The Moomins (TV series)
Polish stop motion animated TV series
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The Moomins (Polish: Opowiadania Muminków, lit. 'Moomins' Short Stories', German: Die Mumins) is a stop motion animated children's television series. It is based on the Moomin series of books by Finnish writer Tove Jansson. It was produced by Polish company Se-ma-for and Austrian company Jupiter Film between 1977 and 1982 for Polish, Austrian and German television.[2] It was first broadcast on TVP1 beginning on 19 November 1978.[3]
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Lucjan Dębiński
- Poland
- Austria
- West Germany
| The Moomins | |
|---|---|
| |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Maria Kossakowska Lucjan Dębiński |
| Music by | Andrzej Rokicki |
| Countries of origin |
|
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 10 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | TVP1 |
| Release | 19 November 1978 – 1982 |
The series was later sold to other countries including the UK. The British version was adapted by Anne Wood at FilmFair for ITV Central and broadcast in the UK. Series 1 was first shown on Monday 24 January 1983 at 4:15 pm and series 2 on Monday 7 January 1985 at 4.15pm on Children's ITV, and series 2 was repeated in 1986. The series was last repeated in its entirety in 1988. The series was also U.S. aired on Broadcast syndication in October 1983 to June 1987 and later shown on PBS in August 1985 to December 1994. It was narrated by British actor Richard Murdoch.[4][5][6]
This series was the fourth series to be made based on the Moomin books.[7] Two more were subsequently made. It is one of the two best-known Moomin series (along with the 1990 animated version Moomin). The 1977–1982 stop-motion version has 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 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 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 Swedish and sent to Tove and Lars Jansson, who, if they felt that anything needed to be changed, corrected the script, expanding or rewriting it; afterwards, the scripts were sent back and only then did production of the particular episode begin.
In 2010, an HD version of the series was released. It was later followed by a new US-produced English dub in 2017.
Music
The series had an orchestral score, composed by Andrzej Rokicki, with a whimsical opening theme, resembling the melody of a songbird. The German and Austrian dub retained most of the score, and added themes written by Eugen Illin, who also composed a different opening theme. For the shortened and re-edited UK release, a new score was composed by Graeme Miller and Steve Shill. Its opening titles featured a bouncy theme tune consisting of flutes and synthesizers, played against a popular still of Moomintroll holding a hat.[8]
Episode list
The original Polish series consisted of 78 ten-minute episodes, narrated initially by Stanisław Wyszyński, and subsequently by Stanisław Kwaśniak. The German and Austrian dub retained the full length of the original series, with the narration provided by Hans Clarin. The UK adaptation was shortened and re-edited into 100 five-minute episodes, narrated by Richard Murdoch.
Series 1 of the UK release consisted of 50 episodes, and was first broadcast Mondays to Fridays at 4:15 pm, 24 January to 6 April 1983 on Children's ITV. Series 2 consisting of another 50 episodes first aired Monday to Fridays at 4:15 pm, 7 January to 15 March 1985 on Children's ITV.
Series one
| UK broadcast date | Title | Novel inspiration |
|---|---|---|
| 24.01.1983 | Hobgoblin's Hat | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 25.01.1983 | Magic Clouds | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 26.01.1983 | King of California | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 27.01.1983 | The Ant Lion | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 28.01.1983 | Canaries & Raspberry Juice | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 31.01.1983 | The Indoor Jungle | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 01.02.1983 | Thingumy and Bob | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 02.02.1983 | The Trial of the Groke | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 03.02.1983 | Snufkin's Leaving | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 04.02.1983 | The Ruby | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 07.02.1983 | The Great Search | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 08.02.1983 | The Party | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 09.02.1983 | Hobgoblin Arrives At the Party | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 10.02.1983 | Special Wishes | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 11.02.1983 | The Voyage | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 14.02.1983 | Attack of the Hattifatteners | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 15.02.1983 | The Barometer | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 16.02.1983 | Island Treasures | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 17.02.1983 | Return to Moominvalley | Finn Family Moomintroll |
| 18.02.1983 | Invisible Child | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 21.02.1983 | The Cure | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 22.02.1983 | Christmas | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 23.02.1983 | Winter | Moominland Midwinter |
| 24.02.1983 | Little My Goes Skating | Moominland Midwinter |
| 25.02.1983 | Moomintroll and Little My | Moominland Midwinter |
| 28.02.1983 | The Lady of the Cold | Moominland Midwinter |
| 01.03.1983 | Ancestor | Moominland Midwinter |
| 02.03.1983 | Healthy Hemulen | Moominland Midwinter |
| 03.03.1983 | Sorry-oo | Moominland Midwinter |
| 04.03.1983 | Sorry-oo and the Wolves | Moominland Midwinter |
| 07.03.1983 | The Winter Bonfire | Moominland Midwinter |
| 08.03.1983 | Return of the Sun | Moominland Midwinter |
| 09.03.1983 | The Great Thaw | Moominland Midwinter |
| 10.03.1983 | The Fillyjonk | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 11.03.1983 | Catastrophe | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 14.03.1983 | Moomintroll & the Dragon | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 16.03.1983 | Moomintroll's Pet | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 17.03.1983 | Memoirs | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 18.03.1983 | The Orphan | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 21.03.1983 | Hodgkins & the Sailor | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 22.03.1983 | Edward the Booble | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 23.03.1983 | Moomintroll to the Rescue | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 24.03.1983 | The Storm | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 25.03.1983 | The King | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 28.03.1983 | Island Ghost | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 29.03.1983 | Flying Boat | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 30.03.1983 | The Muddler's Marriage | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 31.03.1983 | Love Story | Memoirs of Moominpappa |
| 05.04.1983 | The Volcano | Moominsummer Madness |
| 06.04.1983 | The Island | Moominsummer Madness |
Series two
| UK broadcast date | Title | Novel inspiration |
|---|---|---|
| 07.01.1985 | The Haunted Theatre | Moominsummer Madness |
| 08.01.1985 | Misabel's Hairdo | Moominsummer Madness |
| 09.01.1985 | Emma the Theatre Rat | Moominsummer Madness |
| 10.01.1985 | A Night in the Trees | Moominsummer Madness |
| 11.01.1985 | Astonished Awakening | Moominsummer Madness |
| 14.01.1985 | The Parkkeeper's Surprise | Moominsummer Madness |
| 15.01.1985 | The Fillyjonk | Moominsummer Madness |
| 16.01.1985 | Creepy Magic | Moominsummer Madness |
| 17.01.1985 | The Naughty Woodies | Moominsummer Madness |
| 18.01.1985 | Snufkin's Invitation | Moominsummer Madness |
| 21.01.1985 | In Jail | Moominsummer Madness |
| 22.01.1985 | Tea with the Hemulen's Niece | Moominsummer Madness |
| 23.01.1985 | Dress Rehearsal | Moominsummer Madness |
| 24.01.1985 | The Performance | Moominsummer Madness |
| 25.01.1985 | The Confrontation | Moominsummer Madness |
| 28.01.1985 | The Gadfly | Moomin & the Golden Tail, Moomin comic strips |
| 29.01.1985 | The Cure | Moomin & the Golden Tail, Moomin comic strips |
| 30.01.1985 | The Cocktail Party | Moomin & the Golden Tail, Moomin comic strips |
| 31.01.1985 | Cedric | Tales from Moominvalley |
| 01.02.1985 | Mr. Brisk | Moomins Winter Follies, Moomin comic strips |
| 04.02.1985 | The Jungle | Moominvalley turns Jungle, Moomin comic strips |
| 05.02.1985 | The Tigers | Moominvalley turns Jungle, Moomin comic strips |
| 06.02.1985 | The Hunters | Moominvalley turns Jungle, Moomin comic strips |
| 07.02.1985 | The Funfair | Moomin and the Brigands, Moomin comic strips |
| 08.02.1985 | The Hemulen Aunt | Moomin and Aunt Jane, Moomin comic strips |
| 11.02.1985 | The Orphan | Moomin Winter, Moomin comic strips |
| 12.02.1985 | The Vampire | Moomin & the Vampire, Moomin comic strips |
| 13.02.1985 | The Vampire Escapes | Moomin & the Vampire, Moomin comic strips |
| 14.02.1985 | The Friendly Vampire | Moomin & the Vampire, Moomin comic strips |
| 15.02.1985 | The Nice Bat | Moomin & the Vampire, Moomin comic strips |
| 18.02.1985 | Mamma's Island | Moominpappa at Sea |
| 19.02.1985 | Mamma's Painting | Moominpappa at Sea |
| 20.02.1985 | The Terrible Island Storm | Moominpappa at Sea |
| 21.02.1985 | The Disappearing Moomins | Moomin & the Martians, Moomin comic strips |
| 22.02.1985 | The Little Martian | Moomin & the Martians, Moomin comic strips |
| 25.02.1985 | The Martian Goes Home | Moomin & the Martians, Moomin comic strips |
| 26.02.1985 | The Discoveries | Comet in Moominland |
| 27.02.1985 | The Muskrat's Prediction | Comet in Moominland |
| 28.02.1985 | The Journey | Comet in Moominland |
| 01.03.1985 | The Underground Waterfall | Comet in Moominland |
| 04.03.1985 | The Giant Eagle | Comet in Moominland |
| 05.03.1985 | The Observatory | Comet in Moominland |
| 06.03.1985 | The Rockfall | Comet in Moominland |
| 07.03.1985 | Moomintroll to the Rescue | Comet in Moominland |
| 08.03.1985 | The Village Shop | Comet in Moominland |
| 11.03.1985 | The Dance | Comet in Moominland |
| 12.03.1985 | The Dead Sea | Comet in Moominland |
| 13.03.1985 | Locust Attack | Comet in Moominland |
| 14.03.1985 | The Tornado | Comet in Moominland |
| 15.03.1985 | The Comet | Comet in Moominland |
The order above is the correct broadcast order, for when the episodes were first shown on UK television in 1983 (taken from the original script list). The episode order in the recent DVD boxset was changed, so that the English episodes were intended to match the German broadcast order (but they were in fact different). In the UK, the series ended with the Comet in Moominland story. Series 1 was shown in 1983 and series 2 in 1985. Series 2 was repeated in 1986. The series was also repeated in its entirety in 1988. (Confirmed by the sleeve notes from Finders Keepers Moomin soundtrack release 2016).
Impact and critical reaction
In 2008 the series was listed at number 25 in a list of top 50 children's TV by The Times.[9][failed verification] Excerpts from the series have been shown at film festivals in the UK[10] and Japan.
Home release
A Region 2 DVD boxset was released in 2004,[11] in both English 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.
The complete series in its original Polish version, which was longer than the UK re-edit and had a different musical score, was released in Poland in 2009, as a 5-DVD Region 2 box set.
Films
- Moomin and Midsummer Madness was released in 2008, based on a compilation of Episodes 51–65.
- Moomins and the Comet Chase was released in 2010, based on a compilation of Episodes 88–100.
- Moomins and the Winter Wonderland was released in 2017, based on a compilation of Episodes 23–33.
- The Exploits of Moominpappa - Adventures of a Young Moomin was released in 2021, based on a compilation of Episodes 28–36.
References
- Simon Sheridan The A to Z of Classic Children's Television (Reynolds & Hearn books, 2004, reprinted 2007) ISBN 1-903111-27-7. Contains a long chapter on the making of the TV series, a rare photo of Tove Jansson and an interview with UK series producer Anne Wood.