Fans celebrate the 80th birthday of the Moomins

Finland Moomins Fans celebrate the 80th anniversary of the publication of the Finnish children’s classic, “The Moomins and The Great Flood,” and the birthday of the author Tove Jansson

The Moomins, Finland’s most lovable literary cartoon family, are celebrating their 80th birthday this year.

The chubby, white, hippopotamus-like characters have captivated readers worldwide since author and illustrator Tove Jansson published The Moomins and the Great Flood in 1945, featuring Moomintroll and Moominmamma searching for the missing Moominpappa.

Jansson, a Swedish-speaking Finn who died in 2001, went on to write eight more books, picture books and a comic strip in Swedish.

Set in fictional Moominvalley, the series has been translated into more than 60 languages and inspired films, TV shows, plays, exhibitions, a museum, and theme parks in Finland and Japan. Finnair has even decorated planes with the Moomins.

Last weekend, fans flocked to Tampere – home of the Moomin Museum – to mark the 80th anniversary of the first book and Jansson’s Aug. 9, 1914, birthday.

Fans from childhood to adulthood

For Rosa Senn of the U.K., the celebration recalled her Norwegian mother reading the tales aloud. She shared the books with her now-wife Lizzie during their long-distance courtship, using a Moomintroll plush to feel closer. The doll served as ringbearer at their wedding, and the couple honeymooned in Tampere.

They also run an Instagram page of the plush’s adventures, now with nearly 11,000 followers, connecting them to Moomin fans worldwide, including Stefanie and Michael Geutebrück from Germany.

Moomin merchandise

Stefanie first loved the Moomins watching animations in East Germany and introduced them to her husband, leading to a Tampere trip. “Now he’s a total fan and our apartment looks like a Moomin shop,” she said.

Moomin merchandise, especially collectible mugs, is hugely popular. “You buy a Moomin mug, you like the characters, you maybe see something on TV – but we all go back to the books,” said Selma Green, director of the Moomin Museum.

Depictions of the character Stinky – a dark, fuzzy, furniture-eating rogue – sparked debate in Finland this summer after reports he was removed from Brooklyn Public Library murals over concerns he might be seen as racist. “I’ve always thought of Stinky as close to a mole or vole,” said Sirke Happonen, a Moomin scholar.

Moominvalley as an escape

The stories embrace family as a flexible concept, with diverse gender roles and queer themes reflecting Jansson’s LGBTQ+ identity. Her partner of more than 45 years, artist Tuulikki Pietilä, inspired the character Too-ticky in Moominland Midwinter.

Jansson also addressed war and catastrophe. The Moomins and the Great Flood, about a displaced family, appeared in the final months of WWII, when Finland was devastated and one of her brothers went missing at the front.

While Moominvalley is an escape, the tales mix peril with comfort. “Her first Moomin book came out in a dark era,” Happonen said. “She started writing what she called a fairy tale, but without princesses or princes.”

Moominvalley, born from a need to find beauty when life felt frail, offered contrast. “Tove Jansson loved contrasts – writing about a beautiful world, full of friendship and love,” Happonen said. HELI SIVUNEN, TAMPERE, MDT/AP