Moomin

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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, 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 creatures who are white, round and furry in appearance, with large snouts that make them resemble trolls or capybara. 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.

The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, a film and even a theme park. An interactive playroom about the Moomins is located at Scandinavia House.[citation needed]

Contents

Naantali, Finland, Moomin Houses in Moomin World
Naantali, Finland, Moomin Houses in Moomin World

The books in the series, in order, are:

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

The Moomins, from Japanese–Finnish television-animation. From left to right, Sniff, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Moomintroll (Moomin) and Little My
The Moomins, from Japanese–Finnish 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, saying that she no longer had time for painting or writing. 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 two volumes of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip are currently available, with three more volumes planned to follow.

In the 1990s, a comic book version of the Moomin was produced in Scandinavia after the animated series were shown on television. Neither Tove nor Lars Jansson had any involvement in this.

The story of the Moomins was made into television series on many occasions by various groups, the most recent of which have been Japanese–Finnish 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:

See Characters in the Moomin series

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."

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". [1]

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.

The original songs by Jansson and Tauro remained scattered after their initial release. The first recording of the complete collection was made in 2002-03 by composer and arranger Mika Pohjola on the Moomin Voices CD (Muminröster in Swedish), as a tribute to the late Tove Jansson. Tauro died in 1993 and some of Jansson's last lyrics were composed by Pohjola in cooperation with Jansson's heirs. Pohjola was also the arranger of all songs for a vocal ensemble and chamber orchestra. The same recording has been released in a Finnish version in 2005, Muumilauluja. The Finnish lyrics were translated by Kirsi Kunnas and Vexi Salmi. [2]

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[3].

The Moomin Voices Live Band (aka. Muumilauluja-bändi) is solely dedicated to performing the original lyrics and unaltered stories by Ms. Jansson. This band is lead by Pohjola on piano, with vocalists Mirja Mäkelä and Eeppi Ursin[4].

Independent musical interpretations of the Moomin stories have been made for the screen versions in Poland, Great Britain and Japan. These lyrics, however, often contain simple slogans, and the music is written in a children's pop music style and with no lyrics by Jansson. 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) which draw occasional influences from Kurt Weill.

Similarly, twenty new Moomin songs were produced in Finland by Timo Poijärvi and Ari Vainio in 2006. This album is called "The Comet in Moominland", containing songs based on the novel by Jansson. The songs sport an easily adoptable, non-computerized and non-plastic kids' music style but more relaxed easy going attitude with an additional appeal to older Moomin fans. The songs were performed by Samuli Edelmann, Sani, Tommi Läntinen, Susanna Haavisto and Jore Marjaranta and other Finnish established vocalists in the pop/entertainment genre. The same twenty compositions are also available as standalone multimedia CD postcards.

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

  1. ^ Songbook "Visor från Mumindalen" foreword by Boel Westin. Bonniers, Stockholm, Sweden.
  2. ^ www.moominvoices.com
  3. ^ www.moominvoices.com
  4. ^ www.mikapohjola.com
 v • d • e The Moomin Series by Tove Jansson
Authors Tove Jansson • Lars Jansson
Books The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945) • Comet in Moominland (1946) • Finn Family Moomintroll (1948) • The Exploits of Moominpappa (1950) • Moominsummer Madness (1954) • Moominland Midwinter (1957) • Tales from Moominvalley (1962) • Moominpappa at Sea (1965) • Moominvalley in November (1970)
Picture books The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952) • Who Will Comfort Toffle? (1960) • The Dangerous Journey (1977) • An Unwanted Guest (1980)
Characters Moomintroll • Moominmamma • Moominpappa • Sniff • Snufkin • Little My • The Hemulen • The Groke • Hattifatteners • The Snork Maiden
Television Die Muminfamilie (1959-61) • Mumintrollet (1969) • Tove Jasson no Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka (1969-70) • Shin Muumin (1972) • Mumi-troll (1978) • The Moomins (1979-82) • Shlyapa Volshebnika (1980-83) • Moomin (1990-91) • Tanoshii Moomin Ikka: Bōken Nikki (1991-92)
Film Tanoshii Moomin Ikka: Muumindani no Suisei (1992)
Other Moomin World • Moomin Museum • The Summer Book • A Winter Book • Fair Play
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin"
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