Moominvalley (2019 TV series)

Moominvalley is Finnish-British animated children's television series, produced by Gutsy Animations. A crowdfunded campaign was made on Indiegogo from 8 March to 21 April 2017 and was successfully funded.

The first series premiered on 25 January, 2019, in Finland. The second series was officially announced on 2 December, 2019 on the Twitter account of Nick Ostler, the screenwriter for Moominvalley. The second series premiered on 21 December, 2019, in the UK.

Moominvalley was officially renewed for a third series on 2 November 2020. It was announced on the Moominvalley Twitter account that the voice actor of Moomintroll - Taron Edgerton - would be replaced with a new actor Jack Rowan for series three. The characters of Stinky and Snork were also announced to be introduced in the third series.

During the "75th Anniversary of Moomin Appreciation" panel at San Diego Comic Con in July 2020 Gutsy animations CEO and producer of Moominvalley Marika Makaroff revealed that the first episode of the third series will be based around the comic strip Moomin Begins a New Life. Production designer Sarah Hauldron hinted that The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters may be adapted in the third series.

In October 2020, in conjunction with the Sámi parliament of Finland’s initiative, Moominvalley was fully translated into three Sámi languages: North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. These three languages are acknowledged by Unesco as endangered languages.

Synopsis
The protagonist of the series is Moomintroll, who is curious, kind, sensitive and idealistic. He is a typical hero in a coming-of-age story: he tries to tackle the puzzle of growing up to his true, individualistic self while remaining a beloved part of the family.

Series 1

 * Little My Moves In
 * The Spring Tune
 * The Last Dragon in the World
 * Moominsummer Madness
 * The Golden Tale
 * The Secret of the Hattifatteners
 * Snufkin and the Park Keeper
 * Monster Fish
 * Night of the Groke
 * Moominmamma's Maid
 * Ghost Story
 * The Invisible Child
 * Midwinter Ancestor

Series 2

 * Moomin's Winter Follies
 * The Fire Spirit
 * Moominpappa &amp; Son
 * Little My Moves Out
 * The Strange Case of Mrs Fillyjonk
 * The Hobgoblin's Hat
 * Thingummy & Bob
 * The Trial
 * Farewell, Snorkmaiden
 * Moominpapa's Island
 * Moominmamma's Mural
 * Moomintroll & the Seahorses
 * November

Music
The score for the series was composed by Finnish musicians Pekka Kuusisto and Samuli Kosminen. Kuusisto's father, Ilkka Kuusisto, had previously composed an opera for the Moomins with Tove Jansson in 1974.

In September 2018, Gutsy Animations made a deal with Sony Music to have the label's artists contribute original songs for each episode.

International broadcast
Moominvalley first aired on Yle TV2 in Finland in 25 February 2019, and a day after in Sweden on the channel Yle Teema & Fem. Japan's national broadcaster NHK premiered Moominvalley on its BS4K channel on 4 April 2019. It began airing in the United Kingdom on Sky One, Sky Kids and NOW TV on 19 April 2019. On 9 August 2019 it launched on the Canadian YouTube channel WildBrain.

Moominvalley has been sold to over 40 countries, most recently airing on channel NRK in Norway on 14 September 2020.

It is also available on the online streaming platforms Now TV and Amazon Prime.

Moominvalley books
Several books based on the Moominvalley TV series' artwork and stories have been written by Amanda Li and published by Pan Macmillan. Welcome to Moominvalley: The Handbook and Moominvalley: The Activity Book were released on 5 March 2020 and Adventures in Moominvalley and More Adventures in Moominvalley were released on 15 and 29 October, respectively.

Trivia

 * When Moominvalley Series 1 premiered on Sky One, the episode "The Spring Tune" was shown later in the series, listed as Episode 13 instead of Episode 2. It followed "Midwinter Ancestor" and replaced it as the final episode in the series, for reasons unknown. The rest of the episodes followed the same order.