Musti (character)
Encyclopedia
Musti is a cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, created by Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...

 graphic artist Ray Goossens
Ray Goossens
Ray Goossens was a Flemish artist, animator and director best known for creating Musti.-Biography:Ray Goossens was born in Merksem, Belgium in 1924. Interested in animation from before World War II, he created the animation studio AFIM in Antwerp in 1940, together with Jules Luyckx and Henri...

 in 1945. Musti is a little cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

, living with his mother and father in a little house in a rural village, surrounded by a large garden with animals and trees.

Television series

In 1968, Musti was developed into an animated series. In every episode, a specific story is told in a couple of minutes. The subjects are always linked to the world of small children, combining anthropomorphic animals and realistic situations. In the 1990's a different series was made, with a white background, with Musti's original pronouncation (Muh-sti) now pronounced as Moo-sti. In total, 156 episodes have been made, airing in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, the Netherlands, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, 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...

, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, and 18 other countries.

In 2007, a new television series has been created. Instead of the flat 2D
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...

 images with a white background, the new series are entirely rendered in 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...

. The new series will be airing in Belgium, The Netherlands, Israel, Norway, Japan, Croatia, Portugal and the United States. Al-Jazeera will be airing the series throughout the Arabic world.

Musti was first broadcast in 1968, on Flemish television. The original narrator was Rachel Frederix. Since 2007, her successor is Kristel Van Craen.

In the Netherlands, Musti appeared on television in 1980. The narrators were Arnold Gelderman and Marijke Merckens.

Books

The Flemish publisher Standaard Uitgeverij
Standaard Uitgeverij
Standaard Uitgeverij is a Belgian publisher, and the leading publisher in the Dutch language market of Flanders.-History:In 1919, the Standaard group was created, mainly consisting of a chain of bookshops , a newspaper and a publishing house, the Standaard Uitgeverij...

 carries an extensive portfolio of Musti children's books, targeting children 3-6.

Another publisher Dupuis
Dupuis
Éditions Dupuis S.A. is a Belgian publisher of comic books and magazines.Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French language publisher, but publishes many editions both in French...

, printed a number of Musti children's comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 in French, based on its appearances in the magazine Bonne Soirée.

Software

Recently, a number of educational software programs were developed with Musti as the lead character. They are currently only available in Dutch.

Musti, Miffy and Hello Kitty

In 2004, a Japanese blogger started a vivid discussion on whether the popular cartoon character Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty
is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States...

 was a mere rip-off of Musti. Hello Kitty, created in 1974, has a close resemblance to Musti.
Miffy
Miffy
Miffy is a small female rabbit in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. Miffy's original Dutch name is Nijntje which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit"....

creator, Dick Bruna, also claims that Kitty is a copy of his character, ironic since Miffy bears closer resemblance to the Musti character, down to the X shaped mouth. Given the very minimalistic style of all three, there are certain to be similarities.

External links

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