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Euronews
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Fans flock to Finland to celebrate as Moomins turn 80
80 years on, the Moomins are still going strong. Finland's most beloved literary family, the Moomins, mark their milestone birthday this year with a joyful celebration in Tampere, home to the world's only Moomin Museum. The white, hippo-like characters created by Tove Jansson have been winning hearts since 1945, when "The Moomins and the Great Flood" first introduced readers to the curious little Moomintroll and his doting Moominmamma. Eight books, multiple TV shows, two theme parks and countless mugs later, the fandom is going strong. For Rosa Senn, who travelled from the UK with her wife Lizzie, the celebrations last weekend were more than just a fan pilgrimage – it was a full-circle moment. 'Moomins have been such a special thing in my life, my whole life,' Senn said, recalling how her Norwegian mother read the books to her as a child. When she and Lizzie spent the first year and a half of their relationship long-distance, a Moomintroll plush helped bridge the miles – and even made it into their wedding as ringbearer. Their Instagram account documenting Moomin adventures has even made them minor celebrities in the fandom, connecting them with other enthusiasts – like Stefanie and Michael Geutebrück, a couple from Germany whose apartment, according to Stefanie, 'looks like a Moomin shop'. And they're not alone. Moomin merchandise is big business, from mugs and plush toys to stationery and limited-edition collectibles. 'The Moomin mug is one of the best-known collector items worldwide,' said Selma Green, director of the Moomin Museum. But behind the fuzzy nostalgia lies a deeper story... Tove Jansson, who created the characters in the aftermath of World War II, wove in themes of love, resilience, and the search for safety. The first book was published as Finland emerged from wartime trauma, and Jansson used the Moomins to offer comfort – without shying away from darker undertones. 'Her first Moomin book came out in a dark era. She felt it was very difficult to paint, and she started writing what she called a fairy tale,' said Sirke Happonen, a Moomins scholar and associate professor at the University of Helsinki. 'I think she wanted to make a contrast – Tove Jansson loved contrasts – by writing about this beautiful world, full of friendship and love." Jansson's own life also made its way into the stories. Her long-time partner, artist Tuulikki Pietilä, was immortalised as the practical, no-nonsense character Too-ticky. Queer themes and fluid gender roles quietly infuse Moominvalley, making it a quietly radical world wrapped in whimsy. That world, however, has faced modern scrutiny. Debate was stirred this summer when it emerged that the character Stinky – a mischievous, fuzzy creature – was temporarily removed from a New York library mural over concerns it might be interpreted as racist. 'To me, this became quite a big surprise,' said Happonen. 'I have more thought about Stinky being close to a mole or a vole.' Still, fans are undeterred. As the Moomins hit 80, the sense of community around them feels stronger than ever.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tove Jansson's Moomin books explore the power of adventure and transformation
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the first Moomin tale, The Moomins and the Great Flood. In the book, Moomintroll and his friends embark on a journey to find their home after a great flood devastates Moominvalley, meeting odd creatures and new friends along their journey. The book was first published in creator Tove Jansson's native Swedish in 1945. However, the first Moomin book to have an English edition was in fact the third of the Moomin books, Trollkarlens Hatt (The Hobgoblin's Hat). It was translated by Jansson's friend Elizabeth Portch and reached its widest English-speaking audience when it was published by Puffin Books in 1961 as Finn Family Moomintroll. At the beginning of the story Moomintroll finds a magical top hat. It can transform anything that is placed inside of it into something else entirely – and so the adventures begin. This is part of a series of articles celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Moomins. Want to celebrate their birthday with us? Join The Conversation and a group of experts on May 23 in Bradford for a screening of Moomins on the Riviera and a discussion of the refugee experience in Tove Jansson's work. Click here for . Unlike the Swedish-language edition, Portch's translation of Finn Family Moomintroll begins with a letter from Moominmamma. It's written in a curly cursive and dotted with love-hearts and an image of an apparently 'hand-drawn' troll. The letter is addressed to a 'dear child' who is 'overseas'. In it, Moominmamma expresses disbelief at the idea that there may not be any Moomins 'there over' and that the child she is addressing may 'not even know what a troll is' (hence the illustration). Moominmamma's wonder at the differences in custom between her own land and 'your country' is based on an assumption that the two must be somewhat alike. Similarly, her explanation of what Moomintrolls are depends on their difference from the 'usual common trolls', which means there must be familial similarity between them. Both Moominmamma's wonder at and explanation of difference assume an underlying essential similarity or sameness between Moominvalley, where she lives, and the reader's home. This is significant in a story that explores ideas of foreignness and translation, change and transformation. Though the adventures in Finn Family Moomintroll might be said to only truly begin on the spring morning when Moomintroll, Sniff and Snufkin find 'a tall black hat', the book opens with the Moomins settling down for their winter hibernation and closes with the valley in autumn. The changes wrought by the Hobgoblin's hat are 'quite different' because 'you never know beforehand' what they will be. However, their extreme nature is framed and contained by a world in which there are known and predictable changes in the seasons, as well as routine – though sometimes dramatic – changes in the weather. The Hemulen is unperturbed by the hat's transformation of eggshells into fluffy little clouds that Moomintroll and his friends are able to ride. That's because he is 'so used to [them] doing extraordinary things'. But when Moomintroll is transformed by the hat into 'a very strange animal indeed', so much so that his friends do not recognise him, it's a very different matter. A moment of real jeopardy occurs when Moomintroll's own mother does not seem to recognise him either. But this is soon dispelled when Moominmamma looks 'into his frightened eyes for a very long time' and quietly declares: 'Yes, you are my Moomintroll.' This moment of recognition breaks the spell and Moomintroll changes back into 'his old self again'. One of the crucial features of the hat is the changes it makes are only temporary and this, together with Moominmamma's reassurance that she will 'always know [Moomintroll], whatever happens', suggests an ultimately unchanging essence to things that cannot be denied. On the other hand, the book suggests that some change is to be embraced. Sniff's desire for things to stay the same 'for ever and ever' is portrayed as immature and wrong-headed. As is the Muskrat's obsessive quest for peace and stillness which ends up with his apparent, though temporary, transformation into a monster. Snufkin's point that 'life is not peaceful' offers a gentle rebuke to the Hemulen, who also wishes to 'live his life in peace and quiet'. But perhaps the clearest indication of the book's attitude to changelessness is the monstrous Groke. She is motivated by an unwavering drive to recover the 'King's Ruby', not because this thing which 'changes colour all the time' is 'the most beautiful thing in the world', but because it is 'the most expensive'. The Groke's inability to appreciate the ruby aesthetically is presented as being rooted in her own immutability. That the Groke's hostility to change is itself deadening, becomes evident when she sits 'motionless' before the Moomins and their friends, staring at them in a way that makes them feel 'she would wait for ever' and eventually departs leaving the ground behind her frozen in the wrong season. This, then, is key. Adventure, transformation and change in Finn Family Moomintroll are both necessary and desirable, but they are also contained within a reassuring frame of reliable predictability. The final lines of the English translation are: 'It is autumn in Moomin Valley, for how else can spring come back again?' This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Sue Walsh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
