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The dark side of the Moomins

newstatesman.com

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Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#61

Post by sandgiant »

tarvaina wrote: post #56
account-5 wrote: post #27

I never read any of the books, didn't actually know they were originally a book. I grew up with the TV show though. Hated it. I've never watched TV or film for the feels. Tv and film for me is escapism, I don't want to be depressed or have to think. I'm assuming this is why I never liked the moomins.

There are actually six different TV series: 1959: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Muminfamilie 1969: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin_(1969_TV_series) 1972: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Moomin 1977: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moomins_(TV_series) 1990: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin_(1990_TV_series) 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moominvalley_(TV_series)

I highly recommend the 1990 Polish stop motion TV series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moomins_(TV_series). The only one that, to me, captures the magic of the books.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#62

Post by fsloth »

bazoom42 wrote: post #46
fsloth wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on. I think the author did not think through their argument: ""One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life."" But that's exactly what makes domestic life worth celebrating - at best it sustains you through disaster and hardship. What better way to celebrate it than to…

Is it really a celebration of family life when Moominpappa uproots the whole family because of his midlife crisis and sends Moominmamma into depression?

I would say yes. In my standards that still accounts for interesting-life-choices-but-safe-and-sane. But I grew up in an alcoholic family so realize my standards are likely slightly low-bar for what accounts for 'admirable'.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#63

Post by brador »

Significant number of lost episodes of MOOMINS. Was around 20 episodes never found last time I checked.

It used to be even more but someone from Japan found a few.

And the creator refuses to talk about some of the lost episodes.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#64

Post by impossiblefork »

culebron21 wrote: post #50

Question to Swedes: what were you child impressions of "Pettson och Findus"? I read it to children as an adult, and impressions are that it tells of the funny & sad sides of taking care of children, and I sympathize to Pettson, of course. I wonder how you saw it as children. On topic: interesting read. I'd never think these stories had so much dark side to them. I got all 9 stories in 3 books at the age of 11 and rea…

I liked Pettson because he's awesome and invents things. I think he's like a physical version of the guy who writes a bunch scripts that together are able to do all his work.

Findus is more of experimenter. He comes up with an idea about something, and ends up following that idea so that it gets tested. He isn't a systematic, scientific experimenter though, since he's a cat.

I also liked all the little animals. To contrast that with the Moomin stories, I only saw it on TV, but it was immediately obvious that they were very austere and very Finnish, even though of course, the author is a Finland-Swede. It's good stuff, but can be, not scary, but something adjacent, to watch as a child. It might be worth it since it allows you to understand these characters in this very austere, isolated environment.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#65

Post by amiga386 »

Arn_Thor wrote: post #4

Grew up watching Moomin on TV and it left with life lessons, good values and deep trauma…

Same here. I'm not sure what the "not translated into English until 2005" in TFA is meant to mean; sure, maybe that specific book wasn't translated until that date, but much of Europe watched the Polish fuzzy-felt TV adaption in 1978 or 1985.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#66

Post by xg15 »

tikotus wrote: post #5

I'm not sure how tongue in cheek this was, but I assume it's serious. Either way, it's a fun and smart read. The article spots well the dark side of the moomins, but in my opinion goes too deep into it. My disagreements boil down to this: "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of dome…

I wonder if the title was tongue in cheek. Dark Side of the Moo(mi)n?

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#67

Post by designerarvid »

raptorraver wrote: post #31

Don't have time to read through the whole article. But just wanted to point out that there are also Moomin cartoons which have really politically uncorrect stories: like Moomins travelling to spain, trying to buy opium but eating some weird drugs instead and then staring for sea for a week and missing their fligth back.

Tove Jansson also drew political satire cartoons during WW2. Before Mumintrollen.

https://tovejansson.com/sv/story/illustrator-barnboksforfatt...

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#69

Post by TeMPOraL »

tikotus wrote: post #5

I'm not sure how tongue in cheek this was, but I assume it's serious. Either way, it's a fun and smart read. The article spots well the dark side of the moomins, but in my opinion goes too deep into it. My disagreements boil down to this: "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of dome…

I've been listening to Moomin audiobooks and reading some of the books to my wife in recent years, and I started to spot some of the more adult/darker subtext in it (I'm still processing the one where the Moominpappa makes the entire family move to a lighthouse, and Moominmamma is desperately trying to cope with growing depression). Still, I have an answer for the author's conundrum, that's accurate for a significant fraction of the readerbase:

> "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life."

It's actually really simple. Here in Poland, myself and my entire generation grew up watching the children cartoon adaptation of the Moomins. It was cute, it was happy, it had nice art and music, it was suitable for small children but engaging even to older ones, and it was aired when all kids would be watching[0]. This was our generation's intro to the Moomins, and it colored how we read the books.

I imagine the case is similar all across Europe. A whole generation primed to read these stories as positive and light-hearted, because of a TV adaptation.

--

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieczorynka - public TV (TVP1), every day at 19:00, just before the evening news slot. In times I grew up, watching this was pretty much a national tradition for any family with children.

Re: The dark side of the Moomins

#70

Post by bazoom42 »

kleinishere wrote: post #30
philips wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the books, I have read them all to my kids, and I agree that I think the article takes its thesis too far. The books are strange tales. They have dark undertones. And sometimes the adults take actions that only someone with life experience would really understand (e.g. Moominpappa wanting to suddenly upend everything in the families life and move to an isolated island). But, my kids mostly pick up on the adven…

Based on your experience, what age do you think is ideal for introducing the books to kids?

While all the books have both humour and darkness, the early books are more whimsical and playful while the later books are more about loneliness, alienation, and loss.
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