The Moomins The Moomins is an 80’s Children’s TV animated show based on a number of books written and illustrated by Tove Jansson. These books were written between 1960 and 1980. She had previously seen the work of the 'Groteska' puppet theatre (Poland) and liked the semi flat puppets made on multi-plane cameras. Semafor Studio made this realisation come true for television and the classic 'Fuzzy Felt' Moomins were made.   Film Polska was the trading partner for Semafor, who was the only film producer in Poland to act abroad. Eventually the programme became a co-production with ZDF (Germany), ORF (Austria) and Jupiter Film (Austria). For the production, they decided to keep the scripts as close to the original books as possible. Tove Jansson and her brother were actively involved with the production and reviewed the scripts as it went along. The series was first shown in 1981.   A total of 78 episodes were created between 1977 and 1982 with each episode lasting for 8 to 9 minutes, which are unedited (Polish & German). The music for the Polish version was composed by Andrzej Rokicki and was narrated by Stanislaw Kwasniak. The German version was composed by Eugen Illin (some of Andrzej's music was left in) and was narrated by Hans Clarin. For German speaking TV Stations, 3 episodes were cut together to make 26 episodes (German). This resulted in the stories being shortened.   Two years later (1983), the English version was released, which was produced by Filmfair for Central Television. The music was replaced and was instead composed by Graeme Miller and Steve Shill. It was narrated by Richard Murdoch. This time the episodes were recut and 100 episodes were created, with each episode lasting for 4 to 5 minutes. But the downside of this is that the stories were shortened even further. To give you an idea, the English Version (474 minutes), the German Uncut Version (696 minutes).   Luckily the uncut German episodes are included on the latest release of The Moomins, which is in German with English Subtitles (called Die Mumins).     Story  The Moomins live in a tranquil place called Moominvalley. They live in a tall house in the middle of the countryside and not too far away is the sea where they have a bathing hut on the end of a short pier. It is a magical place. When winter comes they hibernate in their house, by tucking themselves up in bed and sleeping through it. They even sleep through Christmas.   Once they were woken up one Christmas and they didn't know what was happening, so they followed the lead of others and decorated their fir tree outside their house. It looked nice, but they decided it was better to be asleep again. After winter had passed, Snufkin, Moomintroll and Sniff climbed to the top of the Lonely Mountain to show that they were the first ones to climb it on the first day of spring, but when they got there, they found that someone has already got there and that a hat was sitting there.   They took the hat back with them and showed it to Moominmamma and Moomin Papa. Here they found out that it was a magic hat, which had once belonged to the Hobgoblin. Anything that went into the hat was changed into something else. Moominpappa decided that the hat could be too dangerous, so ordered that they put it in the river to sail away. And so their adventures began...   The Moomins Characters   Moomintroll He is a young Moomin that loves to have fun with his friend Snufkin. He is afraid of the dark, so likes to have the candles lit at night. Once he was playing hide and seek with the others and so hid in the Hobgoblin's hat. When he eventually emerged from it, he had changed into a strange looking thing. When the others didn't recognise him, he thought they were pretending, so he said that he was the King of California.   Once he found out they weren't joking, he was very upset. Luckily Moominmamma was able to break the spell. Moomintroll gets very upset when Snufkin goes on his travels. He even used his wish from the Hobgoblin to send a feast of food to Snufkin wherever he was. Even though he was told by Too Ticky not to, he opened the cupboard in the Bathing Hut and out popped one of his ancestors, a troll. He couldn't believe that he was related to this little person.   He decided it was good manners to show him around there home, where the troll decided to settled down and live in the stove. He is quite choosy who he shares his strawberry jam with and wasn't too happy when Little My kept giving it away to others in the Winter. But during the Winter Moomintroll became a hero when he rescued Little My from the frozen sea which was beginning to melt.     Snufkin He is Moomintroll's best friend. He loves nothing more than sitting on a rock and playing and composing his wonderful music on his flute. He never gives thought to worldly treasure and loves to wander around in the forest at night, on his own and enjoying his own company. But Snufkin is a restless soul and cannot stay still in one place for long. So every so often he goes out into the wilderness to travel and explore. He likes saying things like "Come on Man", very street cred (grins). Most of the time he sleeps in his tent in the great outdoors.     Sniff He is a very large mouse who has a nasty habit of sniffing all the time (hence his name). Sniff is also well known for sleeping a week longer than anyone else after winter (unless Moomintroll and Snufkin gets there first). He can't swim, but he found an old lifebelt that would help him learn.     The Hemulen Initially he was a very unhappy person, as he had nothing to do, so Snufkin suggested that he should study nature. He was so happy with this suggestion and he threw himself into it wholeheartedly. So now he loves to collect plants. Once Moominpappa took him and the others to a secluded island where he found lots of rare flowers, but also he bumped into a barometer that was fixed to a pole. Here he was surrounded by Hattifatteners who wanted him to leave it alone.   He became scared, so stole their barometer, but later in the evening they stole it back and gave him an electric shock for his troubles (serves him right). He was very kind when he used his Hobgoblin wish to change The Snorkmaiden's eyes back to normal. He made it his duty that he should wake the Moomins at Christmas otherwise they would miss it again (which is what normally happens). He was born bald.     The Snorkmaiden She is always trying to make herself look beautiful for Moomintroll. But she was really upset when she had found out that the Hattifatteners has accidentally scorched off her hair. So she began by wearing headscarves, which she liked and she really was becoming a fashion victim.   She even used her wish from the Hobgoblin to have new eyes to make herself look pretty for Moomintroll. As soon as the wish was granted and she saw that her eyes were totally blue, she hated them and began to cry (she was warned!!).     Moominpappa  He is the head of the Moomin family. He likes to write his memoirs of his adventures. He like the comfortable stay at home life for most of the time, but every once in a while he gets bored and so goes and seeks adventure again, just as he did when he was younger. He is a very good sailor of boats. He is the defender of the family.     Moominmamma She is very level headed and tries to keep a lookout for the younger ones. There is one thing that she cannot do without, which is her handbag. Once Moominmamma lost her handbag and was very upset. The whole valley helped to look for it, which was eventually returned by Thingumy and Bob. They had such a great party afterwards. Moominmamma keeps the house ticking over and she keeps cleaning the house from top to bottom. She is very good at making cherry and redcurrant jam     The Hattifatteners  They are strange banana shaped creatures with long hair, who live on a deserted island and can't see or hear, but can feel. Hattifatteners hang around in a large group and mutter strange sounds. They can be intimidating and surround you, so the best way to escape is move something to make a vibration, which will scare them away.   They have a barometer that sits on a pole on their island. This is their secret totem and no one else had ever been to this place, that was until the Hemulen stumbled across the place and stole the barometer. Hattifatteners do have a defence against unwelcome guests, which is that they can give electric shocks.     Thingumy and Bob  They are two small creatures that speak in a language that is very close to English, but a number of words are muddled up. They are very shy, so try not to startle them. When they arrived in Moominvalley, they carried a suitcase with them. It was their prized possession. Eventually they showed the others what was in it. It was a fantastic Ruby that you just couldn't stop looking at and admiring. They had stolen this from the Groke.     The Groke This is a horrible and nasty creature. Anything that is in her path is frozen solid. She wasn't happy when Thingumy and Bob stole her suitcase with the big red ruby in it, as she thought it was worth a lot. She kept trying to get it back, but the Moomins decided that they needed a court (with judge) to decide who should have it. After going to and fro, the Moomins offered to trade the Hobgoblins hat for the suitcase. The Groke agreed and with a horrible laugh went into the distance.     The Hobgoblin  He is a wizard that travels around with his black panther (who he sits on when it flies in the sky). His magic hat was found by the other Moomins, but he seems to have many of these. But one of his possession was stolen from himself, a big red ruby. He had spent years trying to find it and has even travelled the universe in search of it.    Eventually he found it in Moominvalley where a party for the whole valley was in progress. He found the ruby in the possession of Thingumy and Bob, and he wanted it back. They had bought it from Groke and didn't want him to have it. So he joined in with the party and had so much fun that he granted each person a single wish. Thingumy and Bob wished for another big red ruby, so that the Hobgoblin could have one too.     Little My She is a strange (and ugly) little girl, but she is also very selfish and rude. I'm surprised that the other Moomins don't mind her being around? She hibernates in the winter, in a box of wool, in a cave, with her sister the Mymble. But she was woken up in winter and found that she had a taste for skiing. Be very careful not to have a secret around Little My, as she will try everything to find out what it is and also tell everyone else that you have a secret.     Too Ticky  He is a sailor that lodges in the Moomins bathing hut in winter. Too Ticky doesn't live in the hut on his own, and is instead joined by the invisible mice, who look after him and by keeping the fire stoked (they can even fly). He also likes to play his Barrel Organ. Once he told Moomintroll to never open the cupboard of the bathing hut in winter. But Moomintroll could not resist and opened it and out popped one of his ancestors, a troll.   He has a ritual to turn his hat inside out. When Winter starts he turns it inside out to the black side and when Winter ends he turns it inside out to the red side. Too Ticky can be cold hearted, which was evident when he didn't try to rescue Moomintroll from the frozen sea. Moomintroll was very upset with him.     The Healthy Hemulen As his name suggests, this is one really health Hemulen. When he arrived in Moominvalley, in winter, he ordered the other forest folk to build him a igloo. They kindly obliged, but found out afterwards that he is a fanatic concerning being healthy, such as jumping in ice cold water, and he wanted them to join him. Obviously the others didn't want to keep that healthy, and after a while the Hemulen became sad as it looked like no one liked him. Even the dog called Sorry-oo didn't want to stay with him.   But Sorr-yoo had wanted to join his brothers, the wolves, and when they arrived he knew he'd made a terrible mistake as they were wild and vicious. Luckily the Healthy Hemulen heard his cries and went to rescue him. Sorry-oo was so grateful that he decided to become his companion and also the forest folk decided that they did like him after all.     The Fillyjonk She was quite a nervous creature, who one day said that a catastrophe was coming. For once in her life she was right, a tornado swept though the countryside and straight through her home. She never really liked her home, so she was happy that she could rebuild it again. Also she found that she was not nervous anymore, as she thought that this was the most terrible thing that could ever happen to her. Her best friend is Gaftse. The Moomins T-Shirts - The Moomins T-Shirts The Moomins DVDs Region 2 (Europe) - The Moomins DVDs Region 1 (USA) - NONE The Moomins Video Intro The Moomins Episodes Series 1 (1983)  1. Hobgoblin's Hat  2. Magic Clouds  3. King of California  4. Ant Lion  5. The Voyage  6. Attack of the Hattifatteners  7. The Barometer  8. Island Treasures  9. Return to Moominvalley  10. Canaries & Raspberry Juice  11. The Indoor Jungle  12. Thingumy and Bob  13. The Trial of the Groke  14. Snuffkins Leaving  15. The Ruby  16. The Great Search  17. The Party  18. Hobgoblin Arrives at the Party  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. Moomintrolls 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 Muddlers Marriage  48. Love Story  49. The Volcano  50. The Island  51. The Haunted Theatre  52. Misabels Hairdo  53. Emma the Theatre Rat  54. A Night in the Trees  55. Astonished Awakening  56. The Parkkeepers Surprise  57. The Fillyjonk  58. Creepy Magic  59. The Naughty Woodies  60. Snuffkins Invitation  61. In Jail  62. Tea with the Hemulen's Niece  63. Dress Rehearsal  64. The Performance  65. The Confrontation  66. The Discoveries  67. The Muscrats Prediction  68. The Journey  69. The Underground Waterfall  70. The Giant Eagle  71. The Observatory  72. The Rockfall  73. Moomintroll to the Rescue  74. The Village Shop  75. The Dance  76. The Dead Sea  77. Locust Attack  78. The Tornado  79. The Comet  80. The Gadfly  81. The Cure  82. The Cocktail Party  83. Cedric  84. Mr. Brisk  85. The Jungle  86. The Tigers  87. The Hunters  88. The Funfair  89. The Hemulen Aunt  90. The Orphan  91. The Vampire  92. The Vampire Escapes  93. The Friendly Vampire  94. The Nice Bat  95. Mamma's Island  96. Mamma's Painting  97. The Terrible Island Storm  98. The Disappearing Moomins  99. The Little Martian  100. 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