The Complete Amateur's Guide to Moomin

By popular demand, I have compiled every video in my 'Amateur's Guide to Moomin' into one convenient video, With additional footnotes, corrections, and a newly added section discussing the changes that have occurred with the Moomin series since the publishing of the original videos. Join me as I explore the series' history and its author, Tove Jansson, to discover what we can learn from this peaceful family of trolls.

Special Thanks to Kiki from @Transparencyboo for the Swedish translation and fact checking.

Watch @DrawpinionDump 's videos on Moomin here!

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:55 Chapter 1 - Tove Jansson
6:31 Chapter 2 - Entering Moominvalley
10:14 Chapter 3 - Facing the Apocolypse
18:03 Chapter 4 - Hobgoblins, Hats, and Hidden Love
24:15 Chapter 5: Memoirs and Memorabilia
32:33 Chapter 6: Midsummer Madness, Midwinter Melancholy
38:47 Chapter 7: Departing Moominvalley
50:00 Chapter 8: Adaptations and Appreciation
1:06:15 Chapter 9 - Revisiting the Third Moomin Renaissance
1:21:42 Into the Land of Dreams

Bibliography:
Augsburger Puppenkiste. Die Muminfamilie, ARD, 1959.
Boel Westin. Tove Jansson : Life, Art, Words : The Authorised Biography. London, Sort Of, 2014.
Box, Steve, et al. Moominvalley. Yle TV2 / Sky One, 25 Feb. 2019. 13 x 22 minutes.
Dębiński, Lucjan, and Maria Kossakowska. The Moomins, Episode 1-100, Se-Ma-For, 1977.
Jansson, Tove, and Elizabeth Portch. Comet in Moominland. Puffin Books, 2019.
Jansson, Tove, and Kingsley Hart. Moominpappa at Sea. Puffin Books, 2019.
Jansson, Tove, and Kingsley Hart. Moominvalley in November. Sort Of Books, 2018.
Jansson, Tove, and Thomas Warburton. Moominsummer Madness. Puffin Books, 2019.
Jansson, Tove. Finn Family Moomintroll. Translated by Elizabeth Portch, Puffin Books, 2019.
Jansson, Tove. Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip. Drawn & Quarterly, 2010.
Jansson, Tove. Moominland Midwinter. Paw Prints, 2008.
Jansson, Tove. Tales from Moominvalley. Penguin Books Ltd, 2019.
Jansson, Tove. The Exploits of Moominpappa. Penguin Books Ltd, 2019.
Jansson, Tove. The Moomins and the Great Flood. Drawn & Quarterly, 2018.
Karjalainen, Tuula, and David McDuff. Tove Jansson: Work and Love. Penguin Books, 2016.
Miyazaki, Akira, et al. “Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka.” Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka, season 1, episode 1-78, TV Tokyo, 1990.
Yamazaki, Tadaaki. Moomin, Fuji TV, 1969.

[alexross]

I was doing dishes and noticed we had a Moomin measuring cup.
I remember asking when we got it and why.
My mom said "I don't know. We needed a measuring cup, I found one at the store and it had a cute little creature on it and couldn't pass it up."

[GandyDaGei]

*If this is an amateur's guide, i can't even imagine what an expert's guide to Moominvalley would be, because this is a 10/10 guide*

[youraverageBAMF]

"the books received criticisms about the usage of sarcastic languages"
20 years ago my dad reading me the moomin books for my bedtime stories: "OHHHH That's a great comeback you can try this one on the other kids!"

[aztro.]

thank god she didnt sell her work to disney

[leespiderpod]

When I was a kid in the 80’s I had the flu and I was pretty delirious, it was snowing outside and my mum had given me a heap of medicine. The strong syrupy stuff. I fell to sleep on the sofa and woke up to the moomin’s playing on the tv. I’ll never forget my 1st moomin experience

[avivastudios]

Snufkin and the invisible girl are the most interesting characters I've ever seen in a children's book.

[patricvgn]

There was a comic magazine with Moomin and his friends in the early 90s until 2006. I was one of the main writers and Tove's brother Lars was one of the editors until his death. It was a fun and creative period of my life.

[BanazirGalpsi]

She did illustrations for the Hobbit as well, and they are pretty good.

[SilverGamingFI]

What makes the "moominvalley in November's" name a bit more sad is that November in Finnish is "Marraskuu", literally meaning the Month of Death

It was poetic to end the series in that time

[Jay-lnco]

Snufkin with a rifle: "Sometimes reasonable Moomin must do unreasonable things."

[guesswilsey]

as a Finn who grew up with the Moomins and continues to love the series to this day, I commend you for creating such a thorough and detailed video about them!

[sashahenriksen]

Im from Iceland and so i grew up with the Moomins as they are really popular here and im glad that american audiences among others are starting to enjoy the moomins. Im most familiar with the 1990 anime which was dubbed in Icelandic and shown on morning television these other adaptations seem really neat. I've not watched the new series but perhaps i should. My mom collects the moomin mugs and i myself have a number of moomin things. Moomins has such a serenity to it. its such a raw reflection of life. This guide was really great and really well researched and definitely showed how the evolution of the moomin stories were a reflection of not only the life of Tove but also the people around her and in some ways the world. Excellent work.

[kiwitanuki]

Found this video in lieu of sky:cotl's upcoming Moomin season in a week! This was such a beautiful guide, and Im so glad to have experienced this series and its values it upholds❤

[createdbychele]

I have Finnish heritage that I was unfortunately isolated from once my grandparents died. I never got to meet my Finnish grandmother and only fragments of the culture were mixed in with my other immigrant cultural upbringing. I was searching for Finnish culture and came across Moomin. As a queer mixed WOC, this series was a great awakening. It was like finding my lost family. I saw how my own family mirrored Tove's and how much I related to her as an artist myself.

Your video essay has been unmatched to others and there is so much love put into it, thank you so much.

[earthwormlen]

i don't know what it is, but something about this guide was so emotional. there's just something about moomin, something that makes me oddly...sad. but not in a negative way, but more of a bittersweet way. 'bittersweet' maybe isn't the first thing one would think of watching me bawl my eyes out after watching this, but 'bittersweet' describes the feeling perfectly.

[GenxAltered]

I just got a Moomin plush as a gift and I still have no idea what it is. Looking forward to this

[CoClock]

I grew up in England with the 90s Moomins on TV. Enjoyed the fantasy elements and the art style. But being a child, I didn’t know that it was broadcast in other parts of Europe.

Then while working in a restaurant in London, on break or sth, I randomly started singing the English version of the ending theme and my Norwegian co worker was like I GREW UP WITH THAT SHOW! And joined in with the Norwegian lyrics to the same melody 😂😂

That was such a cool moment knowing that our childhoods had something really interesting in common.

“They love the laughter and they love the living, the MooooMiiiinnnsss!!”

[tumbke]

as someone who grew up in SEA, i have never understood Moomin. I only ever seen it in fan art, so fairly just recent. Moomin has a collab with Sky Children of the Light, my favorite game as of recent, so i was very curious where the fascination came from. Thanks for this video! I can understand this now. I know where to start getting into this too.

[myprofilepictureisafish]

The Invisible Child stuck with me throughout my childhood, I never knew quite why until I rewatched the Moomins recently and was brought to tears by the episode, I related on such a personal level to Ninny and that one singular story has reignited my love for these stories so much that within a month I bought a load of Moomin merch and watched a bunch of the episodes online and I was even to find some old Moomin toys, I’ll always be thankful for Moomins for being such a big part of my childhood <3

[drunkpekka]

Sky: Children of the Light will soon release a Moonmin season and will probably be the first introduction to many in Asia [outside Japan] and in other parts of the world. Thank you for helping us better appreciate the timeless beauty of these stories.