Helsinki: Moomin Trolls

In Helsinki I fell in love with a new bunch of characters. The Moomin, spelt as Muumi in Finnish I guess, which I saw everywhere in both Helsinki it’s place of origin and Stockholm. Moomin is a cartoon that was written way back in 1945 and the main characters sort of resemble hippos, although they are actually trolls. I found that trolls are a big feature in both Sweden and Finland. Tove Jansson was a Swedish Finnish author of the Moomin books. She was born in Helsinki and her family was part of the 6% Swedish minority in Finland. Her motivation was to escape the depression of war into innocence. Interestingly she was born on 9 August (Singapore’s National Day), but way back in 1914, and I find myself wanting to learn all about her and her books.

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

photo by bookjunkie

Seems a wonder that I have never heard of Moomin till now. The characters are charming and it seems that the Japanese are especially big fans. I see some similarities in the drawings found in Hal’s moving castle. I am not a big fan of cartoons and prefer watching real people on the big screen, but I do love Japanese style animation. Now I know where one of their sources of inspiration comes from.

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
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9 Responses to Helsinki: Moomin Trolls

  1. Claire says:

    I loved Moomin as a kid – they used to show it on TV in the UK. I loved all the characters and the stories. Looks like you had an amazing time out there.

    • bookjunkie says:

      I feel like I miss out on a Moomin childhood. I want to find out all about these sweet characters 🙂 Thanks, yeah the trip was very good.

  2. Evia says:

    Hey there! Just wondering if you know of anywhere in Singapore that sells Moomin stuff??? 🙂

  3. Hey there! Just wondering if you know of anywhere in Singapore that sells Moomin stuff? 🙂

  4. I’m happy to say that I was introduced to the Moomin world when I was really young. Gosh, the books are fantastic! You can find them in the libraries here of course, in the children’s section. Sometimes, the merchandise shows up in unexpected places in Singapore, like in an ancient neighbourhood bookshop;) I love when I make such discoveries. Oh well, at least you went to Finland and got to experience the Moomin magic there – lucky you:)

    • bookjunkie says:

      Yes I truly feel so lucky. Didn’t know about Moomin before the trip. They are so magical and I am so glad I was introduced to their charming world.

  5. Hey. Thanks for your nice words about Moomins in Finland. We are Finnish Moomin enthuasists and game developers – thats why we have recently introduced a Moomin free-to-play game at iTunes. If you are interested, you can download and have a pice of Moomins along with you where ever you go 🙂 There some interactive eBooks available as well. https://itunes.apple.com/fi/app/moomin-bubble/id661041679?mt=8

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