based on the Moomin compositions of composer and producer Heikki Mäenpää. It was created on the footing of the original Moomin works for the Tampere Art Museum. [ 28 ] Twenty modern Moomin songs were produced in Finland by Timo Poijärvi and Ari Vainio in 2006. This finnish album contains no original lyrics by Jansson. however, it is based on the novel, Comet in Moominland, and adheres to the original stories. The songs are performed by Samuli Edelmann, Sani, Tommi Läntinen, Susanna Haavisto and Jore Marjaranta and early established finnish vocalists in the pop/entertainment writing style. The same twenty compositions are besides available as standalone multimedia candle postcards. The Icelandic singer Björk has composed and performed the title song ( Comet Song ) for the film Moomins and the Comet Chase ( 2010 ). The lyrics were written by the Icelandic writer Sjón. In 2010, Russian composer Lex Plotnikoff ( collapse of symphonic metallic ring Mechanical Poet ) released a new-age music album Hattifatteners: Stories from the Clay Shore, [ 29 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ] accompanied by photos of moomin characters models by photographer/sculptor Tisha Razumovsky. Due to copyright issues, the album was by and by re-released as Mistland Prattlers, with references to Moomins removed .

theater [edit ]

several stage productions have been made from Jansson ‘s Moomin series, including a total that Jansson herself was involved in. The earliest production was a 1949 theatrical version of Comet in Moominland performed at Åbo Svenska Teater. [ 27 ] In the early 1950s, Jansson collaborated on Moomin-themed children ‘s plays with Vivica Bandler. By 1958, Jansson began to become directly involved in field as Lilla Teater produced Troll i kulisserna ( Troll in the wings ), a Moomin play with lyrics by Jansson and music composed by Erna Tauro. The production was a success, and former performances were held in Sweden and Norway, [ 7 ] including recently at the Malmö Opera and Music Theatre in 2011. [ 32 ] mischief and Mystery in Moominvalley, a production created by Get Lost and Found which included puppetry and a giant pop fly ledger set, toured the UK from 2018, with runs at London ‘s Southbank Centre, Kew Gardens and the Manchester Literature Festival. [ 33 ] This production was written by Emma Edwards and Sophie Ellen Powell with puppets and hardening designed and made by Annie Brooks .

root parks and displays [edit ]

Moomin World [edit ]

Moomin World ( Muumimaailma in Finnish, Muminvärlden in Swedish ) is the Moomin Theme Park specially for children. Moomin World is located on the island of Kailo beside the old town of Naantali, near the city of Turku in western Finland. The blueberry-coloured Moomin House is the main attraction ; tourists are allowed to freely visit all five stories. It is besides possible to see the Hemulen ‘s yellow house, Moominmama ‘s kitchen, the Fire Station, Snufkin ‘s Camp, Moominpappa ‘s boat, etc. Visitors may besides meet Moomin characters there. Moomin World opens for the Summer season .

Moomin Ice Cave [edit ]

On December 26, 2020, the clandestine Moomin Ice Cave subject park was opened 30 meters underneath the Spa Hotel Vesileppis in Leppävirta ( 56 kilometres ( 35 security service ) confederacy of Kuopio ). The Moomin Ice Cave includes Moomin-themed internal-combustion engine sculptures, downhill skiing and other activities for families with children. [ 34 ] [ 35 ]

Tampere Art Museum [edit ]

The Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum is a museum devoted to the original works of Tove Jansson. It contains around 2,000 works. The museum is based on the Moomin books and has many original Moomin illustrations by Tove Jansson. The jewel of the collection is a blue five-storey model of the Moominhouse, which had Tove Jansson as one of its builders. As a birthday present, the 20-year-old museum received a soundscape work based on the works of Tove Jansson, called Musicscapes from Moominvalley .

synergistic rumpus room [edit ]

An interactional rumpus room about the Moomins was located at Scandinavia House, New York City, from November 11, 2006, till March 31, 2007. [ 36 ] [ 37 ]

Akebono Children ‘s Forest Park [edit ]

Akebono Children ‘s Forest Park ( あけぼの子どもの森公園, Akebono Kodomo no Mori Kōen ), besides called “ Moomin Valley ”, is a Moomin themed park for children in Hannō, Saitama in Japan that opened in July, 1997. [ 38 ] [ 39 ] Tove Jansson had already in the 1970s given her personal permission to the city of Hannō to build a small Moomin-themed playground there. [ 40 ] first announced in 2013, a raw Moomin theme park was opened in March 2019 at Lake Miyazawa, Hannō. There are two zones : the detached Metsä Village sphere, comprising lakefront restaurants and shops set among lifelike activities, and the Moomin-themed zone offer attractions like Moominhouse and an art museum. [ 41 ] The root parking lot has become very popular, with more than one million visitors during the first three months in 2019. [ 42 ]

Moomin shops [edit ]

As of January 2019, there are 20 Moomin Shops around the global, offering an extensive compass of Moomin-themed goods. Finland, dwelling of the Moomins, has three stores. There are two stores in the UK, one in the US, six in Japan. China and Hong Kong each have one shop. There are three in South Korea and three in Thailand. [ 43 ]

Moomin Cafes [edit ]

As of January 2018, there are 15 theme Moomin Cafes around the populace – Finland, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Taiwan [ 44 ] – allowing diners to immerse themselves in the Moomin populace. Diners can enjoy Moomin-inspired meals sitting at tables with epic lavish versions of Moomin characters. [ 45 ]

success in democratic polish [edit ]

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 vivification series in Japan named Tales From Moominvalley, which was followed by a full-length movie Comet in Moominland. Moomin books had always been firm bestsellers in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but the animation started a new Moomin lunacy both in Finland and abroad, particularly in Japan, where they are the official mascots of the Daiei chain of shopping centers. A large trade diligence was built around the Moomin characters, covering everything from coffee cups and T-shirts to plastic models. even the former Finnish President Tarja Halonen has been known to wear a Moomin watch. [ 46 ] New Moomin comedian books and comedian strips were published. Moomins were used to advertise Finland afield : the Helsinki–Vantaa International Airport was decorated with Moomin images and Finnair decorated its aircraft on routes to Japan with Moomin designs. The peak of the Moomin Boom was the open of the Moomin World composition 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 honest-to-god Moomin enthusiasts have stressed that the newer animations banalize the original and philosophic Moomin world to harmless syndicate 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-Zambra. Wanting to keep the control over Moomins, the syndicate has turned down offers from the Walt Disney Company. [ 6 ] As of 2017, the Moomin post is estimated to have a annual retail value of 700 million EUR per year. [ 47 ]

References [edit ]