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Tove Jansson
The author of the Moomin
Childhood
Tove Jansson was born in 1914 in Helsinki, which was at the time part of autonomous Finland, which was part of The Russian Empire. She was born into a Swedish speaking Finnish family. Her dad was a sculptor Viktor Jansson and her mom Signe Hammarsten-Jansson was a graphic designer.
Besides Helsinki, her family spent a lot of time in Pellinki. She wrote her first book at the age of 14. It was called Sara och Pelle och näckens bläckfiskar. She had two little brothers Per Olov and Lars.
Education
She studied in Helsinki and abroad in Stockholm and Paris from 1930 to 1938. Her first exhibition was during the Second World War in 1943.
During the war she also worked as a head designer for a magazine called Garm, where she draw cover photos and other drawings. Apparently she really enjoyed making political cartoons during her time at Garm.
During that time she started drawing illustrations, that transformed later on into Moomin. Garm itself was shut down in 1953. It was founded in 1923. The first Moomin book would not be published until 1945. It was called ”Moomins and the Great Flood”. The Swedish name of the book was ”Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen”.
Did you know that little loved Hattifatteners made their first debut already in the very first Moomin book?
Tove and Moomin
After the first Moomin book Tove ended up writing another 8 Moomin books. So there are a total of 9 Moomin books:
- The Moomins and the Great Flood
- Comet in Moominland
- Finn Family Moomintroll
- The Exploits of Moominpappa
- Moominsummer Madness
- Moominland Midwinter
- Tales From Moominvalley
- Moominpappa at Sea
- Moominvalley in November
Besides Moomin books she also made Moomin picture books and comic strips.
Moomin TV shows
Most of us might be more familiar with Moomin TV shows than the books. The most popular being the Japanese made show in 1990 until 1992. But did you know that there are a bunch of other Moomin TV shows?
List of all Moomin TV shows:
- The Moomin Family 1959-1960 (Germany)
- Moomin 1969 (Japan)
- Moomintroll 1969 (Sweden)
- New Moomin 1972 (Japan)
- Moominvalley 1973 (Sweden)
- The Moomins 1977-1982 (Poland)
- Moomin-troll 1978 (USSR)
- The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters 1978 (Finland)
- Who Will Comfort Toffle? 1980 (Sweden)
- Magician’s Hat 1980-1983 (USSR)
- Moominvalley 1990-1991 (Sweden)
- Moomin 1990-1992 (Japan)
- The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My 1993 (Sweden)
- From the Life of the Little Trolls 2008 (Armenia)
- Moominvalley 2019 (Finland and UK)
That is a total of 15 Moomin TV shows! I bet you have not seen most of them. And can you see on how many different countries these shows has been made at? This is certainly some Moomin trivia to surprise your friends with.
Legacy of Tove Jansson
Did you know that even a movie about Tove Jansson was made in 2020? In which Alma Pöysti was the main actress playing Tove.
There are also two different Moomin theme parks in Naantali, Finland and another one in Saitama, Japan. Other Moomin themed places that you can find around the world include: Moomin cafes, Moomin Ice Cave, Art Museums and of course Moomin shops.
Moomins really started booming in the 1990s after the Japanese animation series aired. This is the same time when the first Teema shaped Moomin mugs by Arabia Finland were made. Most recently Moomin characters has been expanding Moomin brand in the United States. 2025 is the 80th anniversary of Moomin.
Did you know that The Walt Disney Company tried to buy Moomin, but the offer was turned down?
