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The Moomins (Swedish
Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic languages language, spoken by around 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the ?land islands....
: Mumintroll, Finnish
Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by Finnish people outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden....
: Muumi) are the central characters in a series of book
Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side....
s and a comic strip
Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story.Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many such strips are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet....
 by Finnish
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 illustrator and writer Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson was a Finland novelist, Painting, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books....
, originally published in Swedish
Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic languages language, spoken by around 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the ?land islands....
 by Schildts (and later in Finnish by WSOY
SanomaWSOY

Sanoma Oyj is the leading Mass media group in the Nordic countries with operations in 20 European countries, based in Helsinki. The group is also among the top five European magazine publishers and has a strong position, in addition to its native Finland, in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, L...
) in Finland. They are a family of troll
Troll

A troll is a fearsome member of a race of creatures from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giant , although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants ? similar to the ogres of England ? to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground...
s who are white, round and furry in appearance, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamus
Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly herbivore African mammal, one of only two Extant taxon species in the scientific classification Hippopotamidae ....
es. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley
Moominvalley

Moominvalley is a fictional place, where the Moomins live in the tales by Finnish author Tove Jansson.Moominvalley is also another name for the Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland....
, in the forests of Finland, though in the past their temporary residences have included a lighthouse
Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to Maritime pilot at sea....
 and a theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Moomins (Swedish
Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic languages language, spoken by around 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the ?land islands....
: Mumintroll, Finnish
Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by Finnish people outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden....
: Muumi) are the central characters in a series of book
Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side....
s and a comic strip
Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story.Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many such strips are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet....
 by Finnish
Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
 illustrator and writer Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson was a Finland novelist, Painting, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books....
, originally published in Swedish
Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic languages language, spoken by around 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the ?land islands....
 by Schildts (and later in Finnish by WSOY
SanomaWSOY

Sanoma Oyj is the leading Mass media group in the Nordic countries with operations in 20 European countries, based in Helsinki. The group is also among the top five European magazine publishers and has a strong position, in addition to its native Finland, in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, L...
) in Finland. They are a family of troll
Troll

A troll is a fearsome member of a race of creatures from Norse mythology. Originally more or less the Nordic equivalents of giant , although often smaller in size, the different depictions have come to range from the fiendish giants ? similar to the ogres of England ? to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground...
s who are white, round and furry in appearance, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamus
Hippopotamus

The hippopotamus or hippo is a large, mostly herbivore African mammal, one of only two Extant taxon species in the scientific classification Hippopotamidae ....
es. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley
Moominvalley

Moominvalley is a fictional place, where the Moomins live in the tales by Finnish author Tove Jansson.Moominvalley is also another name for the Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland....
, in the forests of Finland, though in the past their temporary residences have included a lighthouse
Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to Maritime pilot at sea....
 and a theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
. They have many adventures along with their various friends, who are each of various fictional species.

In all, nine books were released in the series, with five picture books and a comic strip also written by Jansson being released between 1945 and 1993.

The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, films and even a theme park in Finland.

Synopsis and Characters


The Moomin stories concern several eccentric and oddly-shaped characters, some of whom are related to each other. The characters differences are accepted and their needs are accommodated. The central family consists of Moominpappa
Moominpappa

Moominpappa - is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish people author Tove Jansson.Orphaned in his youth, Moominpappa is a somewhat restless soul who left the orphanage to venture out into the world but has now settled down, determined to be a responsible father to his family: his wife Moominmamma and their son Moomintroll....
, Moominmamma
Moominmamma

Moominmamma Muuminmamman,Muumimamma - is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish people author Tove Jansson.Moominmamma is married to Moominpappa and is the mother of Moomintroll....
 and Moomintroll
Moomintroll

Moomintroll Mumintrollet,muumipeikko is the main character in the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. He lives in the Moominhouse together with his father Moominpappa and his mother Moominmamma and has a keen spirit of adventure....
.

Other characters, such as Hemulens, Sniff
Sniff

Sniff - is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish people author Tove Jansson. Moomintroll's immature friend and later adopted brother....
, The Snork maiden
Snork Maiden

The Snork Maiden is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. She is a member of the species known as Snorks, and is the sister of the Snork and Moomintroll's beloved, although their relationship is very innocent....
, Snufkin
Snufkin

Snufkin is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish people author Tove Jansson.Moomintroll's best friend, who goes south every winter and returns in the spring....
 and Little My
Little My

Little My is a character in the Moomin series of books by Tove Jansson. She first appears in the fourth book, The Exploits of Moominpappa. She is a small, determined and fiercely independent Mymble....
 are accepted into or attach themselves into the family group from time to time.

The series is set in the fictional Moomin Valley. It is here that the Moomin family decide to live at the end of The Moomins and the Great Flood, where they live in the Moominhouse.

Biographical interpretation

Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially close family members of the author. In interviews, Tove Jansson has also spoken openly about the backgrounds of and possible models for her characters.

The life partner of Tove Jansson was the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä
Tuulikki Pietilä

Tuulikki Pietil? is a Finland graphic artist and professor. She is one of the most influential people in Finnish graphic arts whose work has been shown in numerous art exhibitions....
, whose personality inspired the character Too-Ticky in Moominland Midwinter. Moomintroll and Little My
Little My

Little My is a character in the Moomin series of books by Tove Jansson. She first appears in the fourth book, The Exploits of Moominpappa. She is a small, determined and fiercely independent Mymble....
 can be seen as psychological self-portrait
Self-portrait

A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 1400s that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as importa...
s of the artist. The Moomins, generally speaking, relate strongly to Jansson's own family - they were bohemian
Bohemianism

The term bohemian, of French origin, was first used in the English language in the nineteenth century to describe the untraditional lifestyles of marginalized and impoverished artists, writers, musicians, and actors in major European cities....
, lived close to nature and were very tolerant towards diversity
Diversity (politics)

In the political arena, the term diversity is used to describe political entities with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles....
. Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as 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 Hemulen, or the strange Hattifattener
Hattifattener

The Hattifatteners are creatures in the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Their main appearance is in the book Finn Family Moomintroll.The Hattifatteners are tall, thin, ghost-like creatures, resembling long white socks....
s who travel in concerted, ominous groups. The novelist Alison Lurie
Alison Lurie

Alison Lurie is an United States novelist and academic. She won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her 1984 novel Foreign Affairs . Although better known as a novelist, she has also written numerous non-fiction books and articles, particularly on children's literature and the semiotics of dress....
 has described the Groke
The Groke

The Groke is a fictional character in the Moomin world created by Tove Jansson. She appears as a ghostlike hill-shaped body with two cold staring eyes and a wide row of white shiny teeth....
, a black, hill-shaped creation with glowing eyes, as a walking manifestation of Nordic
Nordic countries

File:Location Nordic Council.svgThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and far northeastern North America, called the Nordic region, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and ?land....
 gloominess - everyone she touches dies, and the ground freezes everywhere she sits.

Critical Reaction

Jansson uses the differences between the characters philosophies provide a venue for her satirical impulses.

The Moomin stories have a very humane message. The books have caprice
Caprice

Caprice may refer to:...
s and utterances which ponder life and ways of the world. Snufkin comments on freedom
Freedom (philosophy)

Freedom, or the idea of being free, is a broad concept that has been given numerous interpretations by philosophy and schools of thought. The protection of interpersonal freedom can be the object of a social and political investigation, while the metaphysical foundation of inner freedom is a philosophical and psychological question....
: "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."

List of books

Muminkoland
The books in the series, in order, are:

  1. The Moomins and the Great Flood
    The Moomins and the Great Flood

    The Moomins and the Great Flood is a book written by Finland author Tove Jansson in 1945. It was the first book to star the Moomins, but is often seen as a prequel to the main Moomin books, as most of the main characters are introduced in the next book....
     (Originally: Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen) - 1945.
  2. Comet in Moominland
    Comet in Moominland

    Comet In Moominland is the second in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1946.An earlier story The Moomins and the Great Flood exists, but Comet in Moominland is often seen as first novel in the series as it introduces many of the main characters, like Snufkin and the Snork Maiden, and is set in Moominvalle...
    , Some editions: The Happy Moomins - (Originally: Kometjakten/Kometen kommer) - 1946.
  3. Finn Family Moomintroll
    Finn Family Moomintroll

    Finn Family Moomintroll is the third in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1948. It owes its title in translation to the fact that it was the first Moomin book to be published in English, and was actually marketed as the first in the series until the 1980s....
     (Originally: Trollkarlens hatt) - 1948.
  4. The Exploits of Moominpappa
    The Exploits of Moominpappa

    The Exploits of Moominpappa, first published in 1950 and then considerably revised in 1968 under the title Moominpappa's Memoirs, is the fourth book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson....
    , Some editions: Moominpappa's Memoirs (Originally: Muminpappans bravader/Muminpappans memoarer) - 1950.
  5. Moominsummer Madness
    Moominsummer Madness

    Moominsummer Madness is the fourth in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1954....
     (Originally: Farlig midsommar) - 1954.
  6. Moominland Midwinter
    Moominland Midwinter

    Moominland Midwinter is the fifth in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1957.This book sees Jansson adopt a darker, more introspective tone compared to the earlier books that is continued in the remainder of the series....
     (Originally: Trollvinter) - 1957.
  7. Tales from Moominvalley
    Tales from Moominvalley

    Tales from Moominvalley is the sixth book in the Moomin series by Finland author, Tove Jansson. Unlike all the other books, which were novels, it is a book of short stories, and is the longest book in the series....
     (Originally: Det osynliga barnet) - 1962 (Short stories).
  8. Moominpappa at Sea
    Moominpappa at Sea

    Moominpappa at Sea is the seventh book in the Moomin books by Finland author Tove Jansson. It is based primarily around the character of Moominpappa....
     (Originally: Pappan och havet) - 1965.
  9. 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 (Originally: Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen) was finally published in English in 2005 (though only in Finland).

There are also five Moomin picture books by Tove Jansson:
  1. The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My
    The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My

    The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My was the first Moomin picture book by Finnish people author Tove Jansson. It was first published in 1952....
     (Originally: Hur gick det sen) - 1952.
  2. Who Will Comfort Toffle?
    Who Will Comfort Toffle?

    Who Will Comfort Toffle? is the second picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was first published in 1960. It was first translated into English language by Kingsley Hart....
     (Originally: Vem ska trösta knyttet) - 1960.
  3. The Dangerous Journey
    The Dangerous Journey

    The Dangerous Journey is a children's picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was published in 1977....
     (Originally: Den farliga resan) - 1977.
  4. An Unwanted Guest
    An Unwanted Guest

    Skurken i muminhuset is a children's picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was published in 1980.Instead of the usual drawings by Jansson, this book is illustrated with photos taken by her brother, photographer Per Olov Jansson....
     (Originally: Skurken i Muminhuset) - 1980 (No English translation published).
  5. Songs from Moominvalley (Originally: Visor från Mumindalen) - 1993 (No English translation published).


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

The comic strip


The Moomins also appeared in the form of comic strip
Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story.Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many such strips are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet....
s; their first appearance to a big audience was in the popular London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 newspaper The Evening News
Evening News (London)

The Evening News was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Alfred Harmsworth brothers....
 in 1954, in English. Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson was a Finland novelist, Painting, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books....
 drew and wrote all the strips until 1959. She shared the work load with her brother Lars Jansson until 1961; after that he took over the job until 1975 when the last strip was released.

Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly

Drawn and Quarterly is a Canada comic book publishing company, headed by publisher Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and Underground comix or alternative comics....
, a Canadian graphic novel
Graphic novel

A graphic novel is a type of comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline similar to those of novels. The term also encompasses comic short story anthologies, and in some cases bound collections of previously published comic book series ....
 publisher, is releasing a new reprint series of The Evening News strips, beginning in October 2006. The first three volumes of Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip are currently available, with two more volumes planned to follow.

In the 1990s, a comic book version of Moomin was produced in Scandinavia after Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson's animated series was shown on television. Neither Tove nor Lars Jansson had any involvement in these comic books, however in the wake of the series, two new Moomin comic strips were launched under the artistic and content oversight of Lars and his daughter, Sophia Jansson-Zambra
Sophia Jansson-Zambra

Sophia Jansson-Zambra is the daughter of cartoonist Lars Jansson and the niece of the famous Finland writer and painter Tove Jansson. Jansson-Zambra has worked as a Spanish language Language education, is the majority shareholder and artistic director of Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., and provided direct oversight together with her father for...
. Sophia now provides sole oversight for the strips.

Adaptations


TV series and movies

The story of the Moomins has been made into television series on many occasions by various groups, the most recent of which is a Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese-Dutch
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
 collaboration that has also produced a feature-length movie. However, there are also two Soviet series, puppet animation Mumi-troll
Mumi-troll

Mumi-troll was a series of three short films made in the USSR in 1978, based on the book "Comet in Moominland", which was a part of the Moomin series by Finland illustrator and writer Tove Jansson....
 (Moomin-troll) and cutout animation
Cutout animation

Cutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, Theatrical propertys and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff Textile or even photographs....
 Shlyapa Volshebnika
Shlyapa Volshebnika

Shlyapa Volshebnika was a series of three short films produced by Sverdlovsktelefilm in 1980, 1981 and 1983 in the USSR, based on the book Finn Family Moomintroll, which was one of the Moomin books by Finland illustrator and writer Tove Jansson....
 (Magician's hat) of three films each, and Polish
Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
-Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
n puppet animation TV series, The Moomins
The Moomins (TV series)

The Moomins is a stop motion animated television series children's television series based on the Tove Jansson's Moomin series of books which was originally produced by Se-ma-for and Jupiter Film between the years 1977?1982, originally for Polish, Austrian and German television....
.

Moofam
  • Die Muminfamilie
    Die Muminfamilie

    Die Muminfamilie was a West German television series, produced by Augsburger Puppenkiste and released from 1959 to 1960 that was based on the Moomin books by Tove Jansson....
     (The Moomin Family) - Germany, 1959 (TV series).
  • Sturm im Mumintal
    Die Muminfamilie

    Die Muminfamilie was a West German television series, produced by Augsburger Puppenkiste and released from 1959 to 1960 that was based on the Moomin books by Tove Jansson....
     (Summer in Moominvalley) - Germany, 1960 (TV series).
  • Moomin (Originally: Muumin) - Japan, 1969-70 (TV series).
  • Mumintrollet
    Mumintrollet

    Mumintrollet was a Swedish television series from Finland, released in 1969, based on the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. It was written by Tove and her brother Lars Jansson and was directed by Vivica Bandler....
     (Moomintroll) - Sweden, 1969 (TV series).
  • Moomin, A.K.A. New Moomin (Originally: Muumin, A.K.A. Shin Muumin) - Japan, 1972 (TV series).
  • Moomin (Originally: Muumin) - Japan, 1971 (Film).
  • Moomin (Originally: Muumin) - Japan, 1972 (Film).
  • Mumindalen (Moominvalley) - Sweden, 1973 (TV series).
  • Mumi-troll
    Mumi-troll

    Mumi-troll was a series of three short films made in the USSR in 1978, based on the book "Comet in Moominland", which was a part of the Moomin series by Finland illustrator and writer Tove Jansson....
     (Moomin-troll) - USSR, 1978 (Series of 3-part short films).
  • The Moomins
    The Moomins (TV series)

    The Moomins is a stop motion animated television series children's television series based on the Tove Jansson's Moomin series of books which was originally produced by Se-ma-for and Jupiter Film between the years 1977?1982, originally for Polish, Austrian and German television....
     (Originally: Opowiadania Muminków/Die Mumins) - Poland/Austria, 1977-82 (TV series).
  • Who Will Comfort Toffle? (Originally: Vem ska trösta knyttet?) - Sweden, 1980 (Short film).
  • Shlyapa Volshebnika
    Shlyapa Volshebnika

    Shlyapa Volshebnika was a series of three short films produced by Sverdlovsktelefilm in 1980, 1981 and 1983 in the USSR, based on the book Finn Family Moomintroll, which was one of the Moomin books by Finland illustrator and writer Tove Jansson....
     (Magician's Hat) - USSR, 1980-83 (Series of 3-part short films).
  • Moomin (Originally: Tanoshii Muumin Ikka) - Japan/Finland 1990-91 (TV series).
  • Delightful Moomin Family: Adventure Diary (Originally: Tanoshii Muumin Ikka: Bouken Nikki) - Japan/Netherlands 1991-92 (TV series).
  • Comet in Moominland (Originally: Muumindani no Suisei) - Japan/Netherlands 1992 (Film).
  • The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (Originally: Hur gick det sen?) - Sweden, 1993 (Short film).


Interactive Playroom

An interactive playroom about the Moomins was located at Scandinavia House from November 11, 2006 till March 31, 2007.

Moomin music


The Moomin novels describe the musical activities of the Moomins, particularly those of Snufkin, his harmonica
Harmonica

The harmonica is a free reed aerophone wind instrument which is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes....
 with "trills" and "twiddles." All Moomin characters sing songs, often about their thoughts and themselves. The songs often serve as core statements of the characters' personalities.

The original songs


This music was heard outside Moomin Valley after they went live on theater stage in Stockholm
Stockholm

is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....
. Director Vivica Bandler told Jansson in 1959: "Listen, here the people want songs". The earlier version of the play was cast in Helsinki
Helsinki

Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
 with no music.

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 (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 70s when Jansson and Lars Jansson produced a series of Moomin dramas for Swedish Television. The simple, yet effective melodies by Tauro 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 2003 by composer and arranger Mika Pohjola
Mika Pohjola

Mika Pohjola...
 on the Moomin Voices CD (Muminröster in Swedish), as a tribute to the late Tove Jansson. Tauro had died in June 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
Kirsi Kunnas

Kirsi Marjatta Kunnas is a Finland poet, children's literature author and translator into Finnish language. Her extensive oeuvre consists of poems, fairy tale books, drama, translations and non-fiction....
 and Vexi Salmi.

The Swedish and Finnish recordings of Moomin Voices, and their respective musical scores, have been used as course material at Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, founded in 1945, is an independent music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It has an enrollment of approximately 4,000 students and a 2008 faculty of approximately 500....
 in Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
.

The Moomin Voices Live Band (aka. Muumilauluja-bändi) is dedicated to exclusively 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.

Other adaptations


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. These songs contrast sharply with the original Moomin novels and Jansson's pictorial, descriptive and witty lyrical rhyming, as well as Erna Tauro's Scandinavian-style songs (visor) which are occasionally influenced by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill , was a Germany, and in his later years American, composer active from the 1920s until his death. He was a leading composer for the theatre....
.

A Moomin opera was written in 1974 by the Finnish composer Ilkka Kuusisto
Ilkka Kuusisto

Ilkka Taneli Kuusisto was a Finnish people composer of popular opera and father of Jaakko Kuusisto....
.

Musicscapes from Moominvalley is a four-part work based on the Moomin compositions of composer and producer Heikki Mäenpää. It was created on the basis of the original Moomin works for the Tampere Art Museum.

Twenty new Moomin songs were produced in Finland by Timo Poijärvi and Ari Vainio in 2006. This Finnish
Finnish language

Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by Finnish people outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden....
 album contains no original lyrics by Jansson. However, it is based on the novel, Comet in Moominland
Comet in Moominland

Comet In Moominland is the second in the series of Tove Jansson's Moomins books, published in 1946.An earlier story The Moomins and the Great Flood exists, but Comet in Moominland is often seen as first novel in the series as it introduces many of the main characters, like Snufkin and the Snork Maiden, and is set in Moominvalle...
, and adheres to the original stories. These songs are "easily adoptable" and aimed at children, but they are also claimed to appeal to a more mature Finnish Moomin audience. The songs are performed by Samuli Edelmann
Samuli Edelmann

Samuli Casimir Edelmann is a Finland actor and singer....
, Sani
Sani

There are places in the world that have the name Sani:*Sani Resort - a resort in the peninsula of Halkidiki, Greece*Sani, Greece - a beach community south of Thessaloniki...
, Tommi Läntinen, Susanna Haavisto
Susanna Haavisto

Susanna Haavisto is a Finnish actress and singer.She has taken part in several movies and TV programs. She was UNICEF National Ambassador in 1980....
 and Jore Marjaranta and other established Finnish vocalists in the pop/entertainment genre. The same twenty compositions are also available as standalone multimedia CD postcards.

The Tampere Art Museum Moominvalley

The Moominvalley of the Tampere Art Museum is a museum devoted to the original works of Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson was a Finland novelist, Painting, illustrator and comic strip author. She was the author of, among other works, the Moomin books....
. It contains around 2,000 works. The museum is based on the Moomin books and has many original Moomin illustrations by Tove Jansson. The gem of the collection is a blue five-storey Moomin House, which has Tove Jansson as one of its builders. As a birthday present, the 20-year-old museum received a soundscape
Soundscape

A soundscape is a sound or combination of sounds that forms or arises from an Immersion built environment. The study of soundscape is the subject of acoustic ecology....
 work based on the works of Tove Jansson, called Musicscapes from Moominvalley.

Success in popular culture


The Moomin Boom


Finnair Md 11 Efhk
The Moomin Boom (muumibuumi in Finnish) started in the '90s, when Dennis Livson and Lars Jansson
Lars Jansson

Lars Jansson was a Finland author and cartoonist. A native of Helsinki, Jansson was the son of the sculptor, Viktor Jansson, and the illustrator, Signe Hammarsten-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, Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 and Latvia
Latvia

Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....
, but the animation started a new Moomin madness both in Finland and abroad, especially in Japan, where they are the official mascots of the Daiei
Daiei

, based in Kobe, Hyogo, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line....
 chain of shopping centers. 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
Finnair

Finnair Plc is Finland's largest airline and the flag carrier, with its headquarters in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport....
 painted big Moomin figures to its Japan-line airplanes. The peak of the Moomin Boom was the opening of the Moomin World
Moomin World

Moomin World is the Moomin Theme Park especially for children based on the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. Moomin World is on the island of Kailo beside the old town of Naantali, near the city of Turku in Western Finland....
 theme park in Naantali
Naantali

Naantali is a municipalities of Finland in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourism centres of the country.The municipality has a population of ...
, 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
Disneyland Park (Anaheim)

Disneyland is an American theme park in Anaheim, California, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of The Walt Disney Company....
-like Moomin World theme park is the Moomin Museum
Moomin Museum

Moomin Valley is situated in the city of Tampere, Finland. In the Moomin Valley Museum you can see original illustrations made by Tove Jansson , 40 miniatures, tableaux about Moomin events and a small Moomin House....
 of Tampere
Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland located between two lakes, N?sij?rvi and Pyh?j?rvi . Since the two lakes differ in level by , the rapids linking them, Tammerkoski, have been an important power source throughout history, most recently for generating electricity....
, 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
Sophia Jansson-Zambra

Sophia Jansson-Zambra is the daughter of cartoonist Lars Jansson and the niece of the famous Finland writer and painter Tove Jansson. Jansson-Zambra has worked as a Spanish language Language education, is the majority shareholder and artistic director of Oy Moomin Characters, Ltd., and provided direct oversight together with her father for...
. Wanting to keep the control over Moomins, the family has turned down offers from the Walt Disney Company.

Other


The name of the Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n rock group Mumiy Troll
Mumiy Troll

Mumiy Troll is a Russian rock music, founded in 1983 in Vladivostok by linguist Ilia Lagutenko . The literal name of the band, The mummy troll, is a variation on ????-?????? , the Russian name of the Tove Jansson characters, the Moomin Trolls....
 is a variant of the Russian name for the Moomins. Swedish progressive rock
Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." The term "art rock" is often used interchangeably with "progressive rock", but while there are crossovers between the two genres, they are not identical....
 band Ritual have used the idea of Moomins in various songs, including: "Seasong for the Moominpappa", "Moomin took my Head" and, recently, a whole concept album
Concept album

In popular music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical". Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being musical improvisation or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing to narrative....
 dedicated to the furry 'trolls', The Hemulic Voluntary Band.

The Moomins were selected as the main motif in a recent Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Tove Jansson and Finnish Children's Culture commemorative coin
Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Finland)

Euro gold and silver commemorative coins are special euro coins Mint and issued by member states of the Eurozone, mainly in gold and silver, although other precious metals are also used in rare occasions....
, minted in 2004. The obverse depicts a combination of Tove Jansson portrait with several objects: the skyline, an artist's palette, a crescent, and a sailboat. The reverse design features three Moomin characters.

External links

  • English-German Moomin Website
  • Tribute to the stop motion animation
  • The Original Moomin Music
  • Photos, Facts and Links
  • - Online translation of the first Moomin book, Originally: Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen
  • - Comprehensive lists of Tove Jansson's Moomin books
  • on Tove Jansson and the Moomin phenomenal
  • by Layla AbdelRahim
- "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 - The biggest Russian Moomin/Tove Jansson website, contains a lot of resources: A long biographical section, extensive extracts from the Russian Moomin editions, some illustrations and several reviews and articles