Changes: The Moomins (TV series)

Revision as of 13:12, 22 July 2008

The Moomins (Polish: Opowiadania Muminków, German: Die Mumins) is a stop motion animated children's television series based on the Tove Jansson's Moomin series of books which was originally produced by Se-ma-for and Jupiter Film between the years 1977–1981, originally for Polish, Austrian and German television. The series was later on sold to other countries including the UK. The British version was adapted by Anne Wood at Film Fair and first broadcasted in the UK in 1982 on CITV and ran until 1986, and was narrated by British actor Richard Murdoch.

This series was often referred to as the fuzzy felt Moomins, due to the appearance of the characters. It was the third series to be made based on the Moomin books, with two more made since then. Nonetheless, it is one of the two best known Moomin series, along with Moomin (1990). Although this version has at times 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 by far 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 reportedly 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 opening titles, featuring a bouncy theme tune consisting of flutes and synthesizers and a popular still of Moomintroll holding a hat, remain one of the most memorable opening titles of any children's series of this era.

Episode List

The UK adaptation consisted of 100 five minute episodes.

Series One

First broadcast Mondays to Fridays, January to March 1982 on CITV:

1 Hobgoblin's Hat
2 Magic Clouds
3 King of California
4 The Ant Lion
5 Canaries & Raspberry Juice
6 The Indoor Jungle
7 Thingumy and Bob
8 The Trial of the Groke
9 Snufkins Leaving
10 The Ruby
11 The Great Search
12 The Party
13 Hobgoblin Arrives At the Party
14 The Voyage
15 Attack of the Hattifatteners
16 The Barometer
17 Island Treasures
18 Return to Moominvalley
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

Series Two

First broadcast Mondays to Friday, January to March 1983 on CITV

51 The Haunted Theatre
52 Misabel's 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 Snufkins Invitation
61 In Jail
62 Tea with the Hemulens Niece
63 Dress Rehearsal
64 The Performance
65 The Confrontation
66 The Gadfly
67 The Cure
68 The Cocktail Party
69 Cedric
70 Mr. Brisk
71 The Jungle
72 The Tigers
73 The Hunters
74 The Funfair
75 The Hemulen Aunt
76 The Orphan
77 The Vampire
78 The Vampire Escapes
79 The Friendly Vampire
80 The Nice Bat
81 Mammas Island
82 Mammas Painting
83 The Terrible Island Storm
84 The Disappearing Moomins
85 The Little Martian
86 The Martian Goes Home
87 The Discoveries
88 The Muskrats Prediction
89 The Journey
90 The Underground Waterfall
91 The Giant Eagle
92 The Observatory
93 The Rockfall
94 Moomintroll to the Rescue
95 The Village Shop
96 The Dance
97 The Dead Sea
98 Locust Attack
99 The Tornado
100 The Comet

Please note the order above is the correct broadcast order, for when the episodes were first shown on UK Television in 1983. The episode order in the recent DVD boxset was changed, so that the English episodes would match with the German broadcast order, but they were, in fact, different. In the UK, the series ended with the Comet in Moominland story. Series one was shown in 1982 and series two was shown in 1983 and one was repeated again in 1985 and the other was repeated again in 1986.

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.^[1]

Excerpts from the series have been shown at film festivals in the UK ^[2] and Japan.

DVD Release

A Region 2 DVD boxset was released in 2004,[3] 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.

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.

↑ top 50 Childrens TV [1]
↑ Northern Lights Film Festival, 2006 Tales from Moominvalley [2]

External links

Moomin Character Ltd
The Fuzzy Felt Moomins
The Moomins (TV series) at the Internet Movie Database

Template:The Moomin Series

Template:Child-tv-prog-stub sv:Mumintrollen (dockfilm)

[1] top 50 Childrens TV [1]

[2] Northern Lights Film Festival, 2006 Tales from Moominvalley [2]

[1]

[2]

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-'''''The Moomins''''' (Polish: '''''Opowiadania Muminków''''', German: '''''Die Mumins''''') is a [[stop motion]] [[animated television series|animated]] [[children's television series]] based on the [[Tove Jansson]]'s [[Moomin]] series of books which was originally produced by [[Se-ma-for]] and [[Jupiter Film]] between the years [[1977]]–[[1981]], originally for Polish, Austrian and German television. The series was later on sold to other countries including the [[UK]]. The British version was adapted by [[Anne Wood]] at [[Film Fair]] and first broadcasted in the UK in [[1982]] on [[CITV]] and ran until [[1986]], and was narrated by British actor [[Richard Murdoch]].
+'''''The Moomins''''' ([[Polish]]: ''Opowiadania Muminków'', [[German]]: ''Die Mumins'') is a [[stop motion]] [[animated television series|animated]] [[children's television series]] based on the [[Tove Jansson]]'s [[Moomin]] series of books which was originally produced by [[Se-ma-for]] and [[Jupiter Film]] between the years [[1977]]–[[1981]], originally for Polish, Austrian and German television. The series was later on sold to other countries including the [[UK]]. The British version was adapted by [[Anne Wood]] at [[Film Fair]] and first broadcasted in the UK in [[1982]] on [[CITV]] and ran until [[1986]], and was narrated by British actor [[Richard Murdoch]].
 This series was often referred to as the [[fuzzy felt]] [[Moomins]], due to the appearance of the characters. It was the third series to be made based on the Moomin books, with two more made since then. Nonetheless, it is one of the two best known Moomin series, along with ''[[Moomin (1990s TV series)|Moomin]]'' (1990). Although this version has at times 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 by far 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 reportedly 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'').