2022 Magazine
Produced by Rights & Brands together with Moomin Characters Ltd Images ©Moomin Characters™ Lehtikuva / Reino Loppinen Licensees as stated 04 Greeting from R&B CEO Patrick Ullman reflects on the Moomin business 06 Moomin 8o Looking ahead to the 80th anniversary of the Moomins in 2025 08 Moomin by Arabia in Norway Read about the success story behind Moomin by Arabia in Norway 10 Reading, writing and the Moomins initiative Several charitable organisations have cooperated with Moomin Characters around the initiative 14 The Brand dashboard and key numbers Find out how we are developing our use of data to build the brand 16 Awards Here are some of the most suc cesful products of the last year 18 Special collaborations Read about Internationalcollaborationsmoomin.com’swithAmnestyandMuurla 20 New publishing Picture book and novelty formats are lovely ways to enthuse new and young readers 66 Product gallery See and read about the lat est Moomin products from across the globe 68 Audio New interesting podcast as well as a whole new audio identity for Moomin 70 Games There are several exciting Moomin games under de velopment at the moment 72 TV & Theatre Season 3 of the Moomin valley tv series is here as well as exciting new theatre productions 74 Tove Jansson news New digital festivalanniversariesplatforms,andtheTove Texts Rights & Brands Moomin Characters Ltd Design Kobra Agency Printing Göteborgstryckeriet AB 76 Exhibitions New exhibitons in Finland and elsewhere 80 ABC at Eden The ABC exhibition at the Eden Project in the UK 82 The Moomin brand An introduction to and overview of the Moomin brand 88 Original titles An overview of the original Moomin books 92 Artwork An overview of licensable Moomin artworks 94 New Brand assets and tools Several new assets are available for licensees 96 Moomin timeline Explore the nearly 80 year history of the Moomins Content MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022
MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022
R&B Greeting / Patrick Ullman 4 MOOMIN M AGAZINE | 2022
About exposure and brand: a Moomin brand dashboard is under development and it will soon be shared with licensees. The dashboard will integrate and unify data about social me dia following, online sales and website visitors per country. The brand dashboard will also in clude brand awareness metrics and a timeline of upcoming events. Read more about this val uable asset on page 14.
It seems only yesterday we produced the first magazine and here we are, two years later! We have lived through the pandemic and now we are all facing the challenges of the war in Ukraine. At Rights & Brands and Moomin Characters, we have been acting in support of the Ukrainian people, donating to UNICEF and supporting publishing initiatives with free books for children who have had to flee their home. I believe many of our licensees have done the same, and for this, we thank you
Another essential part of the Moomin uni verse and values is nature, ever-present in the books and artwork, but also in the products you create – the outdoor category is expand ing and becoming richer and more diverse. The power of nature and the strive to preserve it for generations to come is an important part of the mission of both Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands. We are building a struc tured approach to sustainability, where we will strive to maximise our positive impact, minimize our negative impact, and compen sate for any other impact that the Moomin brand, its products and events have on the environment. We are not experts, but we are doing our best to build a long-term and global approach. We will keep you updated on how we are doing and how you may contribute.
The ABC project, Reading, Writing and the Moomins also forms an important part of the positive impact we want to have on the world. We are very happy to see how the interest for more territories to join Read Hour is spreading through our network and the originally Finn ish success is now gaining traction in Sweden and the UK and premiering this September in Norway – all thanks to our devoted partners and Therepublishers.issomuch more to tell – the nomina tion of Skultuna’s exclusive brass and silver figurines at the Licensing International Ex cellence Awards, the release of Moominval ley season 3, the re-opening of the Moomin Park in Japan, the Moomin playground at Junibacken in Stockholm, the Tove Jansson festival in Reykjavik, the updated Moomin Mediabank and seasonal artwork releases, up coming anniversaries… Please turn the page and enjoy the Moomin Magazine!
All the Patrickbest,Ullman CEO, Rights & Brands
Finally, and again, our sincerest thank you for being part of the Moomin family and making all of this happen.
Thesedeeply.events have had a big impact on busi ness in general. In many countries, the shift went from in-store to online sales more or less overnight. Overseas transport has been chal lenging and expensive, the lack of paper and components has slowed down deliveries and manufacturing. And yet – the Moomin busi ness shows record-breaking numbers with many of our licensees reporting their best sales ever.
Welcome to the third issue of the Moomin Magazine! MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 5
R&B Greeting / Patrick Ullman
Evidently, with a growing business comes larger responsibilities, and Moomin Char acters is committed to donating at least 1% of its turnover to charitable causes. Over the last couple of years, we have, together with our licensees, donated over 1 million euros to John Nurminen Foundation’s work to save the Baltic Sea and over 1 million GBP to wom en and children in need through Oxfam UK.
To quote Little My: “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”. You did just that, in many cre ative, agile, and smart ways, and the outcome was tremendous! You will find some interest ing case studies in this issue showing the work of some of our most visionary licensees. We thank you for the devotion and passion you continue to show for the Moomins. It’s clear that the brand values – friendship, fam ily, home – are as important and attractive as ever. These values are clearly showing through the products, some of which you will find beautifully displayed in the mid-section of this magazine.
The Moomin 80th Anniversary 6 MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022
Looking ahead to Moomin 80
In 2025 The Moomins turn 80. For the anniversary year we’ve decided to turn our focus back on where it all began: 80 years ago at the end of the Second World War when Tove Jansson’s first story about the Moomins was published. In this first story: The Moomins and the Great Flood, we follow two trolls, Moominmamma and her son Moomintroll. They’re lost. We follow them on a dangerous journey as they travel through dark forests and across stormy seas in search of shelter and in search of the missing Moominpappa.
The door to the Moominhouse is always open to all strange creatures that might come knocking. For the Moomins family is a flexi ble concept. On the journey they’ve adopted the little creature Sniff. Others will follow. The mischievous little My, the nomadic Snufkin, the charming Snorkmaiden. Each with their own distinct personality, each with their own way of living and viewing the world and each with their own faults. The house offers shelter, comfort and security to all that seek it – and it is in essence this that enables the Moomins and their extended family to courageously venture out into the world on all of their ad ventures, to take risks and to be free, safe in the knowledge that at the end of the journey they have a place to return to, a place they can call home, a place where they belong.
To be happy you have to feel you belong, but in Moominvalley you don’t need to fit in to be long. Each character is welcomed as they are and accepted for who they are. That’s the story we want to tell for Moomin 80. A story about belonging and inclusiveness. A very Moomin story. We will be offering our partners and licensees new anniversary marks and artworks as well as slogans and other communication assets. Several major projects for the anniversary year are already in the works and we look for ward to adding more as we approach 2025.
The Moomin 80th Anniversary MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 7
And to be happy you have to feel you belong. You have to feel valued and accepted. You have to feel you’re part of something great er than yourself. These are universal needs, timeless needs. They are as true today as they were in 1945.
How terribly relevant this story feels today 80 years later as millions flee their homes in search of safety. At the end of the book they are reunited with Moominpappa and after a great flood, they finally arrive in a small valley more beautiful than anything they’ve seen before. There, in the midst of the meadow is a house, tall as a stove, very elegant and painted blue. It may not be the finest house in the world but for the Moomin family this house is the most beauti ful one they could ever have hoped for. The house is of course the Moominhouse and it stands at the centre of what will become Moominvalley. And it’s much more than just a house. It really is the foundation upon which the Moomin family build their whole way of life and the starting point for all their future adventures.
The In the Mountains mug was released ex clusively in Norway in August 2021, and it was available until the end of the year. In 2021, 10 NOK per sold mug was donated to Norway’s local Save the Children association. The aim of the campaign was to support children’s rights and equality, highlighting friendship and well-being in particular. Fans outside of Norway could buy the mug through the moomin.com webshop.
Special Moomin Norway mug A concrete focal point for the cooperation be tween Rights & Brands and Fiskars was the launch of a unique Moomin Mug for the Nor wegian market, which was a success, accord ing to Janicke Norberg Rydning.
“All in all, we think it’s important that the product is carefully thought through and fits the market. For example, with the In the Mountains mug, we answered the request from the Norwegian market and made a mug especially for the Norwegian Moomin fans. Of course, we also had the distribution and 3rd party partners with us making this suc cess story happen. They contributed to the success by, for example, the marketing in their channels, engaged employees and great in-store executions. The cooperation led to Fiskars winning product of the year prizes at two of its largest retail customers selling Moomin by Arabia. We also had a strong fo cus on our side on marketing, PR and sto rytelling – and bringing the stories to life,” Janicke Norberg Rydning concludes.
In Norway, like in the other Nordic countries, the interest in Moomin is big and growing. As many as 97% of Norwegians know Moomin, according to the latest Moomin brand aware ness barometer by Rights & Brands. Fiskars, on the other hand, is one of the oldest Moom in licensees. The partnership started in the 1950s, and Tove Jansson herself was involved from the beginning. Long presence in the market Fiskars has a long history in the Norwegian market with well-known and high-quality products with a long heritage. Over the years, Fiskars’ committed brand-building efforts have resulted in a strong distribution network and long-term local relationships with key trade partners including gardening, creating, cooking and tableware products. According to Janicke Norberg Rydning, Marketing Acti vation Manager at Fiskars, adding Moomin to the portfolio of brands and product categories sold in the Norwegian market was a natural next “Thestep.Moomin by Arabia collection has attract ed growing interest from Norwegian consum ers. Of course, a big part of this is related to the wonderful Moomin stories, the variety of characters and the uniqueness of the Moom in world created by Tove Jansson. Moomin by Arabia products have brought these stories to life in high-quality design items that can ac company you in your daily life for many years - we know that consumers value design and quality, and Norway is not an exception. The combination of Moomin stories and the high quality of Fiskars products is a unique prop osition, and we hope it will attract consumers also in the future. We also succeeded in sell ing our iconic Fiskars scissors decorated with Moomin designs”, Norberg Rydning says.
Building together: the success story behind Moomin by Arabia in Norway
“The combination of Moomin stories and the high quality of Fiskars products is a unique proposition”
Since 2018, Fiskars’ Moomin business in Norway has grown by 40%, and stands for as much as two-thirds of all Moomin products sold in the country. The key to it all lies within cooper ation between the IP owner Moomin Characters, master agent Rights & Brands and longtime Moomin licensee Fiskars.
Qvisten Animation has successfully po sitioned itself as the Nordic supplier of high-quality animation for nearly 30 years. The new company’s first partner will be the Aukrust Foundation, the proprietor of the multitalented author and illustrator Kjell Aukrust. Aukrust is perhaps best known out side of Norway for his creation Flåklypa and its characters Solan and Ludvig.
In Focus / Fiskars
The In the Mountains mug illustrations are based on Tove Jansson’s comic strip story Conscientious Moomin from 1958 and Moomin Builds a New Life from 1956.
New Rights & Brands Norway established The Norwegian licensing business has grown fast in the last couple of years. To manage the success and meet the growing demand, the Moomin master-agent recently partnered up with Qvisten Animation to establish Rights & Brands “NorwegianNorway.nature, literature and brands have spiked international interest for years, and this, together with the fact that the Nor wegian licensing business has grown by over 40% in the last couple of years, is a perfect fit with Rights & Brands’ vision to take Scandi navian brands to a global arena”, CEO Patrick Ullman at Rights & Brands comments.
Kristin Tjulander, Nordic Commercial Di rector at Rights & Brands, has been involved in building the Norwegian Moomin market.
“Essentially, it’s all about using the underlying potential of a market. We at Rights & Brands started building the market with many inter esting openings, and then Fiskars boosted the growth in the market, driving the business through a strong presence in retail and con sequently building awareness for the Moomin portfolio. We found a distributor in Norway and brought in our big Finnish and Swedish licensees, who started creating lovely Moom in concepts within retail”, Tjulander says.
Future full of possibilities Norway has been a great success story for Moomin, Fiskars and Rights & Brands, and the adventure there is just beginning. Speaking of adventure, there are a few other countries that show the same signs of Moomin demand bub bling under as Norway did. They are the UK, Poland, Germany, China and the USA. Hence, the obvious Moominous question is: “Now, guess what happens after this?”
Tove Jansson loved nature, and her passion for outdoor life is visible in her illustrations.
“For example, the Moomin tour organised to gether to support the launch was a great expe rience and boosted the visibility of Moomins –who wouldn’t want to hug a Moomintroll? We hope that there will be even more events and initiatives to spread the Moomin philosophy in the future, as we see that the consumers get attracted to the storytelling even more than to the commercial acts.”
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“As many as 97% of knowNorwegiansMoomin” In Focus / Fiskars 9 MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022
Spreading the love of reading and writing around the world
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News / ABC - Charitable initiatives
The UNICEF walk is a sports event for schools, which allows pupils in Finland to support the rights of the most vulnerable children. This school year, the Moomins marched in the UNICEF walk materials for reading and writing skills.
The Emotion generator (Tunnevekotin) is an online learning material produced by UNICEF Finland to practice emotional skills and multi-literacy. With the Emotion gener ator, children can write letters to their loved ones and express their feelings with the help of Moomin animations.
Friendship skills with the Moomins – invaluable life skills for children How can I get to know someone, and will I be as nervous as Moomintroll? What should I do if I have an argument with a friend? Why do some people like to play by them selves more than others? These are some of the things that small schoolchildren think about. Friendship skills are developed through practice, repetition and experience. Schools and preschools are excellent places to support the development of children’s friendship skills. In the Friendship skills with the Moomins (Kaveritaitoja Muumien tapaan) learning material produced by the Red Cross, the Moomin characters intro duce children to friendship skills through functional games, animations as well as mindfullness and discussion exercises.
Scan the QR code to read more about the ABC initiative!
Moomin ABC range in Oxfam shops To support the Moomin ABC initiative and raise money for Oxfam’s work to tack le poverty and inequality, the internation al charity is selling a range of co-branded products in its high street shops in the UK and the Oxfam Online Shop.
Many teachers have told the Red Cross that there is a great need to discuss friendship skills and friendship even with very small children. The Friendship skills with the Moomins entity was created to meet this clear demand. It is based on a Friendship skills programme intended for young peo ple, which was produced by the Red Cross in cooperation with MIELI Mental Health Finland. Friendship skills with the Moomins has also attracted interest abroad, and the Japanese Red Cross Society will be adopting it soon. The entity has also been provided to other Red Cross societies in the Nordics.
In the academic year 2021-2022, Moomin Characters donates 0.50 euros to UNICEF Finland for each child participating in the UNICEF walk, thus also encouraging stu dent sponsors to donate. Over 190,000 stu dents have already taken part in the UNICEF walk this school year. The Moomin collabo ration has received very positive feedback from the teachers.
Unicef cooperation inspired children and teachers
Since last year, Oxfam has also worked with the Finnish multi-beverage compa ny Olvi. Olvi donates 0,02€ for every litre of Moomin Water sold to support Oxfam’s life-changing clean water projects.
Several charitable organisations have cooperated with Moomin Characters around the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative.
All of the Moomin products sold in Oxfam shops help raise money for the charity’s life-changing work to beat poverty around the world, and every year Moomin Char acters generously offers to match funding during a promotional period, doubling the money raised for Oxfam with every Moom in product sale. To launch the new ABC product range in Oxfam shops in November 2021, the promotion raised nearly £8,000 thanks to Moomin Characters’ donation.
The past year has involved several Moomi nous activities supporting the Red Cross. Moomin by Arabia and the Red Cross collab orate globally on an initiative that celebrates friendship and being kind to each other. The result is a charity collection including mugs, bowls and plates illustrated with Tove Jans son’s original drawings for the Red Cross from 1963. As part of the initiative, people around the world are encouraged to perform small acts of kindness for one another.
News / ABC - Charitable initiatives MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 11
Red Cross encouragecollaborationskindacts
On Valentine’s Day 2022, The Finnish Red Cross, together with Finlayson and Moom in Characters, organised the campaign #TacklingLonelinessDay to remind us that we can all do our part in reducing loneliness. Volunteers handed out Moomin postcards and shared information about the Red Cross Friend activities. A part of the profit from Finlayson’s line with Tove Jansson’s illustra tions was also donated to support Red Cross activities to tackle loneliness.
Read Hour – Join us and celebrate reading
As one solution to this pressing problem, the Children and Youth Foundation organises the Read Hour campaign to celebrate reading, in spire especially children and young people to read and spark conversation about the impor tance of literacy. We believe that a key factor in Read Hour’s success is the philosophy behind the cam paign: the positive approach. Especially when it comes to children and young people, preaching about the benefits of reading is not going to work. Instead, we need to show how fun and entertaining reading is and let the youth see that the whole society around them is reading and appreciating it. The positive undertone has helped us gath er a great network around the initiative, now also outside of Finland. Together with one of the campaign’s first main partners, Moomin Characters, we have brought Read Hour to the UK, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Estonia. We are very grateful for all the help and support the Moomins have given to the campaign. Without the Moomins we would not be where we are today. Also, it has been an extremely fun journey with them. Our campaign slogan is simple: Read more. Please join #ReadHour Stina Heikkilä Executive Producer for Read Hour, The Children and Youth Foundation Read Hour UK Read Hour’s inaugural year in the UK was a great success. Hundreds of schools took part and we achieved a potential social media reach in the UK of 16 million, with celebrities such as Jennifer Saunders, Baroness Benjamin, Cressida Cowell and Eoin Colfer lending their Thissupport.year we’re building on our success and looking to create long-term partnerships alongside an extended events programme. As part of this, we’re creating an ‘Author Ad vocate’ scheme to foster mutually beneficial relationships with authors in the UK, with best-selling children’s authors Sam Sedge men and Chris Smith already signed up. We will also be looking to continue our work with the 26 UK literacy organisations that sup ported Read Hour in 2021 with planning for events and collaborations already underway. Stay tuned, share your best reading tips and encourage everybody to join on social media with hashtags #ReadHour and #ReadHourUK.
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For the fourth time, we at the Finnish Chil dren and Youth Foundation want to bring schools, daycares, libraries, workplaces, fami lies and friends together to celebrate reading. Read Hour is a campaign that aims to inspire everyone to read for an hour on UN’s Interna tional Literacy Day, the 8th of September. Finland is internationally known as the prom ised land of literacy. However, we are in a sit uation where 12.5 % of the youth aged 12–15 risks getting marginalised because of their lacking reading and writing skills. Decreased literacy among children and youth is a wide concern with many societal risks.
“Our Readslogancampaignissimple:more.”
Läsrörelsen (Reading Movement) coordinates Read Hour in Sweden on the 8th of September. The association has organised significant, na tionwide initiatives to spark a love of reading, ever since it was founded at the Gothenburg Book Fair, using the slogan “Give your chil dren a language” over 22 years ago. We also launched Läslovet in 2015 – rebrand ing Autumn break at schools as Reading Break – and one year later, the Swedish government joined in. Already in the network around Reading Break, there are over 80 partners who will engage in Read Hour. We organise Read Hour with the support of the Swedish teacher foundation, Lärarstiftelsen. Our ambition is to engage hundreds of Read ing Role Models – of all ages and backgrounds – in Read Hour. From August, we will high light them on our web page, social media, and full-page ads in newspapers. The ultimate goal is to raise awareness of the importance of reading and spark a desire to read – may it be with eyes, ears or fingers. This year, UN Literacy Day on the 8th of September also happens to occur three days before the Swedish general election on the 11th of Sep Pleasetember.join us and post your reading activities on social media with #ReadHourSverige and #ReadHour for international visibility.
News / ABC - Charitable initiatives
Elisabet Reslegård www.lasrorelsen.nuFöreningenChairpersonLäsrörelsen
Read Hour in Sweden
Reaching thousands of children in Malawi and Zimbabwe PEN Malawi cooperates with four schools and will directly reach and engage with a hundred students. Additionally, several thousand more will be reached through the one thousand copies of the book, which is distributed countrywide through sales.
“This is a pilot program that we hope will grow. It will be used to address literacy and children’s rights and promote the enjoyment of reading and creativity in local communi ties. We are really interested in having The Invisible Child in mother tongue education, especially in the early years. PEN supports the policy that the mother tongue should be the medium of instruction in schools.”
Inspiring students to share their concerns
“The story has a very strong human interest. In Sierra Leone, a good number of children are not brought up by their biological par ents because of poverty and lack of opportu nities for social mobility in the hinterland.”
“The Sierra Leone Krio is an English oriented tonal language. When slavery was abolished, slaves were freed and settled in Freetown –the capital of Sierra Leone. They came from the West Indies and other places with some kind of English. The language which was adopted was a potpourri of English, laced with vocabulary items from the indigenous populations – for example from some Nige rian languages such as Yorub, Igbo and many others. The written Krio was a partial adap tation of English as the substratum, laced or spiced from a wide linguistic area. The Sierra Leone Krio has words derived from French, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin etc. The writing system is based on the English alphabet and sound system, with a few changes and ad aptations. It also carries the cultural load of some of the other languages which contrib ute to it. In Sierra Leone, it is considered the Lingua Franca and is among the indigenous languages taught in schools.”
According to Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson’s niece and President of the Board at Moomin Characters, The Invisible Child is one of Tove Jansson’s most well-known and loved stories, and thus was a natural fit for this project.
“The Invisible Child is very much about somebody who’s been made invisible by mal treatment and then becomes visible through the care and love of the Moomin family and then finally gets the courage to actually help someone else.”
Part of Moomin reading initiative Moomin Characters has supported PEN Inter national since 2018 and sponsored the organ isation’s centenary last year. The current co operation is a part of the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative to spark a love for read ing and writing, especially amongst children.
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– Can you tell us a bit about the Krio language and its cultural significance?
In Sierra Leone, five schools have been se lected to participate in the project. They will promote a reading culture, critical thinking and creative writing using the theme of The Invisible Child. The schools include those in hard-to-reach areas of Sierra Leone.
In Zimbabwe, five schools are participat ing, reaching two hundred students directly and several thousand more young readers through book sales and distribution.
Ann Serlef, Principle of Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) School in Si erra Leone, comments: ’’FAWE is an all-girls school where girls don’t tend to share or complain about their prob lems easily, fearing that they may be targets or humiliated by other people, including par ents or guardians. By translating, publishing and distributing this Moomin story, we can inspire our students to share their concerns and change their thinking methods. The pro ject will add value to the social discussions and extra-curricular activities at the school, thanks to its valuable human rights framework. ”
Jennifer Clement, President Emerita of PEN International, calls the story a “classic with an extraordinary message”.
Nathaniel Pearce translated Tove Jans son’s iconic short story The Invisible Child into Krio for PEN Sierra Leone. Accord ing to him, there’s not a lot of literature in Krio apart from the Bible, which makes this translation all the more important for sus taining the language.
– What is the importance of this kind of translation project for the Krio language community? “It helps to keep the language alive and to further impress on its written value. Cultur ally, it will not only enhance the visibility of the Krio people but also its beauty and the value of the language itself.”
PEN International translates The Invisible Child into indigenous languages With the support of Moomin Characters, PEN International has translated Tove Jansson’s iconic short story The Invisible Child into three indigenous African languages, which largely rely on storytelling to survive. In this first round of translations, the languages are Chichewa, spoken in Malawi, Krio, spoken in Sierra Leone and Shona in Zimbabwe.
News / ABC - Charitable initiatives
– How do you think the story of The Invis ible Child will resonate with the students and teachers who will get access to it now through this project?
The story will be a welcomed addition to the supplementary reading resources for school children since it is available in the wide ly-spoken Krio language.
“The importance of promoting girls’ educa tion and for community support in promoting respect for their rights is at the centre of PEN Sierra Leone’s work. The Invisible Child is a welcome resource to help frame the needed awareness dialogue”, Serlef continues.
According to Nduko o’Matigere, Africa Re gional Coordinator at PEN International, all local PEN Centres are excited to have the translated print copy of The Invisible Child PEN has established working relationships with numerous schools in all three coun tries and is collecting feedback from stu dents and teachers.
“Because of this seeming inequality, parents in the hinterland send their children to friends and relatives who reside in the big towns. The pasture is not always green in these locations and children with proxy parents suffer what Ninni goes through in the story. It is not a strange story, and told in the humorous way it is done, it will resonate well, especially for the positive Moomin family with a matronal char acter like Moominmamma.”
children“Many in Sierra Leone suffer what Ninni through”goes
While it is impossible to capture the full poten tial of the Moomin brand purely via data, the goal is to incorporate as many data points as possible to support our licensees in develop ing their products and serving the worldwide Moomin community. If you are interested in seeing the dashboard and accessing the data within, please contact your Account Manag er at Rights & Brands. We are looking forward to helping you grow and reach Moomin fans worldwide with the support of this data infra structure platform.
“Data is storytelling with numbers”
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The Moomin brand / Brand dashboard
New Moomin Brand Dashboard helps licensees make informed decisions
It is a known fact that high-quality and rele vant data is an important asset in making de cisions and forecasting future trends. In 2022, Moomin Characters has decided to build an integrated brand dashboard that will unify different data streams to provide an overview of the status of the brand, both worldwide and in specific territories. Data points that will be accessible include so cial media following, online sales, and website visitors per country, as well as brand aware ness metrics, a timeline of upcoming cultural events, physical locations around the world, and much more. The dashboard is being built
in cooperation with Reaktor and will provide valuable insights in an accessible format.
Take a look at our key numbers MOOMINPUBLISHINGLICENSEDPRODUCTSTHEME PARKS TV SERIESSHOPS & CAFÉS E-COMMERCE SOCIAL MEDIA FEATURE FILM MOBILE GAME MoominvalleyMoominworld,FinlandPark,Japan Published in over 55 languages New titles annuallyadded Working with Rovio to launch a series of mobile gamesGlobal e-comm as well as UK and Germany specific e-comm channels Over 1 million Moomin fans across all social channels 3 Seasons of the Moominvalley series broadcast in over 50 countries Over 800 annuallicenseesMoominacrosstheglobe665000000€retailvalue Over 35 shops and cafés globally The Moomin brand / Key numbers MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 15
Every year, Licensing International shines a spotlight on the innovation and accomplish ments within the licensing industry world wide at the only global Licensing Excellence Awards. For the first time in two years, there was a physical awards ceremony in Las Vegas on May 23rd, the day before Licensing Expo Las Vegas opened. Skultuna was selected as a finalist among hundreds of submitted nominations. Their Moomin figurines, a collaboration with Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands, have been highly popular among consumers, selling out within one hour from the launch.
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For 37 years, the Licensing International Ex cellence Awards have served as the pinnacle of achievement in the global brand licensing industry. This year, Swedish brass producer Skultuna was selected as a finalist in the cate gory Home Décor for their gold-plated Moom in steel figurines.
Skultuna’s Moomin figurines nominated for award
The nomination for Skultuna in the Home Décor category in the 2022 Licensing Interna tional Excellence Awards reads: “Skultuna was founded in 1607 by King Karl IX in Sweden as a royal brass producer. Since 2021, Skultuna has been an official Moomin partner and this series of Moomin gold-plated steel figu rines was developed in close contact with Moom in Characters Ltd. The first Skultuna x Moom in series was released in April 2021, and since then, Skultuna has continued to grow the set by continuously adding more characters. The collection was one of Skultuna’s most successful launches ever, and every piece was sold out with in one hour after launching.”
News / Awards
prestigeous
At the Moomin Licensee Day held in Helsinki in May 2022, Rights & Brands wanted to high light licensees who have done outstanding work in different categories. Here are the five categories, the winners and the motivations.
Best Growth: Muurla Combining its minimalistic design with true storytelling from Moominvalley, the company has become one of the most important ambas sadors of the Moomin values. With a laser focus on improving both sales and processes, Muurla has achieved a strong position in both Finland and internationally and despite Corona, royal ties have doubled over the past three years.
Best Growth: Muurla
Best product:Sustainable Delipap
News / Awards
Winners of the R&B awards at the Moomin Licensee Day
Rising Star: Nordic Buddies
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Best Design: Skultuna
Rising Star: Nordic Buddies
The Publishing Award: WSOY, Finland for the Moomin Nature Book series, best design Moomin non-fiction. Classic Moomin artwork and quotes com bined with biologically accurate facts and pictures of flora and fauna bring together the nature-loving and sustainable Moomin values in a creative, yet traditional way in a stylish Nordic publishing collection. Hemulen’s Her barium has also been nominated as one of the most beautiful books in Finland in 2020. Finn ish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian and Estoni an translations are already available.
Best Design: Skultuna
Publishing Award: WSOY - The Moomin Nature Book
This company started working with the Moomins only three years ago. With a finetuned combination of colour, design and artwork, Nordic Buddies has taken everyday apparel to a higher level. Through extremely active and focused sales activities, they have had tremendous success and increased their royalties by +100% annually, making them stand out from all competition.
It was only one year ago that this company launched their first collection with Moomin. The launch was an immediate success and all products sold out within one hour. A year later the collection has grown and the company is continuously adding more Moomin characters.
Best Sustainable product: Delipap Delipap started working with the Moomin brand 30 years ago when they asked Tove Jans son herself if they could use Moomin on their product. Last year their product became 100% carbon neutral. The cellulose they use comes from 100% FSC-certified forests and they use only renewable solar and water power in their production. Their products are developed and produced at their own factory in Finland.
As a global movement of more than ten mil lion people in over 150 countries and terri tories, Amnesty International is the world’s largest grassroots human rights organisation. Amnesty International investigates and ex poses abuse, educates and mobilizes the pub lic, and helps transform societies to create a safer, more just world.
“These illustrations by Tove Jansson were not only lovely works by a great artist but also a reflection of the values she held dear. These values are very much in line with what Am nesty International is known for: a belief that things can change for the better if we act together in solidarity and hope to fight against the world’s injustices,” says Roleff Kråkström, Managing Director at Moomin Characters Ltd.
“One of the most visible signs of hope is the candle, which brings light where and when it is needed. What better way to celebrate the Moomin spirit and the hope of Amnesty’s mis sion than to light a candle,” Augusta Quiney, Head of the Art for Amnesty programme be hind the partnership at Amnesty Internation al comments. “We hope that this collection, based on some beautiful images created by Tove Jansson, captures that spirit.”
Products chosen with sustainability in mind
News / Amnesty x Moomin MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 18
Amnesty x Moomin collection raises funds for human rights
To celebrate Amnesty Interna tional’s 60th tional’srecognitionoforganisation.togetherderfulMoomin.comanniversary,launchedawonMoominproductrangewiththehumanrightsThecentralthemethecollectionisacandle,inofAmnestyInternaiconiclogo.
The collection consists of clothes and home ware – for example shirts, a candle, a match box case and water bottles. 10% of the proceeds from the collection goes towards Amnesty’s global human rights work. All of the products of the collabora tion were chosen with sustainabil ity in mind. For example, the tote bag and shirts by Pure Waste are all made responsibly in India of 100% recycled raw materials. Costo’s beanie is made of mulesing-free me rino wool in Finland. Tove Jansson donated pictures to Amnesty in the 1980s Throughout the 1980s Tove Jansson, together with her brother Lars, col laborated with various organizations with whom she shared common values. One of these organizations was Amnesty International’s Finn ish section, to which Tove donated pictures of the Moomins illustrating hope, justice and diversity. These il lustrations have been much distrib uted and loved by people ever since.
The “Better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness” collection features apparel and homeware with Tove Jansson’s illustration of Moomintroll holding a lit candle. The im age was chosen in recognition of Amnesty International’s world-famous logo – a candle burning inside barbed wire. Accordingly, the collection is entitled “Better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness,” in honour of an ancient Chinese proverb often invoked by Amnesty’s founder Peter Benenson
– Muurla’s Moomin Summer collection
“The collaboration is a prime example of what can be achieved when combining two teams with strong expertise – Muurla’s product de sign and Moomin.com’s storytelling”, Muur la’s product designer Jonna Närhi says.
The Midsummer collection consists of some of Muurla’s best-selling products: an enamel mug, a glass bottle, a vase and two chopping boards – all wrapped in midsummer magic.
19News / Muurla x Moomin Shop
“The project gave me a lot of inspiration to tru ly dive into the themes found in the Moomin stories. Through product design, we can high light these themes and values and make new Moomin products even more meaningful.”
Each product tells a part of the book’s story: the vase with Snorkmaiden picking flowers reminds its users of midsummer’s magic, whereas one of the chopping boards high lights the importance of having a safe place to return to after an exciting adventure.
Storytelling as a part of the design process
What happens when the team at Moomin.com gets to ask long-time Moomin licensee Muurla for anything? A wonderful collection based on Tove Jansson’s beloved book Moominsummer Madness Muurla’s! design team dived into the book to build a collection that would showcase Tove Jansson’s original illustrations and appeal to the Moomin fans. To ensure the success of the collection, the entire collection was designed hand-in-hand with the marketing and launch plans. As a part of the design process, the teams from Muurla and Moomin.com got to gether to plan how to utilize storytelling in the design and marketing of the collection.
The Moomin Summer collection by Muurla is inspired by Tove Jansson’s beautiful story Moominsummer Madness. The collection is created exclusively for the Moomin Shops.
Finnish design combined with high-quality materials
The long-time Moomin licensee Muurla is known for its high-quality products which combine Finnish design with decades of pro duction expertise. Muurla creates timeless and eye-catching products for every home using carefully selected materials, such as Finnish wood, high-quality glass and durable enamel. The design inspiration comes from nature, different seasons and from the desire to meet the demands of everyday use.
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Over time, there have been many adaptions of the Moomins in different formats. In the nineties, there was an infamous change of the characters’ colours in animations and comic magazine adaptations, and storylines took a very different route from what Tove Jansson had set out in the universe she created.
Moomin novels and picture books are true classics that stay relevant for a wide read ership with their timeless themes of family, friendship, respect for nature, the lust for ad venture and the safe haven of a home. Moom in Characters and Rights & Brands, together with trusted master publishers, are constantly adding new books and formats based on the original Moomin works to reach new genera tions and let them find their own way to the world of the Moomins.
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Going back to the originals When Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson’s niece and Lars Jansson’s daughter, joined Moom in Characters Oy Ltd in 1997, she quickly de cided to stop the uncontrolled development of the brand and went back to the basics, back to the originals. As Creative Director, Sophia Jansson kept a very clear structure for the new development of books: all stories and artwork must be based on the originals or be very closely connected to the themes and values of the Moomin brand itself. So phia Jansson says: ”Though the Moomin books are for all ages, for the youngest of listeners and readers, there is room for easier adaptations based on the original stories to work as an introduction into the Moomin universe. Hence, new publishing has been a path to the original books.”
The importance of Tove Jansson’s original works in creating new publishing
Bestselling Moomin baby, picture book and novelty ranges by Puffin Puffin is a long-standing partner and master publisher of the Moomins and the latest edi tion to Puffin’s much-loved picture book and novelty formats is an innovative and contem porary baby range. Targeted at the premium gift market and created in correspondence with a baby’s developmental needs, readers have responded very well to the baby’s first chance to get to know the Moomins.
ABC, Reading Writing and the Moomins by Otava Publishing
Bonnier Carlsen and the “back to Tove” range As of 2018, the Swedish publisher Bonnier Carlsen is developing a picture book range introducing the world of Moominvalley, its characters and values to young readers who might not yet be familiar with the Moomins.
Anna Lawrence, Nordic Rights Director at Rights & Brands, comments: “All new development work is done in close col laborations with the approvals team, from syn opses and first sketches to final texts, illustra tions, and layout. We are very particular about the fact that new publishing is adaptations of the Moomin universe, never extending it or changing existing stories and frameworks. We would never allow new novels to be created, but the picture book and novelty formats are lovely ways to enthuse new and young readers.”
Based on the concept Reading, Writing and the Moomins, the literacy-focused project started by Moomin Characters in 2020, Ota va Publishing is developing an ABC program based on letters, numbers and with the vi sion to spark imagination as well as interest in reading. Featuring texts inspired by Tove’s poetic manner, illustrated by beautiful orig inal artwork in vivid colours, the ABC pro gram spans from Onnelliset aakkoset (Happy Moomin Alphabet) to creative knitting books, including activity books and an eclectic nonbooks range.
Werner Söderström’s beautiful non-fiction series Using original illustrations by Tove Jansson, Werner Söderström Ltd in Finland is the first publisher of the masterful nature series of Hemulen’s Herbarium, Snufkin’s Fish Book, and Little My’s Bug Book. The series consists of fact-based guidebooks of the flora, fauna and animals of the northern hemisphere, pre sented with beautiful art and enhanced by Moomin quotes. WSOY has also successfully published a line of Moomin Picture Diction aries, using original art and educational ele ments. Read more about the series on page 22. Moominvalley animation books by Mac millan With an exceptional sense of style and execu tion, Macmillan Children’s Books has turned a TV-tie in concept into a classic picture book format. With its terrific treatment of artwork and stories, the series of books is already a worldwide success.
Different strands of Moomin new publishing Crafted by well-known publishers and their stable of creative authors, illustrators and ed itors, sold internationally by Rights & Brands and its sub-agents, the Moomin new publish ing programs have gained worldwide success.
Popular tales such as Moomin and the Last Dragon, The Invisible Child and The Fir Tree are retold and illustrated by established Swed ish authors and illustrators. The series returns to Tove Jansson’s original storylines and art style using watercolour and ink.
“Picture book and nov elty formats are lovely ways to enthuse new and young readers.”
As a result of this strategy, there are now several Moomin new publishing strands, all clearly separated, while still staying true to the originals and all having the same goal: to lead new readers to Moominvalley, allowing children to get to know the beloved characters and eventually letting them find their way to Tove Jansson’s original and outstanding cre ations.
In Focus / New Publishing
The original Moomin works open many paths for creating new and innovative material. A select group of publishers have been trusted with the mission to develop new publishing, reaching a worldwide audience with their programs. Staying true to the origins of the stories, characters, artwork and Tove Jansson’s original vision is key to both new publishing and the brand itself.
In Focus / New Publishing MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 21
Hemulen’s Herbarium also sheds new light on the Moomin stories: ”In the original Moom in illustrations, the focus is usually on the Moomins and the other characters. But this time, the plants in the background get all of the attention!”, Kaataja rejoices.
“The support from the best experts and illus trations by Anni Pöyhtäri have been invalua ble. The work has been worthwhile: the series has gained praise, and the books have sold well – already over 10 000 pieces. It seems that their popularity continues to grow”, Halkola adds.
Little My’s Bug Book Go on a bug hunt in the footsteps of Little My! The picturesque book brings attention to the modest but irreplaceable organisms of life and their wonderful world. Little My’s Bug Book contains interesting information and classically beautiful drawings of almost two hundred bugs common in Finland. The book goes through the buzzing, fluttering, and Moomin Nature Books – Timeless nature guides for Moomin-loving explorers
Hemulen’s Herbarium, Snufkin’s Fish Book and Little My’s Bug Book are all part of the Moomin Nature Books: a series of beau tiful nifty guidebooks of Nordic flora and fauna; full of facts, quotes and classic Moomin illus trations. All books contain Tove Jansson’s black and white original illustrations as well as quotes on the theme for each title. With precisely drawn old-school illustrations and inspiring anecdotes, these fascinating guides will in spire nature lovers of all ages!
“We put a significant amount of working hours into the Moomin Nature Books. We aimed to combine well-chosen information with Tove Jansson’s spirit; it was a great joy to notice that Jansson’s love for nature is so visible in the original illustrations”, says Paula Halkola, the Howpublisher.wassuch an inventive book series born? “The idea for the first book – and thus for the whole series – was born very naturally: but of course, Hemulen has to have a herbari um! Creating the herbarium was so exciting that we decided to add more information and plants even though it was supposed to be only a fill-in-the-blanks book”, Päivi Kaataja notes.
Hemulen’s Herbarium Explore plants and learn about Finnish na ture together with Hemulen. Here, flowers, grass, forests, and other biotopes are ac companied by classical illustrations.
stinging arthropods – from insects to butter flies and even dragonflies. A theme that charmed the publishing team The Moomin Nature Books also earned WSOY the 2022 Publishing Award at the Moomin Li censee Day.
Hemu len’s Herbarium, made and illustrated with Hemulen’s precision, contains facts about around a hundred common plants in the Nordics. The book also includes instructions on how to dry flowers and blank spreads with space to save your own treasures. The covers can be fastened with beautiful ribbons that keep the treasures in place. ”The book was made so that children – as well as adults! – would get to know the incredibly beautiful nature around us better,” says au thor and editor Päivi Kaataja from WSOY.
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Hemulen’s Herbarium was nominated as one of the most beautiful books in Finland in 2020. Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian and Es tonian translations are already available.
Snufkin’s Fish Book Embark on a fishing trip together with Snufkin and explore the inhabitants of lakes, rivers, and the Baltic Sea! The picture-perfect book is an immense dive into the fantastic under water world. The book contains useful facts and classical drawings of almost a hundred fish common in the Nordics. The book also in cludes information on water food chains, fish behaviour and senses, and the annual cycle under the water surface.
In Focus / New Publishing
The patterns are named after each of the 29 letters in the Finnish alphabet. The Swedish translation of the book will be published in the autumn 2022. The knitting book is a part of the Reading, Writing and the Moomins in itiative, which aims to strengthen the impor tance and joy of reading and writing in the life of children, youth, and adults.
Happy Woollen Socks
The new knitting book by Novita and Otava Publishing is a dream come true for all knitting Moomin fans. Onnelliset villasukat – “Happy woollen socks” is full of Moomin-themed knit ting patterns, designed by well-known Finnish pattern designers. The book includes 29 new Moomin-themed sock designs designed by Novita, using yarns from the Moomin x Novi ta collection. The socks are designed primarily for adult sizes, but with nifty tips, the socks can also be knitted for smaller feet. All models have clear instructions and photo illustrations.
Tiptoe into the wonderful world of the Moom ins in cosy, knitted socks. This crafty sock book takes you on an alphabetical journey into Moominvalley, with familiar characters, places, and letters to match!
– An alphabetic journey into Moominvalley
In
Focus / New Publishing
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MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022
Today, over 800 licensees create Moomin products and events. Firmly rooted in Nordic values, Moomin is to day a truly international brand with a global appeal, attracting audiences across cultural and generational boundaries all over the world. Our licensees range from global stock-listed companies to agile startups and publishing houses, theaters, fashion designers and many more. The visual and storytelling elements are equally well suited for apparel, foods and interior design. Our licensees have shown that Tove Jansson’s art lends itself to both exclusive high end products for an adult audience and easily approachable collections for children. Over the next spreads, we’ll showcase some of the wonderful ways our licensees have used the Moomin brand, which we hope can inspire old and new Moomin licensees and partners alike.
productsMoomin
Moomin product gallery MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 25
Boyhood Category BoyhoodHome is a Danish design compa ny. They design and produce modern design objects deriving from a fantastic boyhood ingenuity. The collections are developed by designer Jakob Burgsø He creates the objects in natural materials of high quality, mainly oak and leather, from a proud Scandinavian tradition of craftsmanship. From autumn 2022 you will be able to find the iconic Moomintroll as an official collectable wooden design item. In the coming three years, Boyhood will launch more collect ible figures of the Moomin family. Country Denmark Products Figurines Website boyhood.dk 26Moomin product gallery 26
creating new col lections and new products is
big part of the House of Disaster brand. They launch new collections at least twice
of Disaster Category HouseAccessoriesofDisaster is a fun and
year and create their own collections as well
working with some selected li censed properties, such as the Moomin. Country United Kingdom Products Homeware, Bags & Accessories Website houseofdisaster.com Moomin product gallery 27
House quirky based in and a a as
accessories and lifestyle brand
the UK. Designing
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Moomin product gallery
Modern House Category
ModernHome House is a part of the Nor weigan company Home Brands, who de signs and develops quality products in all categories for the kitchen and dining room. Their new plates and mugs feature illustrations from Tove Jansson’s book Moominpappa at Sea and are made out of PLA. PLA is a new biodegradable, environmentally friendly biomaterial that consists of plants like corn and wheat. Country Norway Products Dinnerware Website homebrands.no
Arabia Category TheHomeMoomin mugs are known through out the world in the 0.3-litre size. As many consumers have requested a big ger size for the mugs, Arabia introduced the mugs Yellow and Blue in a new big ger size of 0.4 litres in 2021. The mugs Green and Rose were originally launched in 1990. The illustrations on mug Green are based on the comic strip Moomin Begins a New Life (1956), whereas the mug Rose is based on the comic Moom in Falls in Love from the same year. Now, Arabia’s illustrator-ceramist Tove Slotte has rearranged the original design to fit the bigger mug size. Country Finland Products Home Website arabia.fi Moomin product gallery 29
Papu Category PapuApparelclothes come from the happiest country in the world. The key element of their new collection is Tove Jans son’s beautiful illustration The Party, the harmonious colour palette of which is reflected in the sophisticated, yet cheerful atmosphere. The diverse collec tion for women and children includes products made of premium materials. The carefree and positive attitude of the Moomins captures a strong and import ant message that has inspired Papu’s designers. The new Party collection pays homage to the Moomins’ love of life, and the design seeks to remind us that there are always reasons for happiness, even during the most challenging times.
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Moomin product gallery
Country Finland Products Children and women’s clothing Website papudesign.com
The street style brand Nordicbuddies are known for their fun socks and ac cessories, but thye have also launched sweaters and t-shirts with Moomin prints. Nordicbuddies was created out of the need for a Moomin collection for young stylish adults. The children that grew up with the 90s Moomin animation are now adults and fans of Moomin just as their children and parents.
Nordicbuddies Category Apparel & Accessories
Moomin product gallery 31
Country Finland Products Hats, bags, socks, sweaters Website nordicbuddies.com
Reserved Category ReservedApparel is a Polish brand managed by LPP S.A. company – the biggest clothing manufacturer in Central and Eastern Europe. Each year they sell more than 210 000 000 pieces of clothing in over 460 stores worldwide. With their col lections, Reserved strives to meet their customers’ needs in a flash – that’s why they mix classic forms with original in spirations straight from the catwalks, as well as alternative deals from influencers and licensing collaborations. For Moom in, LPP have launched collections with their brands Reserved, Cropp, Sinsay and House, and is continuously releasing new collections. Country Finland Products Women’s apparel Website reserved.com Moomin product gallery 32
Sarpaneva Category Accessories Stepan Sarpaneva designs and manu factures luxury watches in his workshop in Helsinki Cable Factory. Sarpaneva has designed several watches based on the Moomin stories. The newest edition is a handcrafted steel wristwatch with a dial inspired by Tove Jansson’s illustra tion in the book Moominsummer Mad ness (1954). In the original illustration, Moomintroll is seen dreaming among reeds on a summer day. The reeds on the watch dial are hand-painted with Swiss Super-Luminova® emission co lours in varying order, creating unique combinations. Country Finland Products Watches Website sarpanevawatches.com
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Moomin product gallery
Karhu’s latest release was a two-piece sneaker collection where the designs reflect the Moomins’ journey at sea and the rocky island light house where the family eventually lands in the book Moominpappa at Sea. Karhu is one of these sneaker companies that aren’t in it for just the hype. The Finnish brand was established in 1916 and named Karhu in 1920. Karhu (= Finnish for bear) is a classic running shoe com pany famous for world-class running trainers on tracks around the globe.
Country Finland Products Sneakers Website karhu.com
Karhu Category SneakerAccessoriesmaker
Moomin product gallery MobilePay Category ThisDigitalspring MobilePay and Moomin joined forces and three cute Moomin wrappings including Moomintroll, Snorkmaiden and Little My with Moominmam ma were made available for MobilePay’s over 6 million users in Denmark and TheFinland.MobilePay Gift is a unique and fully mobile way to buy, send and receive giftcards and money gifts. Gifts can be taylored with your own message and wrapping animation. Country Finland Products Digital stickers Website mobilepay.fi 34
Skultuna was founded in 1607 by King Karl IX as a royal brass producer. Still active today, Skultuna is a leading premium brand in interior design and in fashion accessories. Skultuna is an official Moomin partner, and this series has been developed in close contact with Moomin Characters Ltd. The first SKULTUNA x MOOMIN set was released in the spring of 2021, and since then Skultuna has continued to grow the set, adding more characters such as the Hattifatteners.
Category SkultunaHome
Country Sweden Products Figurines Website skultuna.com Moomin product gallery 35
Moomin product gallery 36
Country Denmark Products ABC tableware Website rig-tig.com
RIG-TIG Category RIG-TIGHomewareisDanish for “just right”, and that’s the philosophy behind their prod ucts. RIG-TIG’s #MoominABC collection consists of tableware with beautiful illustrations. The collection is specially developed for the tiny hands and fingers of children and the alphabet used in RIG-TIG’s collection is based on Tove Jansson’s original lettering. The cup comes in 26 versions, each with a letter from A to Z and an illustration of one of the beloved characters from the Moomin stories on the side of the cup.
Finlayson Category #TacklingLonelinessDayHome is a Red Cross campaign that reminds us that we can all do our part in reducing loneliness around us. As a part of the campaign, Finlayson launched a new, beautiful range of Moomin products. The designs of the new products are based on the illustrations Tove Jansson drew for theFinnish Red Cross in the 1960s. By buying a product from the collection, you support the Finnish Red Cross and its work against loneliness. Country Finland Products ABC bedding Website finlaysonshop.com
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Fazer Category Food & Beverage Fazer’s first Moomin products were launched already in the 1950s, and the collection has grown to include differ ent kinds of sweets, xylitol pastilles, bakery products and more. Karl Fazer, also known as Fazer Blue, is part of the Finnish cultural heritage. The iconic Fazer milk chocolate first appeared in 1922 in its famous blue wrapper sym bolising the pure Finnish nature. It is the chocolate that many Finns have grown up with and which has turned them into chocolate lovers. Country Finland Products Marianne sweets Website fazer.com Moomin product gallery 38
Moomin product gallery Olvi Category Food & Beverage Olvi is a Finnish multi-beverage compa ny, offering enjoyment to consumers in the form of beverages since 1878. The close relationship with the surrounding nature and values derived from the Nordic lifestyle define Olvi as a compa ny. Olvi Moomin water is bottled at the source at the Suomenselänharju Spring in Lehtimäki, Finland. The water is nat urally filtered and preserved by Finnish nature, defining the perfectly balanced and fresh taste. Olvi donates 2 cents per litre sold to support Oxfam’s life-chang ing water projects around the world. Country Finland Products Water Website moominwater.com 39
In Focus / Makia
Finnish streetwear company Makia’s third Moomin collection is inspired by the back bone of the Moomin family, Moominmamma.
Lappalainen says that the hoodie is her own favourite from the collection: “I’ve always been touched by Ninny’s story, and how Moominmamma and Too-Ticky help Ninny to open up. This is probably because a while back, I was ‘hiding’ as well.”
“As I started to work on the collection, I went to visit book stores. I saw the cover of the book and fell in love immediately. The mood of the cover made me return to the book several times, and I just had to take it home with me,”
Makia published the news about the cam paign on the International Day of the Girl, and for their ”Do you see me?” campaign, local personalities opened up about their first-hand experiences on being invisible.
Giving a voice to the invisible child Besides highlighting the caring and motherly Moominmamma, Makia felt it was important to give a voice to Ninny, the invisible child.
Lappalainen hopes that with the help of the collection, Moomin fans could find their inner Moominmamma, who could give them energy and strength to any challenges they face.
Lappalainen “Moominmammasays. and Moomintroll’s adven ture through the unknown, searching for Moominpappa and their home in the midst of the flood is full of warmth and hope. That’s something I wanted to bring to the collection.”
The “Calm in the eye of the storm” collection is a tribute to Moominmamma, the calm and col lected mother who wants everyone to be happy while juggling her duties in the eye of the storm. The collection consists of comfortable clothes, woollen accessories and inspiring home prod ucts. Makia’s designer Elina Lappalainen de scribes the collection as warm, soft and easily approachable – just like Moominmamma.
Inspiration from the first Moomin story
Calm in the eye of the storm –Makia’s third Moomin collection is a tribute to Moominmamma
Ninny reminds us of the importance of giv ing a voice to young women and empower ing them in their daily lives. Especially those who feel lonely, who feel like outsiders, or are struggling with some aspect of their lives. No one should have to be an invisible child.
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The colours and feel of the new collection are based on the first Moomin story, The Moom ins and the Great Flood, published in 1945. It is the story about Moominmamma’s and Moom introll’s search for the missing Moominpappa and how they find their way to Moominvalley.
Lappalainen’s own story is touching, as well: “I was very shy and hid inside large hoodies, thinking that no one would notice me. Luckily I met my own Moominamma, who saw poten tial in me and supported and encouraged me until I was ready to come out of my shell and trust myself and others. Without this person, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In Focus / PFG Stockholm MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 41
Colourful and elegant Moomin jewellery for all ages PFG Stockholm’s Moomin collection consists of Moominous jewellery for children and adults. The earrings, necklaces and bracelets have lovely hand-painted and gold-plated Moomin pendants.
The collection features three beloved Moomin characters: Little My, Moomintroll and SnorkThemaiden.Swedish jewellery brand PFG Stockholm was founded 15 years ago with the aim to make the everyday life a little bit lovelier. Their jew ellery concept is built around pearls, and they only use genuine freshwater pearls and Moth er of Pearl in their jewellery. The Moomin col lection is no exception to this. Pearls and Moominous pendants
The idea for the Moomin collection came when PFG’s CEO Katarina Berg and Crea tive Director Frida Pontén wanted to devel op their existing children’s collection further, and they felt that Moomins would be a great addition to their product line. As the launch of the Moominous children’s jewellery was a success, Berg and Pontén decided to expand the collection with adult jewellery as well.
“We both love the Moomins and also believe that they bring generations together – grand parents love the characters as much as grand children!”, Berg and Pontén say. The bracelets, necklaces and earrings have beautiful Moomin pendants in two different styles: hand-painted and gold-plated.
“My personal favourite from the children’s collection is the Little My bracelet with gold en pearls, red glitter balls and a hand-painted pendant. I love how tiny and angry Little My looks! When I was little, my dad used to tell me that I’m as small and fiery as Little My,” Pontén comments.
The collection also includes a relaxed hoodie with a print of Moomintroll on skis for the first time. The hoodie is responsibly made by Pure Waste, from 100% recycled materials.
PUSU is a Finnish brand which aims to cre ate the best and most sustainable skis in the world. PUSU’s philosophy is to maximise the use of natural materials in all its products. In addition to the full wood core and real wood top sheet in the entire line-up, the Abisko model has an innovative new structure that replaces traditional enforcement fibres of carbon fibre and fibreglass with sustainable SPINNOVA® fibre.
PUSU designs and manufactures all its skis and snowboards in its own workshop in Jyväskylä, Finland.
PUSU has created a limited edition set of Moomin skis with Tove Jansson’s original illustrations from the novel Moominland Midwinter
Laser-carved Moomin illustrations In Tove Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter, Moomintroll wakes up in the middle of the winter and finds himself stranded and alone in a mysterious world blanketed with snow. With the help of the wise Too-ticky and the fearless Little My, Moomintroll begins to ex plore the glittering new landscape. He also meets a Hemulen who loves winter and who tries to teach Moomintroll how to ski. The illustrations from Moominland Midwin ter come alive in the skis. On the Abisko skis, Moomintroll pushes through a blizzard, and on the Kelo skis, he marvels at snow-loaded trees formed in harsh winter conditions. Both models also bear a fun detail: a squirrel hop ping on the snow surface, a familiar character to anyone who has read the novel. The illus trations have been engraved onto the wood with laser, beautifully preserving the natural wood grains and the details of Tove Jansson’s original artwork.
PUSU brings Tove Jansson’s original artwork to premium Finnish alpine skis
The limited-edition collection consists of handmade skis for slopes and backcountry, manufactured in a limited batch of 50 pairs. Each pair is numbered, making the skis unique collectables. The slope ski Kelo is an easy ski for all groomed slopes, whereas the all-mountain ski Abisko is a ski for varying conditions and backcountry ski touring.
In Focus / PUSU Skis MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 42
“As a brand, we are constantly working to renew and modernise ourselves. We have a long histo ry as a rubber boots brand and wanted to bring our long and rich history together with one of the most iconic children’s book characters. The Moomins is all that we were looking for with the characters and stories in their universe; they share our Scandinavian heritage and as such, the collaboration was natural”, says Gitte Thune, Commercial Director at Viking. Moomin and The Outdoors: A perfect match!
The mission: to create a world where everyone can be an explorer Viking is one of Norway’s oldest brands and has shaped Norwegian industrial history. It all started in 1920 with a rubber factory in Askim, producing goloshes to prevent shoes from get ting muddy and wet. Since then, Viking has worked with the mission “To create a world where everyone can be an explorer”. Early on, Viking brought in rubber chemists who contributed to making their products superior to the competitors, and innovation at every stage has always been at the core of its activities. Today, Viking produces footwear for children and adults to enable an active life style in a Nordic climate.
The Norwegian footwear icon Viking has partnered with Moomin for a rubber boot col lection that lets children take their favourite characters wherever their feet may roam. Fun ny, stylish and functional, Viking and Moom in are a hit together, so let’s play!
Viking is renowned for their premium, high quality natural rubber boots, in both solid col ours and prints, so when it was time to innovate and update their styles, they stuck with what worked but added a new twist with a character that brings smiles to faces everywhere. Across the new range, you get the same standard of craftsmanship, but now with Moomin, so your day can be filled with whimsy, bravery and good times, just like Moomin.
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In Focus / Viking Footwear
The range of boots in the Moomin collection includes the models Indie Alv, Jolly Alv, Jolly, Indie Active, Vendela Jr. and Seilas – all both protective and stylish. You can take them al most anywhere and wear them in various wet situations, from splashing in puddles to mak ing your way home in the rain. The addition of Moomin is sure to catch the attention of consumers thanks to the vivid graphics and because children love the character. Viking couldn’t be more excited about this partner ship and the possibilities, so let’s get outside and play with Moomin in tow!
The Viking x Moomin collection keeps small feet dry on any adventure
product gallery
The Folklore Company Category TheCraftsFolklore Company wants to make younger generations fall in love with the Swedish handicraft traditions. By combining modern techniques with a long cultural tradition they want to take this craft into the 21st century. Their first Moomin collection consists of nine different patterns – Moomin characters, the Moominhouse and some favourite quotes from the stories. “I myself have grown up with the Moomins and I hope that this collection will make future gen erations fall in love with Tove Jansson’s whimsical characters”, Sofia Magnusson, founder of The Folklore Company, says. Country Sweden Products Embroidery kits Website
Moomin
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Flame Tree Publishing Category
Country United Kingdom Products Calendars, Diaries, Gift Stationery, Jigsaw Puzzles Website flametreepublishing.com
AnStationeryindependent publishing company creating beautiful books, gift stationery and calendars and diaries for over 30 years, Flame Tree is a long term licensee, creating annual bestselling Moomin calendars and diaries. More recently jigsaw puzzles have been introduced to the market to great success. Flame Tree’s beautiful embossed and foiled notebooks and journals are favourites.
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Aurora Category EstablishedToys in 1981, Aurora World is a global leader in plush toys and high-quality gift products, and a respected leader in the character and content industry. Research and develop ment of soft toy plush fabric has been at the heart of Aurora since the beginning. They have a dedicated Product Re search and Development division which is constantly sourcing new fabrics and technologies. Aurora owns its manufac turing facilities and prides itself on the quality of all soft toys they design and produce. Aurora’s mission is to deliver “Gifts of Smiles”. Country United Kingdom Products Soft Toys, Keyrings, Backpack Website shop.auroraworld.co.uk
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Toyrock Category ToyrockToys Oy is a Finnish family business founded in 2014, which focuses on the agency, import and wholesale of products related to children’s toys and family leisure activities. Toyrock’s range includes products and brands from world-renowned and respected suppli ers, such as Mattel brands Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price, Clementoni puzzles, Bestway swimming toys, Revell scale models and RC products, among many other. Country Finland Products Puzzles, learning computer Website toyrock.fi
Moomin product gallery
Country Finland Products Drinking vessels Website kupilka.fi
Martinex Category MartinexToys is a Finnish company that designs, manufactures and imports games, toys, clothing, accessories, and household goods. Together with his wife Tuula Muinonen, Risto Muinonen decided to pursue his dream and started Martinex in 1986. The company has been collaborating with Moomin since 1992. In 2022 Martinex’ toy Moominhouse celebrates 30 years.
Moomin product gallery
Kupilka Category FinnishOutdoorKupilka’s beautiful dishware is perfect for camping. The ecological bowls and drinking vessels are made of natural fibre composite, which makes them light, durable and dishwasher safe. The drinking vessels are also available in junior size, perfect for smaller hands! The dishware, made of Kupilka’s very own Kareline® natural fibre composite, features fun pictures of the Moomins and their friends out in nature.
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Country Finland Products Moominhouse Website martinex.fi
Reima Category Baby & Kids Reima is for the joy of movement. For those moments that make a differ ence. For all those exciting challenges outdoors, indoors and in between. Reima is for an active childhood that matters. For discovering that joy of movement that will stick for the rest of life. For every day, every weather, every experience, wherever adventure awaits. Reima inspires kids to grow up with that joy that will eventually change their lives, and ours. That’s the path we’ve been on since 1944, dedicated to all the kids in the world, inspired by them and by that pure joy of movement. Country Finland Products Children’s apparel Website reima.com Moomin product gallery 48
Moomin product gallery Lindex Category Baby & Kids Lindex is one of Europe’s leading fashion companies, with approximately 440 stores in 18 markets and sales online worldwide through third-party partner ships. Lindex started to collaborate with Moomin over 10 years ago and the latest Moomin collection by Lindex is inspired by the different Moomin characters, their personalities and what makes them unique. You’ll find them as playful prints and graphics on colourful clothes and accessories for children. Country Sweden Products Children’s apparel Website lindex.com 49
Sub-Agents / Rights & Brands Japan Kumiko Ito RightsPresident,&Brands Japan MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 50
The Moomin brand develops a new focus in Japan Japan has been an important market for the Moomin brand for many years. With a new unified strategy, some repositioning of the brand and new assets like seasonal style guides, Rights & Brands Japan wants to further strengthen the Moomin brand in Japan. We talked to Kumiko Ito, President of Rights & Brands Japan and Kyoko Koide, Brand Manager at Rights & Brands Japan to learn more. You’ve initiated a collaboration with Ko bra Agency from Finland who have created new style guides for you – can you tell us about that? To strengthen the brand, we need a common visual representation. I was very impressed with the design of Kobra, I felt that it was dif ficult to interpret Moomin better than they do. Also, designs from the home country are substantial in convincing Japanese fans. With that as a background, I asked Kobra to create a set of seasonal style guides for us.
Kumiko, what is Rights & Brands Japan? We represent the Moomin brand in Japan. Currently, we have 27 people working at the company, including sales, marketing, and an in-house creative team. We have nearly 300 ac tive licensees that we work with. Since I joined Rights & Brands Japan in the spring of 2021, we have been working closely with Rights & Brands Sweden and Moomin Characters on a new vision called One Moomin, which is Moomin’s eco-system. Even though Moomin has been growing successfully in Japan yearon-year, all the key consumer touchpoints, channels, and partners have been working in silos. One Moomin is a strategic vision that aims to connect all the disparate Moomin dots into a thriving eco-system to grow the Moom in brand in Japan in the right way. And the key elements are a consolidated CRM system and a unified brand image and visual presentation in line with the global strategy, which we are intensively working on in Japan. How should a licensee go about if they want to sell a product in Japan? There are two important steps. The first one is to find the right local partner, which means an importer. The second one is to develop an entry strategy for Japan with that business partner. Japan has a population of 120 million people and our distribution and retail indus try is very developed. There are more than 200 department stores nationwide and more than 100,000 convenience stores. For exam ple, 7-Eleven alone has over 20,000 stores in Japan. There is a very high level of compe tition between these retail stores, and each sales channel has a different style of distri bution. Particularly in department stores, old customs remain strong, and wholesalers are the main distributors. On the other hand, Jap anese consumers are very strict about quality and sensitive to the balance between price and quality. In addition, income in Japan has not risen in almost 30 years due to the low-in terest rates that have been in place for many years. Given these circumstances, we recom mend that you first enter with an importer who is familiar with local business practices and distribution patterns. Kyoko, can you tell us about how you work with Japanese licensees from a design per spective at R&BJ? Most licensees have in-house design teams and good design skills. Therefore, the qual ity of the finished product is high. However, until now, product development has focused on a very narrow target (women in their 20s to 40s). Now, we need to reach out to a wider audience, including men and children, also having products that are not directed at a spe cific gender. We’ve heard you want to change the way Moomin is represented in the Japanese market, to focus more on the originals and Scandinavian style instead of localized Japanese colour palettes. Can you tell us more about this work? The Japanese localized style sells well. There fore, we do not intend to eliminate that axis. However, the current products of the Japa nese Zakka taste have been created in a par ticular Japanese style to suit the Japanese market. These products are not strongly tied to the original creativity of Tove Jansson’s work, which means that they are easily re placed by other brands. It is essential to build an original Moomin product line that utilizes Tove Jansson’s creativity in addition to our current well-sold products line. Can you tell us how you are working to move in the direction you outlined above? If you focus on only expanding sales, it will be overridden by the design that the market demands. There certainly are target groups who prefer such designs. However, our mis sion is also to spread the values based on Tove Jansson’s creation. I think we need two axes, one is the line led by the licensees and the other is the line where MC, RBS and RBJ lead the design. For the latter, I wanted to select a partner who can create a line that develops curated prod ucts that feel like the real Moomin.
Kyoko Koide Brand Manager, Rights & Brands Japan MOOMIN
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Sub-Agents / Rights & Brands Japan
Afternoon Tea LIVING Category AfternoonHomewareTea LIVING is one of The Sazaby League’s brands, and its motto is “spice of a day” and aims to stimulate daily life with seasonal trends, colour and fun. Inspired by the picture book “The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My”, Afternoon Tea Living has cre ated the Little My collection of lifestyle goods, ranging from cushions, towels, bento boxes, diningware, smartphone accessories and more. Country Japan Products Lifestyle goods Website afternoon-tea.net/living Moomin product gallery 52
Hightide Category HightideStationerybelieves satisfaction in daily and business life can be well balanced, and hopes their customers feel fulfilled with the products they produce. Hight ide have used the ABC Collection to cre ate stamps so you can create messages, invitations and notes with Moomin and friends. Country Japan Products Wooden Stamps Website hightide.co.jp
Moomin product gallery
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Bandai Category Food & Beverage Bandai calls itself the “Happy Moment Creator” because it is in the business of dreams and creation. They provide fun, high-quality entertainment for people to enjoy anytime, anywhere - everything from toys to confectionary and foods, apparel and much more. Tabemasu is a Japanese sweet made of sweet bean paste, reproducing Moomintroll with a milk flavoured white bean paste and Snufkin with a matcha flavoured green bean paste. Country Japan Products Confectionary Website bandai.co.jp/candy
Melvita Category Health & Beauty Melvita is a pioneering organic beau ty brand from France established in 1983. The company gathers the purest natural and organic ingredients with the greatest care. Melvita Organic Aragan Oil is one of their best-selling products and the collaboration with Moomin is a natural fit as both love and care deeply about nature. Country Japan Products Skincare Website jp.melvita.com Moomin product gallery MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 54
McDonald’s Category McDonald’sPromotionalCompany (Japan)’s Happy Meal® sets are desgined for nutritional balance and to stimuate children’s curi osity. Happy Meal® sets are part of the company’s efforts to support happiness of families and healthy growth and development of children. Six types of Moomin toys inspired by kitchen goods were featured for a limited time only, to encourage children enjoy cooking and eating.
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Country Japan Products Happy Meal®toys Website mcdonalds.co.jp
Moomin product gallery
Rokuzan Category RokuzanAccessorieswas established in 1981 and creates jewelry that faithfully follows the techiniques used in the Victorian era to design elaborate and delicate antique jewelry reminiscent of that period. Moominvalley’s characters and abun dant nature was a source of inspiration to produce jewelry that brings to life the world of Moomin. Country Japan Products Jewelry Website rokuzan.co.jp
Zowie Category Zowie,Stationeryalong-term Moomin collabo rator with their Peikko online shop has partnered with TRAVELER’S COMPANY to create a special range of stationery inspired by Snufkin’s love to roam the world freely. TRAVELER’S COMPANY hopes when you use the stationery it will feel as though you are traveling with Snufkin himself. Country Japan Products Stationery Website travelers-company.compeikko-moomin.jp Moomin product gallery 56
57 Dadway Category Baby & DadwayKidscreates various baby and kids products focused on safety and func tionality with “kawaii” design. Dadway‘s Moomin Baby Collection en compasses Scandinavian textiles’ look and feel along with adorable designs, with the hopes that the collection brings healthier and joyful parenting for fami lies all over the world. Country Japan Products ABC baby products Website dadway.com Moomin product gallery 57
Sub-Agents / Rights & Brands Asia Bianca Lee RightsCEO, & Brands Asia MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 58
First and foremost, we need to get the paper work done, so the licensee has to have the dis tribution rights for Asia in order for them to be here. For that, please go through our most resourceful Jennie Brown at Rights & Brands
Rights & Brands Asia helps licensees enter the Chinese market
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How do you work with licensees in your market? We welcome collaborations from licensees from around the world, and I think seeing and having products from different countries gives a lot of inspiration not only to us but to our licensees as well. Our current licensee base consists of local partners from Greater China, and we also have a lot of partners com ing from Japan and Scandinavia.
We are a new company that was set up in Sep tember of last year. Rights & Brands Asia is a joint venture between PPW in Hong Kong, ITOCHU in Japan, Moomin Characters and Rights & Brands. We represent the Moom ins in the Greater China region, consisting of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Sub-Agents / Rights & Brands Asia
Which of these countries are the most in teresting ones from a Moomin perspective? Mainland China is by far the highest potential market due to the sheer size of the market, it has a population of 1,4 billion people. But in spite of the smaller size of the markets in Tai wan and Hong Kong, these markets are still very interesting to us. The Taiwanese market is strongly influenced by Japanese culture, it was under Japanese rule at one time and you see the Japanese influence for example in the architecture. So the popularity of the Moom ins in Japan brings benefits to us in Taiwan, and partners and retailers generally have strong confidence in the brand there. Hong Kong, with a strong and sophisticated creative base, is also an important showcase for the rest of the region. What are the strengths of the Moomin brand in your region? The Moomin characters´ respect for nature, love of family and friends, and their spirit of adventure have a calming and healing effect on the lives of us hectic city dwellers. These core values clearly distinguish Moomin from other character brands. In our region, Moom in is positioned as a premium brand from the Nordics, and we attract partners who want to make a quality statement for their brands. And on top of that, the beautiful style guides from Moomin Characters are appreciated by licensees as well as consumers.
Right: Chinese licensee Zicco’s homeware to enquire about those rights. After that, what the licensees need to resolve first when they get into a new market, is of course product distribution. China is the number one market in the world in terms of penetration of online shopping, so when entering the Chinese mar ket, it is of utmost importance that your dis tributor has an online sales strategy. For the Moomin brand, we have official online stores operated by the Nordic headquartered compa ny Euroeat. Euroeat operate the Moomin on line stores on the popular Tmall and JD.com platforms and recently also opened their third store on the Red platform. These stores are a natural home for all things Moomin and we at Right & Brands Asia are delighted to provide assistance and recommendations to newcom ers in all markets.
What is Rights & Brands Asia?
The recently founded Rights and Brands Asia represents the Moomin brand in the Greater China region. We sat down with CEO Bianca Lee to learn more about the market and how Moomin licensees should go about if they want to sell their products in Asia.
Can you give Moomin licensees some tips on how to enter your markets?
Airmate Category AirmateHomewarewas founded in 1973 and fo cuses on creating stylish and intelligent household appliances to improve the air quality at home. Each appliance is designed considering seasonal changes and evaluating the four dimensions of air temperature, humidity, quality and circulation. Airmate’s high-quality air solutions ensure that everyone can enjoy a comfortable, convenient, healthy and pleasant living environment. Country China Products Household appliances Website airmate-china.com Moomin product gallery 60
Moomin product gallery
Vipo Category FoundedHomewarein 2012, Vipo’s mission is to illuminate the good life with the light of art. They are committed to innovative designs, ingenious manufacturing and omni channel marketing of life aesthetic products, combined with beauty and functionality. Aside from decorative lights, Vipo’s products range also includes other home decorative and functional items. Their Moomin light collection is one of the most popular products in the Moomin official online shop in China. Country China Products Lamps Website vipoglobal.com
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Moomin product gallery
Zicco Category FoundedHomewarein 2007, Zicco has developed into an innovative enterprise specialising in research, design and manufacturing of high-end melamine products. Zicco is committed to “redefining melamine tableware” with exceptional designs and exquisite manufacturing technolo gy. They have successfully positioned themselves as a leading brand in China’s melamine tableware industry. Country China Products Tableware Website zicco.cn
FoundedApparel in 2006, ELFSACK is a fashion apparel brand targeting the fashion con scious, confident, independent, elegant young woman. Their Moomin collection in Spring 2022 created a refreshing brand interpretation with a strong ap peal to the young fashionistas in China. China Products Women’s wear yaojingdekoudai.world.tmall.com
ELFSACK Category
Country
Website
Products / xxxMoomin product gallery 63
Aladin Communications Category
1998,
a licensee who runs an online bookstore. Taking advantage of its on line bookstore, Aladin Communications creates a new reading culture targeting readers of the ages 20-40 by introduc ing various character products using books and book-related items. Country Korea Products Promotion, bags, stationery Website aladin.co.kr Moomin product gallery 64
AladinAccessoriesCommunications, founded in is
product gallery
Moomin
Storinus started their research to make convenient phone cases, the research has expended to various products and they provide the best quality products in Korea. With the experience that they have built over years, they strive to accommodate and express client needs and provide satisfactory products.
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Storinus Category StorinusAccessoriesisa brand specialized in character mask and mobile accessories. They express their willingness to create the best product with their own story like their company name “Story in us”.
Country Korea Products Accesories Website storinus.co.kr
Working with art, design, literature, events, concepts, and content, All Things Content has a strong background in the cultural field.
“We can help licensees by creating videos promoting their products, seminars and con ferences for their staff or their customers and audiences. We can create exhibitions with well-curated learning material. But we also of fer our professional moderators who already have in-depth knowledge about Tove Jansson and the Moomins.”
Bottom: Moomin licensee day
“All Things Content is a production company creating experiences regardless of platform. A good experience for our customers, but also for the customers’ audience”, says Stenback. We focus on the field of art and culture. By cul ture, I also mean business culture.”
Top: Moomin licensee day
Left: Johanna Stenback Opposite: Moomin licensee day
Identifying with Moominmamma, the production house All Things Content helps clients and their products shine.
All Things Content’s moderators have been moderating business events, festivals, panel discussions, live streams on social media, as well as video series with a personal, knowl edgeable yet approachable approach.
All Things Content was founded in 2020 as part of the Moomin Group and works with clients in both the Nordics, the UK and beyond. CEO Johanna Stenback used to work for Moomin Characters, and the company has a deep knowl edge of Tove Jansson and her work, which can be a true asset for Moomin licensees.
How can you help Moomin licensees?
Interview / All Things Content
The staff at All Things Content are a bunch of creative minds with backgrounds in the film and fashion industries, the art world, broad casting, education and business. According to Stenback, what sets them apart from many others in the field is a broad knowledge of dramaturgy paired with a deep know-how of technical productions, be it multi-camera di recting or producing concerts and visually im pressive seminar experiences. What are some of the most interesting Moomin-related projects you’ve worked with for clients? “Of course the Moomin Moment video stream for Fiskars is one of the highlights, but also the
All Things Content – production services with a Moomin feeling
“We are a new company, with staff with over 20 years of experience in the field. Our work mediates passion and strong values. We create added value and positive experiences through constant creative development and an inclu sive attitude”, says Stenback.
Which Moomin character would All Things Content be, if it was one of the inhabitants of Moominvalley? “Maybe we would be Moominmamma, be cause we are very organised. We create a plat form for others to shine. But we are adventur ous at the same time. We always have surprises to pull out of our bag”, says Stenback.
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With a strong knowledge of the Moomin brand, the production company can be a val uable companion for Moomin licensees wish ing to create Moominous experiences regard less of platform.
“We wanted to create the feeling of a cosy TV talk show, filled with interviews with manag ers, employees and fun facts about the brand. So we made a 45-minute program with inter views with employees from all levels of the company,” explains Stenback. The result was a program filled with personal encounters, stories and Apparently,laughter.theclient
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ABC Exhibition, which is touring in the UK, Sweden and Finland”, says Stenback. The Moomin Moments was a video produc tion that Fiskars streamed internally in order to communicate the brand to all employees in the Fiskars Group globally.
The first instalment of the Tove Festival took place in Stockholm, Sweden in early 2020 and was sold out well in advance of the festi val. In 2021, the festival was arranged in Tove Jansson’s home city Helsinki, and in 2022, the festival is arranged in Reykjavik, Iceland and Tampere, Finland, where the first and only Moomin Museum in the world is situated. Even if most of the projects Stenback lists have a Moomin connection, she wants to point out that the production company doesn’t only produce content around the Moomins.
Created as part of Moomin Character’s Read ing, Writing and the Moomins initiative to fos ter a love for reading, the exhibition is a time less deep dive into the wonders of letters and emotions, inspired by the lovely Moomins.
project is the ABC Ex hibition. It is a module exhibition for librar ies and cultural institutions accompanied by learning material about emotions and reading and writing”, says Stenback.
The exhibition is touring in the Nordics and the UK, where it has been developed further in cooperation with the UK-based production company Bakehouse. For the much-celebrat ed first British edition, which took place at the Eden Project in Cornwall in spring 2022, the exhibition was combined with storytelling workshops and other activities. The exhibi tion was also paired with specially composed music by Moomin musical supervisor Lauri Porra. You can read more about the Eden in stallation on page 80 and Porra’s Moomin mu sic on page 69.
Interview / All Things Content
“We are also very proud of creating the Tove Festival for Moomin Characters, which now tours in different countries. Tove Festival is a day where we immerse ourselves in Tove Jans son and discuss how her art has influenced and inspired interesting artists of today,” ex plains Johanna Stenback.
liked the vision and ex ecution by Stenback and her team, because shortly after, All Things Content was com missioned to create a 5X10 minutes series for communicating the re-branding of the Fiskars Group “Anotherbrand.interesting
“We are more than happy to produce experi ences for anything in the field of art, culture and design”, she says.
The podcast is released in autumn 2022.
The Moomin phenomenon is a podcast in five parts which dives into different aspects of the Moomin world to answer the question “How did these little trolls become world celebrities?”
Jennifer Saunders it a place where the core Moomin philosophy comes alive on the walls – a children’s hospital. The world is full of people who have been in spired by the Moomins and in the third epi sode we meet artists, writers and actors who have a special relationship to the Moomins. We travel to Japan to meet designers and go to England to meet actors, desginers and writers who have all been inspired by Tove Jansson’s Moomin books and comics. Moomin mug mania Like a red line through all the episodes runs the fascination with the Moomin mugs. Some of the most sought-after and rare mugs have been sold for several thousand Euros. But in the fourth episode we will also ask whether there can be too much Moomin merchandise and too much commercialism?
The narrator of the podcast is Jennifer Saun ders, widely recognized for her role as Edina Monsoon in the tv-series Absolutely Fabu lous. Moomin fans might recognize her voice from playing Mymble in the Moominvalley animation series which premiered in 2019. In the podcast, Saunders will take listeners on a personal and entertaining ride through all as pects of the Moomin universe.
Audio / Soundtelling
Meeting Moomin fans from London to Japan In the first episode, the Moomin fan culture is explored. We travel to Japan and London to meet fans who have dedicated their whole life to the Moomins and meet a woman in the north of Sweden who’s covering her body with Moomin figures.
The producer of the podcast is the renowned journalist Antonio de la Cruz “When I started this project I did not imagine that these small Moomintrolls could mean so much to so many people all around the world. It’s really been a joyful journey to meet fans and scholars who have shared their personal expe rience and what role the Moomins have played in their lives. And soon you will hear it too!”
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The second episode of the podcast takes a look at Moomin philosophy through discussions with a singing literature professor, a philoso pher, an actor and several fans. We will also vis Podcast hosted by Jennifer Saunders investigates the Moomin phenomenon
“I started by reading and getting to know the Moomin stories, and also the symbolical as pect of the Moomins, which is rich. For exam ple, regarding love. We have Too-Ticky from Moominland Midwinter who can be seen as a symbol of love, so I wanted a deep love to be felt in the composed music. I´ve tried to not only use the stories and illustrations, but to convey the intention of the artist behind them. I´m interested in the deeper meanings, in exploring the soulscape of this world, for example, trying to understand where a char acter comes from. Consulting licensees Porra has created both a classical, poetic set of Moomin inspired music, suitable for exhi bitions and cultural events and content, and a more up-beat commercial sound, which works for commercials, product launches and other commercial content. Porra has also collected the classical set of songs into a concert called “Seasons in Moominvalley”, which premiered at the Tove Festival in Helsinki 2021, and will be performed at the Tove Festivals in Reykja vik, Iceland on September 10, and in Tampere, Finland on December 2, 2022.
Porra is the great-grandchild of per haps the most famous Finnish composer of all time, Jean Sibelius, and also the bass player in the internationally touring heavy-metal band Stratovarius. So, is the time now ripe for some Moomin heavy?
What does Moominvalley sound like? This is a question the inter nationally renowned composer and bassist Lauri Porra has had the pleasure of figuring out during the last year. He has developed an audio identity for the Moomin brand, and the music is available to licensees in selected cases.
Seasons in Moominvalley – the new Moomin audio brand
Audio / Seasons in Moominvalley
Porra describes his journey into interpreting Moomin into music as some kind of detective work. In doing so, he has gone back to the root of it all – Tove Jansson’s original Moomin novels.
As the musical supervisor for Moomin Char acters, Lauri Porra can also consult licensees who need some kind of soundscape in their Moomin project.
“Well I would not myself initiate this, but the Moomins can inspire anything. I would ask you what you want, take a look at the options available, and the Moomins. Then I would ask: how I can be at your service?”
Tove Jansson was an artist who created a universe. The purpose of the music has been to support the world created by her. It´s im portant to concentrate on Tove Jansson´s vision and try to make music according to it without disturbing that clear core of her world. I’ve wanted the music to sound like it could be played in Moominvalley by its in habitants.”
“I see my role as helping you to crystallize the soundscape of the Moomin universe. My in tention is to create that world and be a tool for Lauriyou.”
The official Moomin audio brand music and au dio consultancy is available for licensees in se lect cases. Please contact nanette.forsstrom@ moomin.com for more information.
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A year ago it was announced that Moomin Characters and Gutsy Animation had entered a long-term partnership with fellow Finnish company Rovio Entertainment, the creator of mobile game hit franchise Angry Birds. The partnership grants Rovio rights to develop and publish Moomin IP based games for any platform and exclusive rights for mobile plat forms. Since then, a dedicated game team at the Rovio HQ puzzle studio in Espoo has been hard at work developing a Moomin IP based game, which integrates fun gameplay with the alluring world of the Moomin as seen in the animated series Moominvalley.
Rovio’s mission is “We craft joy with play er-focused gaming experiences that last for decades”. And even though making games is all about crafting joy, developing and creating a game goes through many phases. It’s not only necessary to find the fun but also to it erate on gameplay mechanics, put out market tests, get data early and use that data to make informed decisions on game concepts to find out the most promising one. The process behind coming up with a new game looks a little bit like a funnel (or like Mr. Brisk’s horn, if you will). It involves coming up with many different concepts in order to get a winning one - failing and learning with each attempt. The early part of that funnel is ideation through which we come up with lots of ideas, the best of which we will prototype and test on the market. This is called a soft Whenlaunch.a game goes into soft launch it is made available in certain countries or markets.
During that time the game team collects data about how players are interacting with the game and learns a little bit about what the players think of the game. Soft launching a game is an essential part of a game’s devel opment and may lead to further iterations or development. Not all games make it into the following phases from soft launch, but the ul timate goal of course is to, after a lot of testing and development, have an immensely suc cessful and attractive game that will bring joy to players for years to come.
Finnish game studio Rovio En tertainment is moving ahead with their Moomin game, cur rently soft launching it in select territories.
The Moomin Puzzle & Design game is current ly soft launched in select territories, such as Finland and the United States. Working with creating a game that takes place in the idyllic valley which is the Moomin’s home has been fun for the whole game team. Creating some thing new in collaboration with Gutsy and Moomin Characters has not only been fun but will surely result in something joyful for Moomin fans and players alike.
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Games / Rovio
Rovio’s Moomin game in development
“We want all the small stories (and small char acters) to be as important as the main story – no one is too small to be significant”, says DuringSundnes.the game, players also get to explore the beautiful nature of the valley and beyond and gain musical inspiration by finding se crets and solving puzzles on their path.
In the game, the strict Park Keeper has built hideous parks everywhere and disrupted the natural balance of Moominvalley and Snufkin needs to help everyone bring the valley back to its beautiful origin. The aim is to get the Park Keeper and his parks out of Moominvalley with the help of a trusty harmonica, a bit of stealth, and the friends Snufkin meets along the way.
“A third important guideline was that we wanted the game to look and feel highly artis tic and to be based on Tove Jansson’s original artwork rather than any of the later adapta tions”, says Sundnes.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley will be avail able on PC and consoles in 2023.
Adventure game free of violence Early in development, the crew at Hyper Games decided on a few important guidelines for the game.
“The first point was that the game should be designed for both kids and adults. It’s not “just” a kids game, but kids should also enjoy it”. Many adventure games focus on violence, but that was not an option in a game situated in Moominvalley. Therefore, another important factor was that there should not be any com bat or direct violence in the game. The core gameplay should not focus on lives/health or to avoid dying, instead music came to play a catalyst role.
Award-winning game studio The pre-marketing of the game gathered much positive buzz among gamers. The news letter following the development of the game had several thousand subscribers already in early 2022.
Artistically ambitious Snufkin game hits markets in 2023
Music by Sigur Rós Because music is such an important part of Snufkin’s personality, the developers wanted music as a core mechanic of the game. Sigur Rós, an Icelandic band known for their ethere al sound, and composer Oda Tilset have con tributed to the soundtrack.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a musi cal adventure game where Snufkin needs to restore the harmony of Moominvalley after a number of grotesque parks are ruining the valley’s natural balance. The idea of a Moomin game came to Are Sundnes, CEO of Norwegian game studio Hy per Games, while he was on paternity leave, reading Who Will Comfort Toffle to his son. Snufkin was a natural choice “We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what kind of game would fit the Moomin uni verse, and also something our studio could do great. We quickly started playing with the idea of using Snufkin as the main character of the game. We think he is one of the most inter esting characters, and he has many traits and skills that are well suited to build gameplay around”, explains Sundnes.
/ Hypergames
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“Making Snufkin the main protagonist gave us some important clues for what kind of game to make. For example, it should involve a lot of Snufkin wandering in nature, and it also pre vents us from using coins, gold etc. as motiva tion for the player, because Snufkin isn’t inter ested in things like that”, Sundnes explains.
Hyper Games is an award-winning game stu dio based in Oslo, Norway. They’re most known for the atmospheric puzzler “Mørkredd” which among others won GOTY from Nordic Game Awards 2021 and Best International Game at BitSummit 2020. The game has also been inducted into the Norwegian National Museum of arts’ permanent exhibition.
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley is a cozy adventure game in a gorgeous storybook art style. During gameplay, players meet many charming characters, each with their own sto ries to uncover and quests to solve.
Games
“The Moomin fans have been extremely hap py about the announcement: They’ve been waiting a long time for a new Moomin console game. They seem to be very excited about the choices we’ve made for the genre and art style – and most of all the fact that Snufkin is finally getting his own game!”, says Are Sundnes.
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Moominvalley’s third season brings the Moomins and their whimsical friends back to screens for more fun and adventure. The third season is all about adventures and obstacles won with curiosity, enthusiasm and a great dollop of humour.
Starring Rosamund Pike, Jack Rowan, Matt Berry, and Jennifer Saunders, and writ ten by the Emmy-winning writing duo Mark Huckerby & Nick Ostler and BAFTA-nomi nated Josie Day, the series has been sold to over 60 countries worldwide. Moominvalley is back for a third season!
Animation / Gutsy
When the Moomin family return from their Season 2 island sojourn, they find their beloved Moominvalley in chaos with the community divided. Only the Moomins’ offbeat approach to life and values of acceptance and kindness can bring harmony back to the valley. This season the Moomin family is joined by two new characters, the enigmatic Snork and the lovable rogue Stinky, and some returning favourites; uptight Mrs Fillyjonk, bombastic Mr Brisk, impulsive Mymble and the sweet and disaster-prone Misabel – and the Hobgob lin, the Hattifatteners and even Toffle. Moominvalley can be seen as a coming of age story of family and friendship, and the third season revolves around themes of commu nity. The quirky residents from all around the valley come to the Moomin family with their problems and questions, which the Moomins solve – such as an outlandish re verse heist, a perilous hot air balloon ride and a quest to find the stolen sun. Togeth er, they harness the power of tolerance, kindness, and caring to restore harmony to Moominvalley.
Produced by Gutsy Animations, the interna tionally celebrated, Emmy® nominated animat ed series Moominvalley was recommissioned for a third season (13 x 22’) by anchor broadcast ers Yle in Finland and Sky in the UK, and is be ing broadcast in both countries in 2022.
Sixty-four years ago, Tove Jansson was part of a crew that staged a highly successful Moom in play at the legendary theatre Lilla Teatern in Helsinki. Now, the same theatre puts on a Moomin play based on material that has never been adapted for the stage before. The play written by Annina Enckell is enti tled Kris och Katastrof i Mumindalen, which translates to Crisis and Catastrophy in Moom invalley. As the name suggests, viewers are in for many dramatic scenes ranging from a mysterious mass death of birds to an ap proaching comet and something resembling mass psychosis. The play features dozens of characters, many of whom are only present in the comics. Some less known characters include a group of fighting lawyers, a manag er who doesn’t understand the Moomin psy che, and an even more confused psychiatrist with 3-metre tall arms called Dr Schrünkel (also known as Dr Hatter). When the Moomin stories take over Lilla Teat ern again, audiences can expect social satire and adult humour, just as in the comics on which the play is based. This is the first time the comics have been dramatised for the stage, and for director Jakob Höglund, taking on the material was a longtime dream.
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“Ever since the start of my directing career, I have dreamed of taking on the Moomins, and it was evident that the play should be made pre cisely at Lilla Teatern. I look forward to a show with many characters, a show full of stinging humour, but also melancholy, where musical theatre meets puppet theatre “, says Höglund, who is also the artistic director of Lilla Teatern. Höglund uses a combination of puppets and live actors, much like in his acclaimed staging of the Finnish national epic Kalevala at Åbo Svenska Teater in 2019. Award-winning Heini Maaranen’s puppet aesthetic breathes life into the play’s various characters, framed by a set decor created by Sven Haraldsson, with whom Höglund has worked on many previous productions. Both costumes and set design mimic the aesthetics of the comics, with an all-black and white colour scale. With a background in dancing and act ing, Höglund is known for his creative and unique interpretations. The audience can ex pect an aesthetically interesting Moominval ley suitable for the whole family. The play is in Swedish and subtitled in Finnish, English and Swedish.
The first play based on the Moomin comic strips premieres in 2022 This autumn, the first play based on Tove Jansson’s comic strips premieres at Helsinki City Theatre’s Lilla Teatern, where Tove Jansson herself worked on many legendary plays.
Theatre / Lilla Teatern
In the Tovepedia section of the site, licensees and partners can find fact-checked short texts about Tove Jansson as a writer, Moomin creator, artist, songwriter and much more, to use for ex ample, in marketing texts or storytelling for ex hibitions, events or Moomin product launches.
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Exciting news for fans of Tove Jansson! During the past year, Moomin Characters has revived the digital presence focusing on the Moomin creator, artist and writer Tove Jansson.
The new tovejansson.com is a curated online experience, combining high-class storytelling with state of the art visuality. Visitors can ex plore Tove Jansson’s art and life through her biography and dive into a gallery with a wide range of Tove Jansson’s artwork – for the first time assembled online and available to a glob al audience to explore in detail.
Scan the QR code to sign up for the Tove Jans son quarterly newletter and follow @Tove JanssonOfficial on Instagram. The content is available in English, Swedish and Finnish, and new sections focusing on the people and places that were important to Jans son are rolled out during this year and next.
Explore new Tove Jansson channels
Tove news
Jansson
Tove Jansson’s iconic Summer Book 50 years One of Tove Jansson’s most beloved books, The Summer Book, turns 50 this year. For Tove Jansson, the book was deeply personal, and she often mentioned it as a favourite from her own production. The story of the special friendship between the little girl Sophia and her grandmother, who spend endless summer days on an island far out in the archipelago, is deeply loved by readers around the world. The anniversary is celebrated with new anni versary editions of the book – in Swedish by Förlaget, English by Sort of Books and Finnish by WSOY. The anniversary editions contain Tove Jansson’s essay The Island and a newly written preface by Tove Jansson’s niece So phia Jansson, who inspired the book’s char acter Sophia. The themes in the book range from everyday summer activities to deep phil osophical discussions, from learning to swim to ageing and death, all seen through Tove Jansson’s unsentimental, sharp and at the same time humorous gaze.
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin will be attending the Tove Festival in Tampere, and Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdót tir will be attending the festival in Reykjavik.
Tove Festival is an inclusive, familiar, and hu morous event where the star of the day is Tove Jansson and her art. So, keep your eyes open; Tove Festival might be visiting your city next!
Tove Festival was organized for the first time in 2020 in Stockholm at Fotografiska. The following year, it was arranged in Helsinki at Svenska Teatern in an adaptation for the Finnish audience. In 2022, the festival will be organized in Rey kjavik, Iceland, on the 10th of September and in Tampere, Finland, on the 2nd of December.
Tove Jansson news Tove FestivalA day in the world of Tove Jansson
Below: images from the Tove Festival in Stockholm in 2020
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Tove Festival is a whole day seminar where we immerse ourselves in Tove Jansson and her artistry. Artists, academics, and experts take the stage and discuss Tove Jansson’s art and how it has influenced and inspired artists of today. The audience is taken on a spectacular visual journey with the help of archive mate rial of Tove Jansson and those who knew her.
What did Tove Jansson read, and what books inspired her? In a new temporary exhibition entitled From Tove’s Bookshelves, The Moom in Museum in Tampere, Finland investigates Tove Jansson’s bookshelves.
The Günter Grass-Haus presents the life and work of Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass
The temporary exhibition, which is open un til March 2023, features both books which in spired Tove Jansson and her own books. Some of Jansson’s written and sketched ded ications to friends and family are also on dis play. There are many first edition Moomin books with personal inscriptions, for exam ple, the first edition of Comet in Moominland with a personal inscription from Tove to her father. There are also books by other writers, such as Astrid Lindgren, who sent their books to Jansson with personal inscriptions.
Günter Grass House also offers training for teachers around Tove Jansson. The exhi bition offers numerous starting points for teaching German, art, history and ethics and opens up opportunities for interdisci plinary teaching at the primary and second ary
Jansson was a passionate reader from early childhood, and her library included world literature, children’s books and beautiful il lustrations. The oldest book in the exhibition is from the 1880s, and the newest is from the 1970s. The collection spans almost a centu ry and shows how children’s literature and illustration evolved during that period, and how interested Tove Jansson was in follow ing what other children’s authors were doing.
The Moomin Museum explores Tove Jansson’s Bookshelves
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The TOVE 22 program is constantly being expanded. Further information about the program can be found at www.tove22.de
Jansson collected poems, biographies and re search literature, alongside books illustrated by Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham and Maurice Sendak. The exhibition explores mythical creatures and the most loved figures of children’s literature alongside a selection of Jansson’s cover designs for her own titles.
Openinglevels.dates: March 27 – September 25, 2022
Activities have included an illumination in spired by Moominland Midwinter, on-site lectures and a writing competition at Brake grammar school. An indoor exhibition and an outdoor installation in the seafarers’ museums in Brake ran from April 24 to Sep tember 15. The exhibitions showed a pres entation on Tove Jansson supplemented by a collection of rare Moomin souvenirs. Vis itors got a fascinating insight into how the Moomins were received in Germany during the last decades. The site also featured vin tage Moomin marionettes from the Augs burger Puppenkiste as well as a miniature version of the ABC Module Exhibition, which will also be displayed at the public li brary in Brake later this year.
Tove Brake,22,Germany
The exhibition shows the creation of the en chanting Moominworld. It spans the paint erly oeuvre of Tove Jansson, which has been little known in Germany, to her late litera ture for adults. More than forty top-class loans from Finland are on display. The show takes young and old museum guests on a long journey through the unconventional life and work of Tove Jansson.
Exhibitions
The exhibition is open from May 21st, 2022 to March 12th, 2023.
The Fantastic World of Tove Jansson at Günter Grass House, Lübeck
As a forum for literature and fine arts, it also presents other artists, and this year, they mount an exhibition about Tove Jansson and her work.
Tove 22 is a festival in northern Germany promoting the Moomins as well as the work, life and values of Tove Jansson. It is initiat ed as a non-profit cooperation of a literature society, a seafarers museum and a local art school and will be running for a whole year.
The museum organises many other side events, such as musical Moomin readings.
Moomin Ice Cave invites Moomin fans for a wintery adventure
Moomin Ice Cave, located in Leppävirta, Fin land, is a true winter wonderland. Its exhibi tion, which is renewed yearly, is filled with fan tastic ice sculptures and fun wintery activities.
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In addition, Mrs Fillyjonk decides to visit the Moomin family, which means that there’s no time for sleep – adventures await!
The Ice Cave is located 30 meters under ground in a skiing arena, with a temperature of -3 degrees Celsius. The exhibition consists of ice sculptures and various winter activities, such as snow tubing, husky rides and a sleighThego-round.frozen winter wonderland is carved by the best ice sculptors in the world and the ice sculptures are brought to life with creative lighting and beautiful soundscapes. Each year, the exhibition is renewed with a new theme and new sculptures. For the past couple of years, the exhibitions have been based on sto ries from the Moominvalley animation series.
In 2022, the exhibition is themed “Winter Se crets”. Moominmamma and Moominpappa are about to go into hibernation when the po lice inspector knocks on the door. Stinky has escaped, and the tracks lead to Moominhouse.
“Many of our visitors have asked us to include Stinky in the exhibition, and now we finally have a story with him ”, says Esa Salmiheimo, Managing Director of Vesileppis.
Moominvalley Park – Hanno, Japan Moominvalley Park in Japan has brought joy to Moomin fans for three years! During the Covid period, the park has been updated with some lovely renewals. One of the new additions is a flower walk featuring a col lection of floating flower spots, a so-called Hana-cho-zu. It consists of 15 waterpots decorated with colourful seasonal flow ers representing the love of nature in the Moomin stories, placed at different venues around the park. The on-site restaurant of fering has also been updated, introducing the Lettula lounge area and a takeaway pic nic Locatedmenu.in Hanno, around 50 km from To kyo, Moominvalley Park is the first Moom in theme park outside Finland. It features the Moominhouse, several attractions based on the original books, live shows and meet&greet events with the characters, rep licas of the bathing house and the lighthouse and an exhibition facility. The Moomin gift shop stocks various original goods that can not be purchased anywhere else.
Theme Parks
New outdoor experiences are in the pipeline at Junibacken in Stockholm. The garden has been transformed and this summer a new Moom in playground saw daylight – the biggest one outdoors in Sweden. The Moomin playground is a cooperation between Moomin Characters, Rights and Brands and Junibacken, who have wanted to build upon the books Memoirs of Moominpappa, Who Will Comfort Toffle? and Comet in Moominvalley. In the garden there’s a play with perspectives, and visitors can meet Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Toffle and the Groke, and also Snufkin, Sniff and Moom introll on four meter high stilts. Visitors can slide down a six-meter high Moominhouse on a slide and for the youngest ones, there’s also a big shell fitting both the Oshun Oxtra boat and a smaller slide. And naturally, there is also a blooming garden that comes to life also during winter, with colorful lights and flower-shaped lamps in soft, pulsating light.
“This initiative is a part of our strategy to de velop our range of activities and secure play ing outside during all seasons. It’s an artistic interpretation of the Moomin world with in spiration from three popular Moomin books. The hard-core Moomin fan will find a lot to recognize. It’s both beautiful, fun and magic.”
Sweden’s biggest outdoor Moomin playground opens at Junibacken
“We’ve dreamed about turning the garden into a Moomin playground for a long time. With the playground we want to give chil dren a space for free play and show the way to Tove Jansson’s literature, Kajsa Medin, CEO of Junibacken, says and continues:
–MoominworldNaantali,Finland Moominworld, the first Moomin theme park in the world, is located on a beautiful Island called Kailo, just outside of Naantali’s old convent. Since starting operations in 1993, it has welcomed millions of visitors who come here to see Moomin magic come alive. Here, visitors can meet the Moomin family and their friends, enjoy theatre plays, ad venture walks and visit central Moomin lo cations like the Moominhouse and the bath ing house by the beautiful sea. For many children, hugging the well-known fairy tale characters is the highpoint of the summer, and during a well-visited magic week in February, the place comes alive with winter activities, as the Moomin family wake up from their customary hibernation.
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Funnys Äventyr – Moomin in Malmö Since October 2020, Moomin fans visiting Malmö in Sweden have been in for a real treat. Now you can meet Moomintroll and his friends at Funnys Äventyr in the Mobil ia shopping center at the heart of the city, and shop for lovely Moominous products in the Funnysstore.Äventyr (äventyr is Swedish for adventure) is a culture center for children and a world filled with fairy tales. It also hosts a fairytale-themed store, available to the public without an admission fee, where Tove Jansson’s Moomins play a prominent role in the shape of a shop-in-shop. In the fairytale world you can also meet numerous other characters famous from children’s literature, such as Pettson and Findus, Al fie Atkins, Meia & Halvdan Viking, Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin as well as the Little ReadMermaid.more funnysaventyr.seat: Moominous Coffee All Over The World What could be more inspiring than hav ing a coffee in the magical surroundings of Moominvalley? At the moment, this unique Moominous experience is availa ble in Moomin cafés Helsinki, Finland, To kyo and Hakata in Japan, Seoul in Korea, Bangkok in Thailand, Taipei in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Moomin cafés offer an op portunity to enjoy delicious food and café products in a relaxed and warm ambiance, together with plush toys versions of your favorite Moomin friends.
Moomin Museum – Tampere, Finland
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Theme Parks
Where did the ancestors of the Moomins live? What was Moominpappa’s stormy youth like? What do Hattifatteners do during a thunder storm? These and many other secrets are re vealed in the world’s only Moomin Museum, located in Tampere, Finland.
The Moomin Museum’s first permanent ex hibition What Happens Next? retells the en tire story of the Moomins, starting from the Great Flood and the mad midsummer’s float ing theatre to the puzzle of the lighthouse and the mysterious disappearance of the Moomins one grey November day.
Tove Jansson and her partner, the graphic artist Tuulikki Pietilä, donated a sizeable collection of art to Tampere Art Museum in 1986. The collection comprised of 1009 draw ings and paintings and 38 three-dimensional tableaux. The collection was first displayed in The Moomins exhibition at Tampere Art Museum along with other original sketches and book illustrations by Jansson. The tab leaux are miniature Moomin-themed diora mas crafted by Jansson, Tuulikki Pietilä and their friend, the physician Pentti Eistola Tampere Art Museum displayed the col lection in a museum called Moominvalley from 1987 to 2016. Moominvalley closed in October 2016 and moved to its new perma nent home at Tampere Hall in 2017, where upon its name was officially changed to the Moomin Museum.
As part of the Moomin program, produced by Bakehouse Factory, the Eden visitors got to experience the inspiring Moomin-illustrated ABC Exhibition, helping children explore their emotions, and to follow the Meet the Moom in trail to learn more about all the Moomin characters. And what’s more, children got to enjoy immersive and interactive Moomin-in spired storytelling, flex their creative muscles at a Moomin craft station and settle in to see a mischievous puppet show performed by Get Lost and Found.
Inspiring children to see nature in a new light The idea to include a variety of Moominous el ements into Eden’s half-term program might at first sound exotic, but walking around the paths and trails surrounded by breathtakingly beau tiful nature, it feels very natural. That is what the Moomin stories are all about: adventures in exciting places, curiously exploring surround ings and paying attention to all the beautiful details, animals and plants we are surrounded by. The Moomin program at Eden offered fam ilies a new way to inspire children to see nature in a new light through storytelling.
All emotions are allowed in Tove Jansson’s stories about Moominvalley and its inhabit ants. In Moominvalley, there are many things to be happy about and some things that create fear. There is anxiety, disappointment, and an enormous desire for adventure and longing. In the exhibition, children can also look into a kaleidoscope to see if they can see what they long for, play with letters and make words or a poem, draw their happy place or test different ways to express anger.
If you’re interested in arranging the #Moomin ABC exhibition at an event or at another suit able place, please reach out to the All Things Content team.
Moomins in the rainforest
Different Moomin characters were sprinkled around the surroundings and the domes –with engaging descriptions of the character istics written down on information plates to give the visitors a touch of the Moomin stories while wandering around. One of the Moomin event highlights was when the performers brought the Moomin stories and characters to life in the Citrus Grove in the Mediterranean Biome. They engaged au diences by performing an immersive, interac tive show featuring an exclusively developed soundscape. In practice, the audience had the joy of both listening and taking part in the ad
Situated in an enormous crater of a 160-yearold former china clay mine in Cornwall, UK, the Eden Project is like a living theatre of plants and people. In its essence, it is a garden built into massive domes that house more than 1 million plants, and it is considered the largest greenhouse in the world. It is also an educa tional charity that works toward sustainability and environmental protection. At Eden, one can wander around the world, from the Mediterranean to the rainforest, and explore space-age Biomes, weird and wonderful plants, sounds and smells of the humid jungle, and even birds: scampering around the rainfor est floor are roul-roul partridges and Sulawesi white-eye birds! People of all ages will connect with nature in inspiring ways, from walking through rainforest clouds to clambering in the massive Minibeast Mansion. Eden Project of fers inspiration and practical tips on looking after our beautiful planet and nature – which is something the Moomins also hold dear.
A surprising dive into the Moomin stories in the world’s largest greenhouse venture from The Book about Moomin, Mym ble and Little My. The performers said that a little girl had been in the show already three times and that she knew the book by heart.
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Premiere for the #MoominABC exhibition in the UK The Moomin ABC exhibition offers a thrilling introduction to the alphabet and a tour of the magical Moominvalley. Each display depicts a scene from one of the books and captures a feeling that is explained in the accompany ing text, encouraging visitors to engage with their own emotions and feelings. Children and adults can get acquainted with the Moomin stories and discuss different emotions – sup ported by pedagogical material offered on-site.
Exhibitions
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83The Moomin
The Moomins and their eccentric circle of friends have charmed readers for over 75 years with their humour, wit and approachable life philosophy. Tove Jansson created multi-dimensional characters which readers of all ages can relate to, despite – or sometimes because of – their flaws. Readers can recognize themselves or people they know in the residents of Moominvalley –surely a key factor to many fans’ love of the brand. Moomin is an art-based brand. What distiguishes it from many other character brands is the fact that it is not a creation of the entertainment or licensing indus tries, but a body of art. Nearly eight decades after the publication of the first Moomin story, new audiences fall in love with the adventures and illustrations and want to share them with their children, creating mean ingful experiences that span several generations.
The brandMoomin brand
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The first Moomin story is a hopeful begin ning – Moomintroll and his mother eventual ly make their way to a beautiful and peaceful place that we come to recognise as Moomin valley, and that’s where the adventure begins.
The Birth of the Moomins
The Moomin Brand / Introduction
Tove Jansson had many different answers re garding how her literary characters were born. She learnt the word “moomintroll” from her uncle, Einar Jansson. He warned her of what he called ‘moomintrolls’, figures who lived be hind the stove and could touch her legs with their snouts or blow on her neck if she sneaked up for a nightly snack. In the 1930s, Tove Jansson drew something that resembled a moomintroll on a summer house outhouse wall. She later explained that she drew the ugliest character she could think of during an argument with her brother. Later, she started to draw a similar figure, which she called Snork, as part of the signature for her illustrations in the satirical magazine Garm. In the early 1930s, the young Tove Jansson paint ed dark, red-eyed and slender troll figures in a series of watercolour paintings.
“What sort of thing are you? asked the little creature. I’m a moomintroll, answered Moomintroll, who had had the time to feel brave again, And this is my mother. I hope we didn’t disturb you.” In one way, Moominvalley became that uto pia. It’s a happy place, but also a place where catastrophe looms around the corner – be it in the form of an approaching comet, a thunder storm, or as in several of the Moomin novels: a flood drowning the entire valley.
Tove Jansson went on to write eight novels, four picture books and hundreds of comic strips about the Moomins.
The Moomins appeared as literary characters in 1945 in the first Moomin story called The Moomins and the Great Flood. Here, the shad ows of the war, which Jansson had experi enced while writing the story, are clearly seen. Jansson wrote in her diary that she dreamt of creating a happy society, something different from the depressing and frightening reality of the war-torn Finland she lived in.
The Moomins are literary figures in a series of books and comic strips written and illustrat ed by Tove Jansson, published between 1945 and 1970. The bohemian moomintrolls live in Moominvalley in the Moominhouse, a place where everyone is welcome – the family simply adds a bed or builds a new room if another rel ative or a new acquaintance wants to move in.
Tove Jansson –The creator of the Moomins
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The Moomin Brand / Tove Jansson
The position of the stars must surely have been very favourable on August 9, 1914, when Tove Marika Jansson was born. She was the first of three children in a bohemian, Swed ish-speaking, artist family, in Helsinki. Both her father, sculptor Viktor “Faffan” Jans son and mother Signe “Ham” Hammarsten, made a living from artistic work.
Jansson’s first Moomin stories were not an immediate success in her home country Fin land, but their universal appeal became evi dent when the first books were translated into English in the early 1950s. In 1954, the British newspaper the Evening News started publish ing a Moomin comic strip, written and illus trated by the artist herself. Through the comic strip, Jansson’s enchanting characters were in troduced to millions of readers all around the world, from Canada and South Africa to India and Bermuda. The Moomin comic strip was syndicated by Associated Newspapers in 40 countries and over 100 different newspapers, which meant a total of 20 million readers daily.
“Isn’t life Everythingexciting!canchangeallofasudden,andfornoreasonatall!
– Moomintroll, from the book Moominpappa at Sea
Tove Jansson expressed an artistic interest and talent early on. She was getting her first commissioned work as an illustrator by the age of 15, which is also when she signed her first book contract. As a young adult, her true passion was fine art painting. From an early stage she sought inspiration away from her na tive Finland, studying art in both Sweden and France. By the 1940’s, Jansson was already an established fine art painter with extensive ex perience as an illustrator, most notably from the satirical publication Garm, where she boldly criticised both Stalin and Hitler during World War II. But it was through the Moomin stories written and illustrated between 1945 and 1970, that she achieved worldwide fame.
Tove Jansson’s work reflected the tenets of her life: her love of family, of nature and her in sistence on freedom to pursue her art. “Work and love” was the motto she chose for herself and her approach to both was joyful and un compromising.
– Moominpappa (The Memoirs of Moominpappa, 1950)
The Moomins were only a part of Jansson’s prodigious output – after leaving Moominval ley behind in the beginning of the 1970s, she went on to write a series of classic novels and short stories and also continued her work as a fine art painter, always seeking new ways to express herself artistically. She remains one of Scandinavia’s most loved authors.
“The position of the stars is a remarkable matter! Had I been born a couple of hours earlier, I would have become a keen poker player, and everyone born twenty minutes after me felt compelled to join the Hemulic Voluntary Brass Band (fathers and mothers cannot be careful enough when starting a family, and I recommend making minute calculations).”
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The Moomin Brand / The stories
The novelsMoomin
Tales from Moominvalley 1962 Moominpappa at Sea 1965 Moominvalley in November 1970 Moominland Midwinter 1957 1948 1950/1968 19541946/1968 Tove Jansson both wrote and illustrated the Moomin books. The first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood, was published in 1945. Written between 1946 and 1970, the eight subsequent main Moomin stories range from playful adventures to deeper medita tions on life. The first books in the series are lighter in tone, while the later ones become more complex, layered with meaning. The Moomin books have been translated into close to 60 languages. Their beautiful ink-line drawings and character designs are known and loved by millions. The first Moomin story is rather different from the subsequent eight Moomin novels and re sembles traditional fairytales much more than the other Moomin stories. In the follow ing books, Tove Jansson further developed the Moomin universe through truly original and inventive storytelling, firmly positioning her as an artist and writer of a most singular creative vision. Despite the often playful and humorous tone, she doesn’t shy away from darker themes like loneliness, longing and sorrow, like in Moominland Midwinter, where Too-ticky teaches Moomintroll about the circle of life, or in The Memoirs of Moominpappa, where the family is brought to a crisis by Moominpappa’s longing for adventure.
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The Moomins and the Great Flood 1945
The Moomin Brand / The stories
The
PictureThecomicMoominstripMoominbooks
The Dangerous Journey 1970 Who will comfort Toffle? 1960 The book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My 1952 MOOMIN
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The Moomin comic strip originally appeared in newspapers from 1954 to 1975. It was pub lished in the UK and syndicated in 100 news papers, read by 20 million readers around the world. The strip appeared six days a week for over 20 years. It is divided into 73 episodes, each with distinct titles and storylines. Tove Jansson excelled at satirically describing the absurdity of everyday life, fame, ambition and human folly. The satirical comic strip was aimed at adults, but the stories have charmed readers of all ages. Tove Janssons’s brother Lars took over the production of the comic strip in 1960 when she wanted to fo cus on other work. The comics still appear in newspapers, and have also been published as hard-cover collections. At the same time as she was working on the Moomin novels, Tove Jansson experimented with full-colour picture books. She created innovative ways of storytelling, using verse and a vibrant palette of colours. Her three pic ture books – The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952), Who Will Comfort Toffle? (1960) and The Dangerous Journey (1977) of fer some of the most iconic Moomin images.
The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My creates a journey through varying landscapes in a succession of cut-out pages in stunning colours. Highly inventive at the time with its use of colours, shapes and holes, as well as its timeless rhymes, it remains a true classic among picture books.
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Who Will Comfort Toffle? –an iconic picture book about loneliness and courage
Tove Jansson’s Who Will Comfort Toffle? is a therapeutic clas sic loved by readers of all ages. In the Nordics, it is one of Tove Jansson’s most popular books, and it has never been out of print since it was published in 1960.
Tove Jansson cared deeply about the miffles and toffles of the world, the personalities lurk ing in the shadows, as she stated in an inter view a few years after the book was published:
“It’s heartbreaking to be in something so beautiful, but without being able to enjoy it. And that’s the depression of loneliness”, says Jansz. Who will comfort Miffle? At the beach, a turning point occurs. It arrives in the form of a message in a bottle. Just as in the first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood, where a message from Moomin pappa arrives in a bottle, this bottle message is central to how the story develops.
“It’s that classic trap of the shy child or shy person, who wants to be part of things but just doesn’t know how to bridge that gap”, says Natania Jansz.
Worrying about someone else “Now he has someone else to worry about who isn’t him. Suddenly, when he’s got somebody else whose aid he has to rush to, he feels so much better and immediately starts taking action”, says Sophie Hannah.
Book in focus
In one of the stunningly designed colour spreads of the book, Toffle finds himself on a beautiful beach and discovers a giant shell. But he can’t enjoy it, because he’s got no one to show it to.
A recurring phrase in the book, which is writ ten in poetic rhyme, is “Who Will Comfort Toffle” – and at the outset, there seems to be no one around to do it. Toffle walks alone, lurking in the outskirts of a party in the woods, too shy to enter.
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A Moomin story without Moomins Who Will Comfort Toffle? takes place in Moom invalley, but it doesn’t feature any Moomins. Instead, we meet Fillyjonks, jolly Hemulens, Mymble, Snufkin and many other characters.
“I think a great aspect of the Moomin world is that it cares for the little creatures, the ones who don’t have voices normally and the ones who aren’t being heroic”, says Natania Jansz, publisher at Sort of Books.
“If I’m addressing any particular sort of read er, I’m addressing a Miffle” Who Will Comfort Toffle? “An epic in verse”, is how Tove Jansson de scribed the manuscript for the book to a friend. In Swedish, it consisted of 14 verses with 12 lines each. The pictures were drawn partly in Indian ink and partly as double spreads in colour. Her working title was The Romantic Tale of the Lonely Toffle.
I’m Won’tterrified!someone come and help? Won’t somebody protect me when the Groke be gins to yelp?’ If you are strong and wise and brave, please will you call or write? I’m just a little miffle and it’s very nearly night.
“That note gives him a mission and that’s ac tually when he becomes OK. That’s when he’s saved, really. I think what the story shows us is that it’s not the achieving of the goal that saves you. It’s realizing that you have a mis sion and that you’re going to go for it. And the striving and who you have to become to even stand a chance of accomplishing it.”
What’s the point of a shell if you’ve got no one to show it to?
“Who Will Comfort Toffle? is about a state of mind that every single person on the planet sometimes finds themselves in”, says Sophie Hannah, a bestselling author and poet who translated the book in 2010.
“When I first read it, I wasn’t a Toffle; I was feeling fine, but I could identify with that feeling of alienation and slight discombobula tion”, says Hannah.
The central figure is an introverted and lonely little creature called Toffle, who is too shy to speak to anyone – until he discovers a creature even more afraid than he.
This material features patterns that are suitable for many purposes. The pattern designs are originals made by Tove Jansson. Moomin Colouring Books
Moomin Picture Books
Moomin Comic Strip Covers
The Comic Strip Covers are a set of colourful images similar in style to the Moomin Picture Books. They feature scenes from the Moomin comic strip. Moomin Novels This material features images from the original Moomin novels. The images in this category are all black and white. The images are well suited for high quality products. The Moomin brand offers a wide array of dif ferent artworks for licensing products. At the very heart of the Moomin Artwork lies the original illustrations made by Tove Jansson herself. Being a work of art before being used for licensing, these images resonate with fans who have a far more personal relationship to the characters than to many other licensing Theproperties.images are highly versatile – from playful, multi-colour pictures suitable for children, to more sophisticated, darker imagery in black and white, which tend to attract grown-up Moomin Artwork and the mediabank audiences. This gives the Moomin brand a unique position, which lends itself effortlessly to both mass market and high-end products. In addition to Moomin original materials (see below) there are also new processed materi als, styleguides and new Moomin adaptations available for licensees to use.
This material features the images from Tove Jansson’s picture books. The images are colourful and graphic by nature.
Moomin Original Patterns
This is a new material for the mediabank that will be launched during 2022. The material features lots of lovely little scenes from Moominvalley. It is clear, robust, and easy to use. Moomin Comic Strip This material features all the images from the Moomin Comic strip. The material features the original texts and is in black and white.
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THE MOOMIN ABC COLLECTIONDESIGNBOOK © Moomin Characters
Being able to express yourself is one of the most important things in the world: it allows you to communicate your hopes and dreams, relate to others, engage with the big issues of our times and create change. To express yourself, you first need to learn to read and write.
The Moomin ABC styleguides & tools
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Bonnier Carlsen This material features images drawn by Cecilia Heikkilä and Filippa Widlund for Swedish publisher Bonnier Carlsen. Moominvalley 2D Jep! This material features 2D images from the animated series Moominvalley. Moominvalley 3D This material features images from the Moominvalley 3D animation series.
Basic (Standard Artwork) This material features stand alone characters in black and white and with colours. These standard images are used on a wide range of products.
Tammi This material features images drawn by Riina and Sami Kaarla for Finnish master publisher Tammi, Werner Söderström Ltd.
For the Reading, writing and the Moomins theme (The Moomin ABC for short) and initi atives, a set of tools and styleguides have been created. This collection of artworks and assets goes under the name The Moomin ABC Col lection. Here you can find a wide range of as sets where lettering based on Tove Jansson’s original letters and images have been inter twined to create a new type of material. This material is reserved for use related to the Reading, writing and the Moomins theme.
Puffin This material is based on new adaptations by Puffin, Penguin Random House children’s books.
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The Novels alphabet is based on Tove Jansson’s lettering featuring characters that she drew for the book Moominpappa’s Memoirs. The Alphabet has a hand-drawn quirky feel. It includes four variations: Primary character alphabet Alternative character alphabet Outline alphabet and Filled alphabet
TH E NOVELS AL PHABET
The ABC Collection alphabets feature characters combined with letters.
► All variations of the alphabet can be found in the Moomin Mediabank: ABC - Collection alphabets Primary character alphabet Outline alphabet Filled alphabetAlternative character alphabet
The Moomin
New brand assets & tools MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 3D character models
A set of 3D models that can be used as a start ing point for creating 3D products are now available via the Moomin Approvals team. The 3D models feature standing figures, sit ting figures and compact figures. The new materials are available in glb format and preview images in png format. Access to the materials is granted on a case by case basis. New Moomin lettering The Moomin lettering elements have been created to be used on products and other visual materials as an alternative to the stand ard Moomin typeface. The lettering elements are based on original creations by Tove Jans son. They are available in English, Swedish, and Finnish (English being the primary ver sion). Please note that the lettering elements are not replacements for the Moomin logo but can be used as visual elements in product de sign combined with Moomin artwork. Brand
From 2023 onwards new Seasonal style guides will be available for licensees. These style guides feature new designs for patterns, bor ders and images in several different colour Newways.seasonal styleguides will be available on a bi-annual basis.
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/ Artwork
New SeasonalMoominstyle guides
Faces behind the brand: Erja Lehtinen
In this article series, we introduce people who work with the Moomin brand. First out is Erja Lehtinen, Head of approvals at Moomin Characters. What do you do at Moomin Characters? Simply put, I look after the brand. Our team is in contact with the 800 Moomin licensees and the network of agents and subagents in differ ent territories. What has changed during the 20 years you’ve worked there? I’ve been lucky to have worked with Sophia Jansson for years, growing into my role un der her guidance. Things have changed quite a lot since I started. Back in the days, our office was also the home of our then CEO, Christer Timgren. When we first started putting to gether a styleguide with Sophia 20 years ago, the images were burnt on CD:s and sent out to licensees via mail. At that time, there were less than 100 licensees. The development has been staggering, and it has been a fun ride. What do you like most about your work? The best thing is to see how excited people are to work with this brand. The values and the stories make everything more meaningful. Sometimes we have to say no to ideas even if licensees are excited, but we try to safeguard Tove Jansson’s creation to the best of our abil ities. Every time we face a design or approvals challenge and find a solution that fits both the artwork and the licensee, it feels rewarding. Can you name a memorable Moomin product? There are many… But one that comes to mind is Arabia’s Moomin mug for Fazer from 2004. We were surprised they wanted to use that im age, the brown colours were not the most ex citing. They only made 400 to sell in the Fazer Café in Kluuvi, Helsinki. Today, I’m very hap py I bought one mug, for what I thought was a very high price – 35 € I believe it was. Now those mugs are being sold for around 10 000 € at auctions. Tell us something about yourself outside of your work role! I have a German Shepard, so I walk a lot with her. Another hobby I’ve had since childhood is horseback riding. I’ve always loved nature, hiking, forests, and animals. And my newest hobby is golf. I would love a Moomin golf tour nament, I’m sure there are many golfers in the Moomin ecosystem! I also have a fiancé and two adult children, one of whom is Saara, who works at Moomin.com.
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The Moomin Brand / Timeline
Tove
Tove Jansson is born on August 9th, the eldest child of an artistic family.
Opowiadania Muminków, 1977 Early Moomintroll, 1934 1914 1930’s 1945 1952 1954 1970 MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 96
Tove draws the first Moomin figure on the wall of an outhuose in Pellinki, Finland. The first Moomin story Småtrollen och den stora översvämmningen (The Moomins and the Great Flood) is published.
The Book about Moom in, Mymble and Little My is published. It was the first Moomin picture book by Tove Jansson. The British newspa per The Evening news begins to publish the comic strip Moomin. The last Moomin novel Sent i vember)(MoominvalleyNovemberinNoispublished. in Japan, 1960s
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The Moomin Brand / Timeline
A unique collection of original Moomin art donated by Tove Jansson opens at the Tampere Art Museum. Telecable produces 104 half-hour long Moomin animations. The series is sold to over 60 countries. Tove Jansson passes away on June 27 in Helsinki, Finland. 2014 marked the 100 year anniversary of Tove Janssons birth. To celebrate the anniver sary, special Tove 100 centenary events were arranged throughout the year. The new techniques.blendingandturingthepremieresMoominvalleyanimatedTVseriesworldwideinspringof2019,fearenownedactorscuttingedge2D/3Danimation 2025 marks 80 years since the first Moomin story was published. Tove, Tuulikki Pietilä and Pentti Eistola building Moominhouse, 1970s Moomin opera, Finnish National Opera, 1974 The first Moomin theme park was founded in Naantali, Finland, in 1992 1990 2001 2014 2019
1987
Sub-Agents Japan Rights and Brands Japan Co. Ltd Contact: Kumiko kumiko.ito@rightsandbrands.co.jpIto Hong Kong, China and Taiwan Rights & Brands Asia Contact: Bianca Lee Tel: +852 2975 Email: info@rightsandbrands.asia1267 Benelux CPLG Contact: Brenda brenda.draaisma@cplg.comDraaisma Korea SMC, Seoul Merchandising Co, Ltd Contact: Jusung jusunglee@smckorea.comLee Eastern Europe & Russia Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine Distributors Japan P.O.S. Co. Ltd Kitano www.posjapan.co.jp.info@posjapan.co.jpt.(ImportJapanSaitamaTokorozawashi1-4-3359-1152&Wholesale)+81(0)42938-2277 Norway Inspirasjon Forlag AS Sivløkka 6 1664 post@inspirasjon.noRolvsøywww.inspirasjon.no Moomin Websites Global www.moomin.com UK www.moomin.com Sweden www.moomin.com Germany www.moomin.com Japan www.moomin.co.jp China www.moomin.cn Taiwan www.moomin.tw Theatre Agency North International Theatre Licensing Contact: Vili vili.maunula@agencynorth.comMaunula Brand4Rent Contact: Denis Kulakov Denis Kulakov: dk@brand4rent.ru South-East Asia & Australia Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, Australia, New Zealand Medialink Animation International Ltd. Contact: Noletta noletta@medialink.com.hkChiu UK and Ireland The Point 1888 Contact: Bethan bethan.garton@thepoint1888.comGarton The United States of America and Canada King Features, a unit of Hearst Contact: Christina Nix Christina.NixLynch@hearst.comLynch Cyprus, Greece and Romania Partner Plus Cyprus Limited Contact: Tina tina@partnerplus.grStathopoulou Moomin master agent Rights & Brands is your main partner in global licensing matters. Local sub-agents are also happy to assist you with any questions you may have con cerning Moomin licensing. Moomin Sub-Agent network MOOMIN MAGAZINE | 2022 98
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