Moominvalley (TV series)

Moominvalley (Finnish: Muumilaakso, Swedish: Mumindalen, also known as just Moomin) is a 2019 Finnish-British animated family drama musical series. An adaptation of the classic Moomin books and comics by writer-illustrator Tove Jansson and her brother Lars Jansson, it is created using new techniques in 3D CGI.[1]

Moominvalley
Genre	Animated family drama musical
Created by	Marika Makaroff Steve Box
Based on	Moomins by Tove Jansson
Written by	Mark Huckerby Nick Ostler Steve Box
Directed by	Steve Box (S1-2) Sara Barbas (S3) Nigel Davies (S3) Jay Grace (S3) Darren Robbie (S3)
Starring	Taron Egerton Rosamund Pike Matt Berry Bel Powley Richard Ayoade Akiya Henry Will Self Warwick Davis Kate Winslet Jennifer Saunders
Composers	Samuli Kosminen Jarmo Saari Pekka Kuusisto
Country of origin	Finland United Kingdom
Original languages	English, Finnish, Swedish, Sami
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer	Marika Makaroff
Producers	John Woolley (S1) Marion Edwards Louise Holmes Steve Dorrance
Running time	22 minutes
Production company	Gutsy Animations
Distributor	PGS Entertainment
Release
Original network	Yle (Finland) Sky One (UK)
Original release	25 February 2019 – present

Finnish production company Gutsy Animations ran a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo from 8 March to 21 April 2017. The campaign was organised in order to raise funds towards visual development of the series.[2] Animation company Anima Vitae was appointed as the lead animation company for the first two episodes of the series.[3]

The tremendously popular series is Finland's most expensive TV show with a €20 million budget.[4] In 2019 the series' first episode was the most watched program on Finnish national broadcaster Yle's streaming service, Yle Areena.[5]

Synopsis

The protagonist of the series is Moomintroll, who is curious, kind, sensitive and idealistic. He is a typical teenage 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. He lives with his caring Moominmamma and nostalgic Moominpappa. Moomintroll is joined by his best friend, the free-spirited wanderer Snufkin, the chaotic Little My, daydreamer Snorkmaiden, cowardly Sniff, and many other friends.

Cast and characters

Character	English actor[6][7][8]	Finnish actor[7][9]	Finland Swedish actor[7][10]	Japanese actor[7]	Northern-Sami actor[11]	Inari Sami Actor	Skolt Sami actor
Moomintroll	Taron Egerton (S1-2) Jack Rowan (S3)	Joonas Nordman	Christoffer Strandberg	Junta Terashima	Áilu Valle	Mikkâl Morottaja	Teemu Titola
Moominmamma	Rosamund Pike	Satu Silvo	Maria Sid	Kikuko Inoue	Siri Broch Johansen	Anna Morottaja	Tiina Sanila-Aikio
Moominpappa	Matt Berry	Ville Haapasalo	Carl-Kristian Rundman	Yasunori Matsumoto	Mikkel Gaup	Aimo Aikio	Tauno Ljetoff
Snufkin	Edvin Endre	Olavi Uusivirta	Paavo Kerosuo	Issey Takahashi	Niko Valkeapää	Tomi Koivunen	Tuomas Kiprianoff
Little My	Bel Powley	Kiti Kokkonen	Saga Sarkola	Ikue Otani	Irene Länsman	Auri Ahola	Neeta Jääskö
Snorkmaiden	Akiya Henry	Alina Tomnikov	Edith Holmström	Minami Tsuda	Linda Tammela	Heli Huovinen	Heidi Gauriloff
Sniff	Warwick Davis	Markku Haussila	Andreas af Enehielm	Koji Ochiai	Aslak Paltto	Marko Tervaniemi	Pavlo Heikkinen
Muskrat	Will Self	Heikki Harma	Max Bremer (S1, S2 eps 1-5, 13) Sixten Lundberg (S2 eps 6-9)	Nobuaki Kanemitsu	Pentti Pieski	Yrjö Musta	Erkki Lumisalmi
Hemulens (male)	Joe Wilkinson	Taisto Oksanen	Pekka Strang	Tetsuharu Ōta	Tuomas Huusko		Jouko Moshnikoff
Hemulens (female)	Susie Brann	Ella Pyhältö	Cecilia Paul		Inger-Mari Aikio	N/A
Fillyjonk	Kate Winslet	Kristiina Halttu	Nina Hukkinen	Shiho Hisajima	Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman (Ánnámáret)	Suvi King	Tiina Sanila-Aikio
Mymble	Jennifer Saunders	Lotta Lindroos	Hellen Willberg	Yuriko Ishigane	Annukka Hirvasvuopio-Laiti	Marke Laaksonen	Heini Wesslin
Too-ticky	Katie Leung	Elina Knihtilä	Nina Palmgren		Anne Olli	N/A
Emma The Stage Rat	Alison Steadman	Arja Saijonmaa	Arja Saijonmaa		Suvi West
Misabel	Rebecca Root	Miiko Toiviainen	Kaj Korkea-Aho	Kozue Harashima	Aslak Paltto
Ninny	Mayumi Kawai	Yasmine Yamajako	Jenna Hukkinen	Mayumi Kawai	Iŋgá Ravna-Pieski
Teety-Woo	Matt Lucas	Lauri Ketonen	Olli Liljeström	Kunihiro Kawamoto	Pekka Aikio
The Ghost	Richard Ayoade	Ali Jahangiri	André Wickström	Kyousei Tsukui
Mr Brisk	Julian Barratt	Riku Nieminen	Kristofer Gummerus	Yukito Soma	N/A		Juha Feodoroff
The Hobgoblin	Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	Jorma Uotinen	Nicke Lignell	Hidenari Ugaki	N/A	Veikko Aikio	N/A
Thingumy	Jon Monie	Anna Puu	Iida Kuningas	Kōsuke Echigoya		Niina Aikio-Siltala
Bob	Susie Brann	Paula Vesala	Sara Soulié	Mitsuhiro Inose		Sari Sarre
The Fisherman	Rhys Darby	Kari Ketonen	Oskar Pöysti	Hiroyuki Shibamoto		N/A	Markus Juutinen
Seahorse 1	Miriam-Teak Lee	Saara Aalto	Emma Klingenberg	Mariko Munakata			Anna Lumikivi
Seahorse 2	Shalom Brune-Franklin	Anna-Maija Tuoko	Jennie Storbacka	Sayaka Narita			Sonja Hovslagare
Toffle	Iina Kuustonen		Nina Palmgren	Sachiko Honma			Mariann Bernhardt
The Groke	Susie Brann
Snork	Chance Perdomo
Stinky

Music

The score for the season 1 is 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.[12] The official soundtrack was released on 19 April 2019.[13] The composers for season 2 are Samuli Kosminen, Pekka Kuusisto and Jarmo Saari.

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

#	English title[14]	Finnish title	Finland Swedish title[15]
1 (1)	Little My Moves In	Pikku Myy tuli taloon	Lilla My flyttar in
2 (2)	The Spring Tune	Kevätlaulu	Vårvisan
3 (3)	The Last Dragon In The World	Maailman viimeinen lohikäärme	Den sista draken i världen
4 (4)	Moominsummer Madness	Kelluva teatteri	Den flytande teatern
5 (5)	The Golden Tale	Kultainen häntä	Den gyllene svansen
6 (6)	The Secret Of The Hattifatteners	Hattivattien saari	Hattifnattarnas ö
7 (7)	Snufkin And The Park Keeper	Nuuskamuikkunen ja Puistonvartija	Snusmumriken och parkvakten
8 (8)	Monster Fish	Muumipapan kalajuttu	Monsterfisken
9 (9)	Night Of The Groke	Yksin kotona	Ensam hemma
10 (10)	Moominmamma's Maid	Muumimamman apulainen	Muminmammans hembiträde
11 (11)	Ghost Story	Kummitustarina	Spökhistorien
12 (12)	The Invisible Child	Näkymätön lapsi	Det osynliga barnet
13 (13)	Midwinter Ancestor	Taikatalvi	Trollvinter

Season 2 (2019–2020)

#	English title[16]	Finnish title	Finland Swedish title
1 (14)	Moomin's Winter Follies	Latua, herra Virkkunen!	Vintervansinne
2 (15)	The Fire Spirit	Nuuskamuikkunen ja tulenhenki	Snusmumriken och eldanden
3 (16)	Moominpappa & Son	Muumipapan uusi yritys	Muminpappan och plikten
4 (17)	Little My Moves Out	Kohtalokas pulloposti	Hjärta rimmar med smärta
5 (18)	The Strange Case Of Mrs Fillyjonk	Rouva Vilijonkan katoamismysteeri	Fru Filifjonks mystiska försvinnande
6 (19)	The Hobgoblin’s Hat	Taikahattu	Den magiska hatten
7 (20)	Thingumy and Bob	Tiuhti ja Viuhti	Tofslan och Vifslan
8 (21)	The Trial	Omituinen oikeudenkäynti	Den rysande rättegången
9 (22)	Farewell, Snorkmaiden	Jäähyväiset Niiskuneidille	Farväl Snorkfröken
10 (23)	Moominpappa’s Island	Muumipapan saari	Muminpappans ö
11 (24)	Moominmamma’s Mural	Muumimamman muraali	Muminmamman längtar hem
12 (25)	Moomintroll and the Seahorses	Muumipeikko ja merihevoset	Mumintrollet och sjöhästarna
13 (26)	November	Muumilaakson marraskuu	November

International broadcast

Moominvalley first aired on Yle TV2 in Finland in 25 February 2019, and a day after in Swedish on Yle Teema & Fem. It began airing in the United Kingdom on Sky One, Sky Kids and NOW TV on 19 April 2019. The first eight episodes aired overnight between 2:00 and 6:00 am, and were then repeated in pairs between 5:30 and 6:30 pm over the Easter weekend from 19 to 22 April. Episodes 9–11 followed on the afternoon of Saturday 27 April, 12–13 on Sunday 28. The first five episodes of season 2 aired over the weekend before Christmas 2019, with the remainder broadcast over the following Easter weekend, 10–13 April 2020.[17] Japan's national broadcaster NHK premiered Moominvalley on its BS4K channel on 4 April 2019.[18] The series has also been sold to China.[19] On 9 August 2019 it launched on WildBrain's YouTube channel.[20] On November 2020 it was announced that Moominvalley has been recommissioned for a third season by anchor broadcasters Yle in Finland and Sky in the UK.[21]

On 1 May 2019 PGS Entertainment acquired the distribution rights to Moominvalley.[22]

In the United Kingdom, the series also airs on BBC Alba as part of the CBeebies Alba block, where it is dubbed in Scottish Gaelic.

Reception

Ratings

The series has been extremely successful in its reviews and ratings worldwide. The first episode of Moominvalley was viewed by 600,000 viewers when it premiered in Finland's Yle TV2 in February 2019. It also became the most watched television series episode of all time in Yle's streaming service, Yle Areena, bringing the total viewership of the first episode in Finland to over two million.[23][24] Moominvalley was the most watched TV series and the fourth most watched TV programme in Finland in 2019 (incl. all channels).[25]

Awards

In 2019 Moominvalley was awarded the Best Animated Kid's Programme at TBI's Content Innovation Awards. [26] The series also won a Golden Venla award for 2019 Best Children's Program [27] and won Best Children’s Series at 2020 British Animation Awards.[28] Moominvalley was nominated for Best Animation and Best Storytelling at 2019 Shanghai Television Festival. In 2020 Moominvalley was a New Yor k International Children's Film Festival nominee[29] and additionally, nominated for the best Children's animation at Banff Rockie Awards.[30] Moominvalley was shortlisted for Broadcast Digital Awards in 2020[31] and selected for Encounters' Film Festival's competition programme in the same year.[32] It was nominated for an International Emmy Kids Award.[33][34] In 2020 Moominvalley was nominated for Best Children's Program in Golden Venla Awards for the second year around.[35]

References

1. "The Moomins are back, voiced by Taron Egerton and Kate Winslet". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
2. "New cutting edge Moomin TV series in development". Retrieved 13 September 2017.
3. "Anima Vitae joins Gutsy's Moominvalley". Retrieved 27 October 2018.
4. "Finland's most expensive TV show: New Moominvalley series". Yle Uutiset. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
5. "Useita Ylen tv-ohjelmia miljoonakastiin vuonna 2019 – Muumilaakson avausjakso keräsi reilusti yli 2,1 miljoonaa katsojaa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
6. "New cast members of the upcoming animated series MOOMINVALLEY".
7. "Voices of Moominvalley".
8. "GUTSY ANIMATIONS' MULTI AWARD-WINNING 'MOOMINVALLEY' CONFIRMED FOR SEASON 3".
9. "Uuden Muumi-animaation ääninä kuullaan Putous-tähtiä – katso näyte sarjasta (Finnish)", yle.fi
10. "Här är skådespelarna som ger röst åt den nya animationsserien Mumindalen (Swedish)", moomin.com
11. "Saamenkielinen Muumilaakso Mumenvággi alkaa 13.4. – ääninäyttelijöinä mm. Mikkel Gaup ja Áilu Valle".
12. "Each episode of the highly-anticipated Moomin animation series will include a featured track by top international artists – Moomin". Moomin. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
13. "Moominwalley (Original Soundtrack)". Amazon. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
14. "Sky, Moominvalley". Sky.
15. "Yle Arenan, Mumindalen". Yle Arenan.
16. Sky https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/cb72686f-2d2c-4c4a-b1cb-1ca425e9fe7a/moominvalley/episodes/season-2/episode-1. Missing or empty |title= (help)
17. "First look at the animated characters of the highly anticipated Moominvalley TV series revealed". Moomin.com. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
18. "The new Moominvalley animation to premiere in Japan in April!". Moomin.com. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
19. "Uusi Muumilaakso-sarja alkaa (New Moominvalley series begins)". is.fi (in Finnish). 25 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
20. https://www.animationmagazine.net/streaming/wildbrain-heads-to-moominvalley-for-tove-janssons-105th-birthday/
21. Animations, Gutsy (2 November 2020). "GUTSY ANIMATIONS' MULTI AWARD-WINNING 'MOOMINVALLEY' CONFIRMED FOR SEASON 3". Gutsy Animations. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
22. http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/pgs-brings-moominvalley-to-the-world-as-global-distributor/
23. "Useita Ylen tv-ohjelmia miljoonakastiin vuonna 2019 – Muumilaakson avausjakso keräsi reilusti yli 2,1 miljoonaa katsojaa". yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
24. "Uusi Muumit on valtaisa hitti (New Moomin series is an enormous hit)". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 28 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
25. "Finnpanel" (PDF).
26. "Endemol Shine, Kew, Sky among Content Innovation Award winners". TBI Vision. 13 October 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
27. "Voittajat 2019". Kultainen Venla (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 January 2020.
28. Animations, Gutsy (13 March 2020). "British Animation Awards 2020 winner: Best Children's Series". Gutsy Animations. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
29. Animations, Gutsy (28 February 2020). "NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FEST 2020 FEATURE FILM SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED". Gutsy Animations. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
30. Animations, Gutsy (22 April 2020). "MOOMINVALLEY nominated at Banff Media's Rockie Awards". Gutsy Animations. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
31. "Broadcast Digital Awards 2020 Shortlist".
32. "Encounters Film Festival / Competition programme 2020".
33. https://www.animationmagazine.net/events/international-emmy-kids-nominees-announced-for-early-awards/
34. https://kidscreen.com/2020/10/14/who-won-the-latest-round-of-intl-emmy-kids-awards/
35. Animations, Gutsy (8 January 2021). "Moominvalley nominated for the "Best Children's Program" in Golden Venla Awards". Gutsy Animations. Retrieved 12 January 2021.

External links

• Moominvalley at IMDb
• Moominvalley on Moomin.com