Miffy
Encyclopedia
Miffy is a small female rabbit
in a series of picture book
s drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna
. Miffy's original Dutch name is Nijntje ˈnɛɪ̯ncə which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit".
The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and almost 30 others have followed. In total they have sold over 85 million copies, and inspired a television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character.
. Miffy became a female after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can be a baby or four years old.
At first Miffy looked like a toy animal, with floppy ears, but by 1963 she looked the way we see Miffy today. Miffy is drawn in a minimalist style, requiring only a few lines and one or two primary colors. There are some colors that are never used, and Bruna can be picky about a certain shade of color, brown and grey for example, and will search for it until he is happy. Even though the things that he draws are not realistic, they are instantly recognisable, and Miffy is obviously a rabbit.
There are now almost 30 titles for Miffy, and many more for the other characters. Bruna has produced almost 100 books.
The Miffy books each contain sixteen pages of story. Each page has one illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last of the fourth. They are written about things that children can understand, and situations they will face such as going to the hospital and going to school, and they always have a happy ending. Some books have no text at all, such as Miffy's Dream
The books are printed in small format. Bruna considers it important that his audience feels that his books are there for them, not for their parents. Most Miffy books have an advisory reading level of age 4 to 8 years.
Bruna's books have now been translated into 40 different languages, and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world. He has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990 for Boris Bear and the Silver Brush for Miffy In The Tent in 1996. In 1997 he was awarded the Silver Slate for Dear Grandma Bunny, a book where Miffy's Grandmother was sick and died.
The other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alice, and her Uncle Bob, who appears in Miffy Goes Flying. A new brother or sister for Miffy is introduced in Miffy And The New Baby. She also has many friends, Boris and Barbara Bear, who first appeared in 1989 and are boyfriend and girlfriend, Poppy Pig, who appeared in 1977, and her niece Grunty, Snuffy, who appeared in 1969, and other bunnies such as Aggie and Melanie.
Miffy was designed as a children's book character, but the design is now used on many other things like clothes, stationery, toys, glasses, household items etc.
In the early 1990s
an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner
coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action
against the UK government's road building program. This unauthorised use of the character spread and Miffy became a mascot
for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.
Miffy has been appearing on TV since 2003, in a show named after her that airs on children's television channels such as Treehouse
in Canada and Nick Jr. in the U.S. from April 7, 2003 through April 1, 2007. Miffy and Friends moved to public television. The show adds several new characters such as Melanie's African family, as well as the family of Boris' and Barbara's common cousin, Umik. On public television, Miffy & Friends was sponsored by Nestle Milky Bar. It is very likely animated by the use of mostly stiff-jointed plastic forms, covered with thick vinyl faces and torsos, accented with cloth and clay- following the minimalistic Bruna hallmark. The TV series was produced by Pedri Animation BV, a Dutch stop-motion animation company. It is voiced simply by a feminine storytelling narrator.
Many think that Miffy is Japanese
, because Sanrio
's Hello Kitty
and friends are rendered using a similar line style. In addition, the Miffy brand is popular in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. In an interview for the British paper The Daily Telegraph
, Bruna expressed his dislike for Hello Kitty. "'That,' he says darkly, 'is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, "No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself".
On August 26, 2010, Mercis BV, representing Bruna, brought suit against Sanrio with the claim that one of Hello Kitty's companion characters, a rabbit named Cathy, infringes on the copyright and trademark of Miffy. On November 2, 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami
in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement on June 7, 2011 for Sanrio to halt production worldwide of merchandise that feature Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle, the two companies will donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims.
In Bruna's hometown, Utrecht
, there is a square named after Nijntje, the Nijntjepleintje (lit: Little Nijntje Square, to retain the rhyme) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum
opened a permanent exhibition, the dick bruna huis (Dick Bruna house).
Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This has been celebrated in cities across the globe, for example in the Manchester Art Gallery
in England. She also serves a "celebrity character spokesperson" for Unicef.
In October 2010, an educational title for WiiWare
called miffy's world was released in Europe.
from April 2003 to April 2007 (see History) and later re-aired on PBS Kids
. It also aired in Canada on Treehouse TV
. The show is currently airing on WNET-TV as part of its' educational children's programming lineup.
Miffy the Artist is published in association with the Tate Gallery
, London.
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
in a series of picture book
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
s drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna
Dick Bruna is a Dutch author, artist, illustrator and graphic designer.Bruna is best known for his children's books which he authored and illustrated, now numbering over 200. His best known creation is Miffy , a small rabbit drawn with heavy graphic lines, simple shapes and primary colors...
. Miffy's original Dutch name is Nijntje ˈnɛɪ̯ncə which stems from a toddler's pronunciation of the word "konijntje" meaning "little rabbit".
The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and almost 30 others have followed. In total they have sold over 85 million copies, and inspired a television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character.
History
Miffy was created in 1955 after Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son Sierk stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, while on holiday at Egmond aan ZeeEgmond aan Zee
Egmond aan Zee is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 9 km west of Alkmaar....
. Miffy became a female after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can be a baby or four years old.
At first Miffy looked like a toy animal, with floppy ears, but by 1963 she looked the way we see Miffy today. Miffy is drawn in a minimalist style, requiring only a few lines and one or two primary colors. There are some colors that are never used, and Bruna can be picky about a certain shade of color, brown and grey for example, and will search for it until he is happy. Even though the things that he draws are not realistic, they are instantly recognisable, and Miffy is obviously a rabbit.
There are now almost 30 titles for Miffy, and many more for the other characters. Bruna has produced almost 100 books.
The Miffy books each contain sixteen pages of story. Each page has one illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last of the fourth. They are written about things that children can understand, and situations they will face such as going to the hospital and going to school, and they always have a happy ending. Some books have no text at all, such as Miffy's Dream
The books are printed in small format. Bruna considers it important that his audience feels that his books are there for them, not for their parents. Most Miffy books have an advisory reading level of age 4 to 8 years.
Bruna's books have now been translated into 40 different languages, and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world. He has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990 for Boris Bear and the Silver Brush for Miffy In The Tent in 1996. In 1997 he was awarded the Silver Slate for Dear Grandma Bunny, a book where Miffy's Grandmother was sick and died.
The other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Alice, and her Uncle Bob, who appears in Miffy Goes Flying. A new brother or sister for Miffy is introduced in Miffy And The New Baby. She also has many friends, Boris and Barbara Bear, who first appeared in 1989 and are boyfriend and girlfriend, Poppy Pig, who appeared in 1977, and her niece Grunty, Snuffy, who appeared in 1969, and other bunnies such as Aggie and Melanie.
Miffy was designed as a children's book character, but the design is now used on many other things like clothes, stationery, toys, glasses, household items etc.
In the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner
Adjustable spanner
An adjustable spanner or adjustable wrench is a spanner with a "jaw" of adjustable width, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head rather than just one faster, as with a conventional fixed spanner...
coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
against the UK government's road building program. This unauthorised use of the character spread and Miffy became a mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.
Miffy has been appearing on TV since 2003, in a show named after her that airs on children's television channels such as Treehouse
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...
in Canada and Nick Jr. in the U.S. from April 7, 2003 through April 1, 2007. Miffy and Friends moved to public television. The show adds several new characters such as Melanie's African family, as well as the family of Boris' and Barbara's common cousin, Umik. On public television, Miffy & Friends was sponsored by Nestle Milky Bar. It is very likely animated by the use of mostly stiff-jointed plastic forms, covered with thick vinyl faces and torsos, accented with cloth and clay- following the minimalistic Bruna hallmark. The TV series was produced by Pedri Animation BV, a Dutch stop-motion animation company. It is voiced simply by a feminine storytelling narrator.
Many think that Miffy is Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, because Sanrio
Sanrio
is a Japanese company that designs, licenses and produces products focusing on the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts and accessories that are sold worldwide and at specialty brand retail stores in Japan...
's 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...
and friends are rendered using a similar line style. In addition, the Miffy brand is popular in Japan and there is a lot of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. In an interview for the British paper The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, Bruna expressed his dislike for Hello Kitty. "'That,' he says darkly, 'is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, "No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself".
On August 26, 2010, Mercis BV, representing Bruna, brought suit against Sanrio with the claim that one of Hello Kitty's companion characters, a rabbit named Cathy, infringes on the copyright and trademark of Miffy. On November 2, 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement on June 7, 2011 for Sanrio to halt production worldwide of merchandise that feature Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle, the two companies will donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims.
In Bruna's hometown, Utrecht
Utrecht (city)
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...
, there is a square named after Nijntje, the Nijntjepleintje (lit: Little Nijntje Square, to retain the rhyme) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum
Centraal Museum
The Centraal Museum is a museum in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1838. Initially, the collection - exhibited on the top floor of the Utrecht townhall - was limited to art related to the city of Utrecht...
opened a permanent exhibition, the dick bruna huis (Dick Bruna house).
Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This has been celebrated in cities across the globe, for example in the Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery
Manchester Art Gallery is a publicly-owned art gallery in Manchester, England. It was formerly known as Manchester City Art Gallery.The gallery was opened in 1824 and today occupies three buildings, the oldest of which - designed by Sir Charles Barry - is Grade I listed and was originally home to...
in England. She also serves a "celebrity character spokesperson" for Unicef.
In October 2010, an educational title for WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
called miffy's world was released in Europe.
Miffy storybooks
From Dick Bruna, Linders J, Sierman K, de Wijs I and Vrooland-Löb T. Wanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2006. (English) ISBN 90 400 8342 8 (Dutch) ISBN 90 400 9106 4- 1955 Miffy, Miffy at the Zoo (First Version of Miffy)
- 1963 Miffy, Miffy at the Zoo, Miffy in the Snow, Miffy at the Seaside
- 1970 Miffy Goes Flying, Miffy's Birthday
- 1975 Miffy at the Playground, Miffy in Hospital
- 1979 Miffy's Dream
- 1982 Miffy's Bicycle
- 1984 Miffy at School
- 1988 Miffy Goes to Stay, Grandpa and Grandma Bunny
- 1991 Miffy is Crying, Miffy's House
- 1992 Auntie Alice's Party
- 1995 Miffy in the Tent
- 1996 Dear Grandma Bunny
- 1997 Miffy at the Gallery
- 1999 Miffy and Melanie
- 2001 Miffy the Ghost, Miffy the Fairy
- 2002 Miffy Dances
- 2003 Miffy's Letter, The New Baby
- 2004 Miffy's Garden
- 2005 Miffy in Lolly Land, A Flute for Miffy
- 2006 Hangoor (Flopear) In Dutch only
- 2007 Queen Miffy
- 2008 Miffy the Artist, Nijntje en de seizoenen (Miffy and the seasons), Nijntje is Stout (Miffy is naughty)
Miffy and Friends
Miffy and Friends is a claymation series based on the character. It was first shown in the United States on Nick Jr.Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. was a programming block on the Nickelodeon television channel, seen on Nickelodeon weekday mornings. It was aimed at a preschool-age audience ages 6 and under. On September 28, 2009, Nick Jr. became its own official channel, replacing Noggin...
from April 2003 to April 2007 (see History) and later re-aired on PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
. It also aired in Canada on Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV
Treehouse TV is a Canadian English language cable television specialty channel with programming targeted towards preschoolers that was launched on October 17, 1997. Its name comes from YTV's old children's programming block, The Treehouse...
. The show is currently airing on WNET-TV as part of its' educational children's programming lineup.
Miffy the Artist is published in association with the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
, London.
External links
- Official Miffy store UK (English)
- Official Miffy website (English)
- Official Nijntje website (Dutch)
- museum "Dick Bruna Huis" in Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Official Miffy shop (English)
- 'I saw Matisse - and came up with Miffy'.
- The little rabbit with a big audience.
- Japanese Miffy fan's website (Japanese)
- Hong Kong fan's Website (Cantonese)
- Egmont Publishing, Miffy's UK publisher
- MiffyVille