The Moomins

By Tove Jansson

The Books

The Moomin Family books were written and illustrated by Tove Jansson, starting with The Moomins and the Great Flood in 1945 and ending with Moominvalley in November in 1970.

“Has any other children’s author ever so eloquently stated, book after book, story after story, “You are alone but that’s okay, we’re all alone”–and made it seem like an affirmation?” --Tom Delvin

The books are definitely my favorite aspect of the franchise. My favorite book is Moominvalley in November, but Comet in Moominland is a very close second.

The Comics

The 90s Anime

Moominvalley

Felt Family Moomins

The Movies

The Games

Miscellaneous

Moomin House 1976-1979. Built by Pentti Eskola, Tuulikki Pietilä and Tove Jansson. Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland

The Characters

Snufkin

I wouldn't be me if I couldn't write a full essay on the neurodiversity of a character, but Snufkin is one of those characters I abstain from "diagnosing", largely because I think he would be an even bigger anti-psych guy than I am. That said, I do think that Snufkin definitely resonates as neuroatypical; and what I love about his characterization is that he's very respected for this, both by the narrative and by other characters. Snufkin is strange -- he's philosophical and he holds odd beliefs no one else seems to share, and interacts with the world in a very unique way because of it; he is racalcitrant and asocial, he doesn't mind being around other people and may even enjoy their company, but he never seems to hold very strong desires for close relationships and often gets overwhelmed by too much social contact and will retreat from groups and individuals alike; he's distant and odd, but, not even Despite this, but Because of it, he's loved by his community and they respect his need for distance and isolation as much as they enjoy his company when he decides to return.

I love that his beliefs are never fully expanded on; we know that he has strong convictions about the way the world works and often has a somewhat 'magical' approach to things like nature and songwriting, but never quite get the full picture of what that entails. I love that he's allowed to be mysterious and vague, and no one really demands explanations from him when he doesn't want to give them. I love his rejection of 'Polite Society' -- the fact that his lives a very transient lifestyle because it's what makes him happy and brings him the most satisfaction out of life, even if no one else really understands him. I love that he can't stand swearing or profanity for reasons never fully explained. I love the scene in Comet in Moominvalley when he weeps despondently over the loss of the sea. I love that his sense of humor is a little rough around the edges, and even if another character doesn't necessarily like his joke or think he should be laughing at something, they also never make an enormous deal out of it or admonish him too harshly. It's just the way he is, they understand that, and know that he doesn't mean anything by it. You always get the sense, watching the Moomin family interact with Snufkin, that if anyone else in the Valley took an issue with the way Snufkin acts or lives his life, they'd come to his defense in a heartbeat and never dream of demanding that Snufkin change who he is to better accommodate what other people consider "Correct" or "Normal" behaviors.

"[Snufkin]'s so free. Absolutely independent. He does what pleases him, without consequences for others. He's soft, a bit sloppy, looking for new paths to walk. He actually likes landscapes more than people, which of course means that he's not always very nice to his friends, but they forgive him. It's quite easy to forgive a Snufkin. I like him." -- Tove Jansson in an Interview

One thing that I love about the books is that, while Moomin is never disparaged or dismissed regarding his deepset longing for Snufkin, he's also never portrayed as "Right" when he expresses a desire for Snufkin to stay at his side. Moomin's character growth is often measured in his growing ability to let Snufkin go, to accept that Snufkin is different from him and agree to be patient while he waits for Snufkin to return. I love that the series has that respect for Snufkin's lifestyle, and that it allows him to have both his friendship with Moomin and his desire for solitude and he's never made to choose between the two. His arc in Moominvalley in November is less about a resolve to change his ways to accommodate Moomin's longing and more of a realization of how much the Moomin family as a whole accommodated him and his growing desire to appreciate that more, and that's something I really appreciate.

“In most fiction, family is what you escape from if you want to fulfil yourself. For Jansson, family is a place of tolerance, where we can fail and become ourselves. Her experience of growing up gay is there in Snufkin – who is all the more loved for being different. Like the prodigal son, everyone is so thrilled to see him, no one ever asks him where he has been. It’s there too, in Too-Ticky, Jansson’s portrait of her partner. And above all it’s there in the wonderful story where Moomintroll is transformed into the bug-eyed King of California, and his mother recognises him straight away.”

Too-Ticky

Tooticky is such a good, healthy example of lesbian masculinity in media - especially in a media directed at children - it warms up my heart.
Tooticky does not only have a very androgynous look, she’s a resorceful craftsman who is very good at fixing things, but especially she’s wise and kind. Tooticky is daughter of the winter, she feels like coming home from a snowstorm to cuddle next to the fire. Tooticky is warm and sensible, she is winter but she is not cold. -- @criptochecca on tumblr

Little My

Much like Snufkin, I love so much how Little My is able to be herself unapologetically and without restraint. She's angry and troublesome and loves to cause problems on purpose, and even when she frustrates other characters they never demand that she change. As much weight as there is to see characters universally loved for their strangeness, I also think there's a lot of importance to see characters whose strangeness frustrates and annoys other people, and yet they're still never excluded or admonished for who they are.

Why I Love this Series

Merch

The Moomins are so universally beloved that there exists a plethora of lovely merch for the franchise! Here's an image collection of some of my favorites that I probably can't afford!!