Moomins Enter the Cuteness Pantheon, With Help From Gen Z

New York Times

5 days ago

The Moomin family — Moominpappa, Moominmamma and Moomintroll — live in Moominvalley, where they welcome all friends, visitors and vagrants for adventures and sweet treats.
Lately, though, the milk-white hippo-esque characters created by the Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson, have taken over the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. With huge, friendly eyes and protruding, snuffly snouts, they peer from balconies and dance across giant pink and green floor displays.
On a recent summer afternoon, Meera Sastry, who was visiting from Los Angeles, stopped by to see the exhibit on the recommendation of a college friend.
'I remember Moomins growing up, from online — I was big into Tumblr,' said Ms. Sastry, 23, pausing to admire a photograph of Ms. Jansson by the Finnish coast. 'Of course they were cute, like Sanrio characters. But I liked that they were also anxious, and had little narratives.' Ms. Sastry hadn't read any of the nine books featuring the characters, she admitted: 'I'll have to get on that.'
Others browsing the exhibit, including an art teacher on a road trip with her friends, had also first learned of these lovable creatures online, where Moomins have gone the way of Snoopy and Miffy — decades-old cartoon characters who have been rediscovered and embraced by a younger generation and have spread widely through merchandise and online content.
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