The Captain is a character exclusive to the 1969 Moomin anime. He is a world traveler who rides in a flying ship and has a parrot for a sidekick. He seems to have many personality traits of Snufkin. He was voiced by Kouichi Kitamura. He only appears in the first episode and is never seen again.
History[]
The Captain is first seen flying over Moominvalley. He sees some hawks flying and thinks they are black-tipped hawks, but the parrot tells him they are Lonely Hawks from Moominvalley and adds that Moominvalley is filled with strange creatures. The Captain is intrigued and brings the ship down. He notes that the valley is peaceful, and the parrot comments that it seems a little boring for an adventurous captain like him. The Captain says he's getting off to explore and jumps off using a parachute. After he lands, he sees Moomintroll trying to escape from Stinky (replacing the Antlion), who wants to eat him. He then saves Moomin by throwing a rock at Stinky. Moomin thanks him and, after showing him the valley, introduces him to Moominpappa and Moominmamma.
He is later invited to dinner at Moominhouse, with Hemulen, Sniff, the Muskrat, and Little My also attending. After Moominmamma serves him different meals, the Captain compliments Moominmamma's cooking, which makes her blush. When the Muskrat claims that traveling, adventuring, and eating are all meaningless, the Captain says that the best part of traveling is the wonderful things you can find and gives him a hairbrush that he found in Siberia, which he claims will make his fur anything but useless. However, when he uses it to brush the Muskrat's fur, it is revealed that the brush has static electricity, which results in the Muskrat storming out in a rage. The Captain gives Hemulen a rare Khoikhoi post office memorial stamp, which causes Hemulen to joyously run back to his house and add it to his collection. After Hemulen leaves, a mysterious hat rolls into Moominhouse. The Captain wonders where it came from and tells Moominpappa it must be a gift from heaven for him.
After Moomin accidentally causes Little My to go bald by making her wear the hat and tells Moominmamma and Moominpappa about, it is revealed that the Captain heard the Moomins' conversation about the incident. He tells the Moomins he came from Little My's house and thought he'd try to solve the misunderstanding. Moomin says it was his fault, but the Captain tells him to not hold back. On the way to Little My's, the Captain tells Moomin that missing hair can grow back, but if he cuts off his friendship with Little My, that won't grow back so easily and adds that Moomin is going to go give My a heartfelt explanation and stop the misunderstanding. He then gives Moomin a hair tonic he found in Siberia and leaves, playing a flute. He watches Moomin and Little My reconcile, saying his job is done.
Later, Moominmamma accidentally tosses some food into the hat, which causes a jungle to grow in Moominhouse. The Captain arrives using his sword to cut the vines and saves Moomin again. The Moomins, having enough with the hat, publish a newspaper ad so that the owner can reclaim it. A circus ringleader arrives and says the hat belongs to him. He invites the Moomins to see a circus show, and Moomin runs to tell the Captain, but Moominmamma says that the Captain has his own work to do and that Moomin will be a bother if he keeps interrupting him. Moomin replies that he's going to ask the Captain to take him traveling with him. The Captain responds by telling Moomin to listen to his mother, but Moomin refuses. After seeing the circus show, Moomin meets the ringleader backstage. He offers for Moomin to join the circus, but when Moomin refuses and says he's going traveling with the Captain, the ringleader transforms Moomin into a hideous creature using his hat. When Moomin returns to Moominhouse, no one recognizes him. The ringleader arrives and tries to take Moomin back, but Moomin accuses him of kidnapping. Moomin tries to convince the Captain it's him, but the Captain doesn't believe him, leaving Moomin devastated. When Moominmamma enters, the Captain asks her what her thoughts are about Moomin's claims. Moomin tries to convince the Captain again, but he pushes Moomin away and calls him a fake. This angers Moominmamma and she insists that this is her son, which the Captain scoffs at. Moomin tells the Captain he hates him. Moomin then turns back to normal, which angers the ringleader. The Captain demands to know who he is, and the ringleader reveals himself to be Stinky, who escapes by burrowing. The Captain then whistles, and his ship arrives. He then climbs aboard, and Moomin, still angry about the Captain not believing him earlier tells him to hurry up and leave. As the Captain rides away Moomin shouts that they won't miss him. However, Moominpappa reveals that the Captain was lying about not believing him and that if the Captain hadn't lied, Moomin wouldn't have listened to them telling him not to go with him. Moomin runs after the ship, with the Captain watching him through his binoculars.
Trivia[]
- He was most likely intended to be a replacement for Snufkin, as they share many similarities:
- Both are travelers who don't stay in one place for long.
- Both play the flute.
- Both are admired by Moomin.
- Both give wise advice.
- His voice actor, Koichi Kitamura, is known for voicing Scrooge McDuck in the Japanese dub of DuckTales and DuckTales the Movie, Sleepy in the Japanese dub of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Mr. Burns in the Japanese dub of The Simpsons.