The Moomins (TV series)
Encyclopedia
The Moomins is a stop motion
animated 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. The series was later on sold to other countries including the UK. The British version was adapted by Anne Wood
at FilmFair
and first broadcast in the UK in 1983 on CITV
and was repeated until 1989, and was narrated by British actor Richard Murdoch
.
This series was often referred to as the fuzzy felt
Moomins, due to the appearance of the characters. It was the third series to be made based on the Moomin books, with two more made since then. Nonetheless, it is one of the two best known Moomin series, along with Moomin (1990). This version has at times been criticised for being scary in places and rather dark in tone for the young audience at which it was aimed. It is, in contrast to the 1990s series, widely believed to be by far the most faithful TV adaptation of Tove Jansson's stories, and much closer to her vision. Tove herself had a great deal of involvement during the series' production and was reportedly very happy with it (as revealed in an interview with Anne Wood
in Simon Sheridan's 2007 book The A to Z of Classic Children's Television). The scripts for each episode were translated from Polish into Finnish and sent to Tove and Lars Jansson, who, if they felt that anything needed to be changed, would correct the script, expand or rewrite its parts; afterwards, the scripts were sent back and only then would production of the particular episode begin.
The opening titles featured a bouncy theme tune consisting of flutes and synthesizers and a popular still of Moomintroll holding a hat.
Please note the order above is the correct broadcast order, for when the episodes were first shown on UK Television in 1983. The episode order in the recent DVD boxset was changed, so that the English episodes would match with the German broadcast order, but they were, in fact, different. In the UK, the series ended with the Comet in Moominland story. Series one was shown in 1983, series two in 1985, and both were repeated again until the late 1980s.
.
Excerpts from the series have been shown at film festivals in the UK and Japan.
and German
editions (both versions manufactured in Austria).
Single DVD releases are also available, which contain English and German episodes. The German episodes have English subtitles and the English episodes have German subtitles.
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animated children's television series
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
based on the Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
's Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
series of books which was originally produced by Se-ma-for
Se-ma-for
Se-ma-for is a Polish animation studio. Founded in Łódź, Poland, in 1947, it has created many animated cartoons and stop motion puppet animations, for young and mature audiences...
and Jupiter Film between the years 1977–1982, originally for Polish, Austrian and German television. The series was later on sold to other countries including the UK. The British version was adapted by Anne Wood
Anne Wood
Anne Wood CBE is a British children’s television producer.She was born in Spennymoor, County Durham, England and grew up in Tudhoe Colliery, a small coalmining village nearby.-Her Teaching Years:...
at FilmFair
FilmFair
FilmFair was a British production company and animation studio that produced stop motion children's television series and animated cartoons from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s...
and first broadcast in the UK in 1983 on CITV
CITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
and was repeated until 1989, and was narrated by British actor Richard Murdoch
Richard Murdoch
Richard Bernard Murdoch was a British comedic radio, film and television performer.Richard Bernard Murdoch attended Charterhouse School. He then appeared in Footlights whilst a student at Pembroke College, Cambridge...
.
This series was often referred to as the fuzzy felt
Fuzzy felt
Fuzzy Felt is a simple fabric toy intended for very young children, but enjoyable by people of any age. It was created in 1950 by Lois Allan of the United Kingdom. The toys consist of a flocked backing board onto which a number of felt shapes are placed to create different pictures. Felt pieces...
Moomins, due to the appearance of the characters. It was the third series to be made based on the Moomin books, with two more made since then. Nonetheless, it is one of the two best known Moomin series, along with Moomin (1990). This version has at times been criticised for being scary in places and rather dark in tone for the young audience at which it was aimed. It is, in contrast to the 1990s series, widely believed to be by far the most faithful TV adaptation of Tove Jansson's stories, and much closer to her vision. Tove herself had a great deal of involvement during the series' production and was reportedly very happy with it (as revealed in an interview with Anne Wood
Anne Wood
Anne Wood CBE is a British children’s television producer.She was born in Spennymoor, County Durham, England and grew up in Tudhoe Colliery, a small coalmining village nearby.-Her Teaching Years:...
in Simon Sheridan's 2007 book The A to Z of Classic Children's Television). The scripts for each episode were translated from Polish into Finnish and sent to Tove and Lars Jansson, who, if they felt that anything needed to be changed, would correct the script, expand or rewrite its parts; afterwards, the scripts were sent back and only then would production of the particular episode begin.
The opening titles featured a bouncy theme tune consisting of flutes and synthesizers and a popular still of Moomintroll holding a hat.
Series one
First broadcast Mondays to Fridays, January to March 1983 on ITV as part of its "Watch IT!" children's programming strand:- 1 Hobgoblin's Hat
- 2 Magic Clouds
- 3 King of California
- 4 The Ant Lion
- 5 Canaries & Raspberry Juice
- 6 The Indoor Jungle
- 7 Thingumy and Bob
- 8 The Trial of the Groke
- 9 Snufkin's Leaving
- 10 The Ruby
- 11 The Great Search
- 12 The Party
- 13 Hobgoblin Arrives At the Party
- 14 The Voyage
- 15 Attack of the Hattifatteners
- 16 The Barometer
- 17 Island Treasures
- 18 Return to Moominvalley
- 19 Special Wishes
- 20 Invisible Child
- 21 The Cure
- 22 Christmas
- 23 Winter
- 24 Little My Goes Skating
- 25 Moomintroll and Little My
- 26 The Lady of the Cold
- 27 The Winter Bonfire
- 28 Return of the Sun
- 29 Ancestor
- 30 Healthy Hemulen
- 31 Sorry-oo
- 32 Sorry-oo and the Wolves
- 33 The Great Thaw
- 34 The Fillyjonk
- 35 Catastrophe
- 36 Moomintroll & the Dragon
- 37 Moomintroll's Pet
- 38 Memoirs
- 39 The Orphan
- 40 Hodgkins & the Sailor
- 41 Edward the Booble
- 42 Moomintroll to the Rescue
- 43 The Storm
- 44 The King
- 45 Island Ghost
- 46 Flying Boat
- 47 The Muddler's Marriage
- 48 Love Story
- 49 The Volcano
- 50 The Island
Series two
First broadcast Mondays to Friday, January to March 1985 on Children's ITVCITV
CITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
- 51 The Haunted Theatre
- 52 Misabel's Hairdo
- 53 Emma the Theatre Rat
- 54 A Night in the Trees
- 55 Astonished Awakening
- 56 The Parkkeeper's Surprise
- 57 The Fillyjonk
- 58 Creepy Magic
- 59 The Naughty Woodies
- 60 Snufkin's Invitation
- 61 In Jail
- 62 Tea with the Hemulen's Niece
- 63 Dress Rehearsal
- 64 The Performance
- 65 The Confrontation
- 66 The Gadfly
- 67 The Cure
- 68 The Cocktail Party
- 69 Cedric
- 70 Mr. Brisk
- 71 The Jungle
- 72 The Tigers
- 73 The Hunters
- 74 The Funfair
- 75 The Hemulen Aunt
- 76 The Orphan
- 77 The Vampire
- 78 The Vampire Escapes
- 79 The Friendly Vampire
- 80 The Nice Bat
- 81 Mamma's Island
- 82 Mamma's Painting
- 83 The Terrible Island Storm
- 84 The Disappearing Moomins
- 85 The Little Martian
- 86 The Martian Goes Home
- 87 The Discoveries
- 88 The Muskrat's Prediction
- 89 The Journey
- 90 The Underground Waterfall
- 91 The Giant Eagle
- 92 The Observatory
- 93 The Rockfall
- 94 Moomintroll to the Rescue
- 95 The Village Shop
- 96 The Dance
- 97 The Dead Sea
- 98 Locust Attack
- 99 The Tornado
- 100 The Comet
Please note the order above is the correct broadcast order, for when the episodes were first shown on UK Television in 1983. The episode order in the recent DVD boxset was changed, so that the English episodes would match with the German broadcast order, but they were, in fact, different. In the UK, the series ended with the Comet in Moominland story. Series one was shown in 1983, series two in 1985, and both were repeated again until the late 1980s.
Impact and critical reaction
In 2008 the series was listed at number 25 in a list of top 50 children's TV by The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
.
Excerpts from the series have been shown at film festivals in the UK and Japan.
DVD release
A Region 2 DVD boxset was released in 2004, in both EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
editions (both versions manufactured in Austria).
Single DVD releases are also available, which contain English and German episodes. The German episodes have English subtitles and the English episodes have German subtitles.