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I'm not sure how tongue in cheek this was, but I assume it's serious. Either way, it's a fun and smart read.

The article spots well the dark side of the moomins, but in my opinion goes too deep into it. My disagreements boil down to this: "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life." Yes, all these things exist, but the point to me has always been that they are cutesy despite that! The stories paint a very typical family dynamic (at least of the time, at least in a Finnish swedish speaking family like Tove's), throws it into weirdest situations, and they all survive together thanks to, and despite, their dysfunctions. And Moominmamma is the most wholesome character ever, period.

I lived in Finland for a couple years. Finns, like the Moomins, are whimsical yet profound, like midsummer’s fleeting joy before the long winter. They mirror Finland’s love of nature and quiet isolation, with their cozy valley echoing the Finns forest cabins by a lake. The happy vibe hides struggles—tough winters, heavy drinking—but the Moomins’ warmth reflects the Finns’ wholesome character.

I think it is crucial that children get exposure to the sad reality, not in order to normalize it but because the idea of hiding it is what stops progress in the first place and confuses children more than the plain truth. Children need truth and not shielding from it. Highly recommended book around this fundamental mistake in education by a French child psychologist: A corps et a cris. Être psychanalyste avec les tout-petits (Caroline Eliacheff).

Question to Swedes: what were you child impressions of "Pettson och Findus"? I read it to children as an adult, and impressions are that it tells of the funny & sad sides of taking care of children, and I sympathize to Pettson, of course. I wonder how you saw it as children.

On topic: interesting read. I'd never think these stories had so much dark side to them.

I got all 9 stories in 3 books at the age of 11 and read most of them, and was very happy with the stories, never noticing any of the dread the article speaks about.

Especially the Midwinter story was fascinating - we lived not that North, but in cold winter mid-continent, and the story was like looking out watching for the first signs of the spring, that eventually always comes, but you shouldn't celebrate any of those too early -- when day temperature comes above 0 in March, you know it's going to be freezing in the evening. (Later I was stunned with foreigners in our city complain of this March weather, call it "winter" and be depressed!)

A few years ago someone on social networks posted her impressions from reading them out loud to children -- that indeed it's depressive.

So I guess, the conclusion is that people make opposite meanings and moods of the same events.

Grew up watching Moomin on TV and it left with life lessons, good values and deep trauma…

I loved Moomins as a kid, and was so surprised when I talked with my wife about it, she thought they were so scary and "off" feeling.

I'm watching them now with our son, and I guess I was just born with a strong appreciation for melancholia.

I changed my mind, when I was a kid I thought they were good, now I think they are great!

In many ways, what makes moomin dark is that it shows us what we already know, the world _just_is_ and in the big picture, does not care about you, you might die, someone you care about might go away, and everyone is, fundamentally, alone, and what makes a person who they are, is partly how they deal with, if at all, being alone in this world of loners.

Moomin is very real and very direct in its dealings with the pain of the meaninglessness of life.

Snufkin, as a child, I took him for a cynic and disliked him, but he taught me something about the world, I think he is a stoic and a nihilist, and I very much like him now, he simply _IS_ in the world, and he accepts, and so appreciates that which also simply is, and which he cannot control.

Yeah, Moomin is dark, but life is dark, life is pleasure and pain, and we will all die, everyone we ever loved will suffer and die, but they will also experience pleasure and life, one could chose only suffering and death, one cannot chose only pleasure and life, and must come to terms with the fact that the underpinnings of pleasure and life is indeed suffering and pain. That's it, the world just is, and we're just in it.

I feel like a lot of the cartoons and tv shows of my childhood was like this, life.. it kinda has bad parts.. and back then, they showed them to kids, and what do I know.. maybe it prepared us to take it on ?

It's a good read, thanks for sharing. Really sad that people would pester the author about the creation. It needs to be realized that the author is just another complex human being, even though they created their fantastic thing. As I experience it takes a lot to think about other people as so complex. We much rather like them as just simple characters.

Another thing is that for long-running franchises, it's really interesting to watch the progression of character design. Both visually and characteristically. The first Moomins look really weird, but fun, compared to the later iterations. Because, of course, the context also changed a lot around them - in real life, not in-universe.

It’s striking how Jansson’s cozy Moomin universe is layered with existential dread and the realities of a war-torn era.

They are children’s tales - which are designed to hide lessons and warnings on the dark side of life in a wrapper that does not traumatise - like an inoculation against what comes.

Everything the Grimms brothers collected and Disney sanitised still hides warnings.

I have read all my children “The Tiger who came to Tea” as well as taken them to theatre performances- and the author ran from Germany hours before the Gestapo came knocking and it affected much of her life and writing (“Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” is the autobiography I think)

So yeah. It’s got layers onion boy, layers.

Still have fond memories of my kid hugging a six foot moomin in Covent Garden.

For anyone who has just seen the tv shows, I highly recommend reading the books. There are so many layers to her stories.

Who will comfort Toffle is a very moving book about loneliness

https://www.moomin.com/en/blog/who-will-comfort-toffle-backs...

> But when he tries to write about how lonely he has been, About his house and Hemulen, the smooth white shell he’s seen,

> The Groke, the night he sailed the sea, he finds no words will come. He is too shy to write his tale. Poor Toffle is struck dumb.

> So Who Will Comfort Toffle now? Will someone lend a hand And help him write to Miffle so that she can understand?

Just got done reading Moominpapa's Memoirs to my kid! Great book.

I'll pass along a joke I read years ago.

Mozzarella is moomin meat.

Janson created more than just the Moomin stories. Check out her murals: https://tovejansson.com/gallery/murals/. I don't see much darkness there... (there is even a small Mumintroll in "Party in the City", in front of the woman smoking a cigarette, a self-portrait of Janson)

That’s a really interesting take on the Moomins. I agree that the misinterpretations of their tales are fascinating – it highlights how stories can be shaped by our own perspectives. I especially appreciate how you highlight the resilience of the family dynamic, even with its dysfunction. It’s a thoughtful and somewhat melancholic, yet captivating, perspective, and I can see how that resonates with you.

I had no idea it was such a large enterprise. I'm in Australia, and read one of the books as a kid. But other than that, I don't think I ever encountered any form of them, or even really heard anyone mention them, until the recent movie adaptation.

My favorite piece of Moomin lore is that the very first proto-Moomin sketch was a caricature of Immanuel Kant Tove made to tease her sister, who was a big fan of that guy.

Significant number of lost episodes of MOOMINS. Was around 20 episodes never found last time I checked.

It used to be even more but someone from Japan found a few.

And the creator refuses to talk about some of the lost episodes.

It’s fascinating how the Moomins’ appeal seems to stem from a comforting, albeit slightly skewed, portrayal of family dynamics – a familiar, albeit idealized, model. While I appreciate the insightful analysis of the misinterpretations, I’m more drawn to the sheer whimsicalness and resilience of the stories themselves, rather than a bleak, pessimistic view of domestic life. It's a brilliant observation to connect the Moomins’ narrative to broader themes of longing and escape, a quality I find deeply compelling.

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It’s not so unlike Charles Schultz.

Multiple comments here referring to tv-shows. Just be aware that Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated books and comics but did not produce tv shows. What you have seen was not created by Tove Jansson.

The comics and the books are different in genre, even if they use the same characters and storylines. The comics are darkly satirial of modern life while the illustrated books feels more poetic and timeless.

Fun fact: Jansson illustrated The Hobbit and drew Gollum as a giant. Tolkien realized he never described the size of Gollum and made adjustments to later editions.

First time I heard about the Moomins. I thought this was about Mumins[1].

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumin

The introduction of The Groke absolutely terrified me when I was younger. I put it up there with the Xenomorph in terms of a mysterious, capable, superior foe.

Ha and I thought it was just me. Have been rewatching some episodes some years ago and found it a bit creepy at times, although of course a bit sugar coated and abstract. Actually a great way to make it work for all ages.

I literally finished the movie about Tove Jansson minutes before I found this article! Thank you for sharing!

I never read any of the books, didn't actually know they were originally a book. I grew up with the TV show though. Hated it. I've never watched TV or film for the feels. Tv and film for me is escapism, I don't want to be depressed or have to think. I'm assuming this is why I never liked the moomins.

excellent. like Hobbits' Bag End turned upside down

When I get manipulative ads right off the bat after rejecting cookies, I bounce. A shame as I was curious about the actual content.

Don't have time to read through the whole article. But just wanted to point out that there are also Moomin cartoons which have really politically uncorrect stories: like Moomins travelling to spain, trying to buy opium but eating some weird drugs instead and then staring for sea for a week and missing their fligth back.