''Moominvalley'' ( fi, Muumilaakso, sv, Mumindalen, also known as just ''Moomin'') is a 2019

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

family drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

series. An adaptation of the classic ''

Moomin The Moomins ( sv, Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of novels, short stories, and a comic strip by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of white ...

'' books and comics by writer-illustrator

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and ...

and her brother Lars Jansson, it is created using new techniques in 3D CGI. Finnish production company Gutsy Animations ran a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by cro ...

campaign on Indiegogo from 8 March to 21 April 2017. The campaign was organised in order to raise funds towards visual development of the series. Animation company Anima Vitae was appointed as the lead animation company for the first two seasons of the series. The series attracted over 2.1 Million Finns and has become the most watched show ever on Yle Areena streaming platform and the most watched TV series of 2019 in the whole Finland. The series has 16 million streams on Yle Areena. The tremendously popular series is Finland's most expensive TV show with a €20 million budget. In 2019 the series' first episode was the most watched program on Finnish national broadcaster Yle's streaming service Yle Areena.

Synopsis

The protagonist of the series is Moomintroll, who is curious, kind, sensitive and idealistic. He is a typical hero in a coming-of-age story: he tries to tackle the puzzle of growing up to his true, individualistic self while remaining a beloved part of the family. He lives with his caring Moominmamma and nostalgic Moominpappa. Moomintroll is joined by his best friend, the free-spirited wanderer Snufkin, the chaotic Little My, daydreamer Snorkmaiden, cowardly Sniff, and many other friends.

Cast and characters

Music

Original score music

The original score for the series is composed by world-renowned Finnish musicians, classical violinist

Pekka Kuusisto Pekka Kuusisto (born 7 October 1976 in Espoo) is a Finnish musician. Biography Kuusisto comes from a musical lineage. His grandfather was a composer and organist, his father is a jazz musician who has composed operas, and his mother is a music t ...

and percussionist

Samuli Kosminen Edea is a Finnish musical group. The Edea's song lyrics are written in an older form of the Finnish language and speak of old traditions as well. The mysterious runic symbols inscribed on the bows of Viking boats, door posts, drinking vessels, and ...

, with

Jarmo Saari Jarmo Ilari Saari (born 14 March 1970) is Finnish a guitarist, composer and producer. He has played in the bands XL, ZetaBoo and Anna-Mari Kähärän orkesteri as well as published three solo records as a part of his Solu-project. In 2012 Jarm ...

joining them in season 2. The Music supervisor for the series is Virpi Immonen. Kuusisto's father,

Ilkka Kuusisto Ilkka Taneli Kuusisto (born 26 April 1933) is a Finnish composer of popular opera and father of Jaakko Kuusisto and Pekka Kuusisto. He was born in Helsinki, and was the general manager of the Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera an ...

, had previously composed an opera for the Moomins with Tove Jansson in 1974. The official

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

was released on 19 April 2019.

Moominvalley Official Soundtrack, Season 1

The series also includes episodic songs which are produced in collaboration with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

and

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. The official soundtrack for the Moominvalley TV series (Release Date: 19th of April 2019) includes 16 original recordings from a stellar line-up of artists including Tom Odell,

First Aid Kit A first aid kit or medical kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to give immediate medical treatment, primarily to treat injuries and other mild or moderate medical conditions. There is a wide variation in the contents of first aid ...

, Alma, Delilah Montagu,

Declan McKenna Declan Benedict McKenna (born 24 December 1998) is an English singer-songwriter. He initially gained recognition for winning the Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition in 2015. McKenna self-released the song " Brazil", a protest son ...

MØ Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen (; born 13 August 1988), known professionally as MØ (), is a Danish singer and songwriter. She signed a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment in 2012, releasing her debut extended play, '' Bikin ...

, SOAK and many more. Also, a limited edition of 12” picture disc on clear vinyl was made available in 4 colourways, each featuring a different Moomin character. Release date was the 19th of April 2019.

Moominvalley Official Soundtrack, Season 2

The second season includes nine original songs from up-and-coming artists such as Cavetown, girl in red, Jesse Markin and jens. The official soundtrack album, created in collaboration with Sony Music Finland, was released on April 10 2020 globally on the major streaming platforms (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Google Play & Tidal).

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2019–2020)

The first two episodes of season two were screened at

Finnkino Finnkino Oy is a Finnish film distributor and the biggest cinema chain in Finland. It was established in 1986 as a union of 34 companies working in the film industry. In 1994 Finnkino was acquired by the Rautakirja Group, which became a division ...

cinemas in Finland on 2 February 2020, exactly a month before these episodes premiered on Yle TV2 and Yle Areena on 2 March 2020.

Season 3 (2022)

Season 4 (2024)

International broadcast

Moominvalley has been sold to more than 60 countries. Moominvalley first aired on

Yle TV2 Yle TV2 ( fi, Yle TV Kaksi; sv, Yle TV Två) is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Yle. TV2 was launched in 1965 as the successor to the former television channels TES-TV (Tesvisio) and Tamvisio, and broadcasts public service ...

in Finland on 25 February 2019, and a day after in Swedish on

Yle Teema & Fem Yle Teema & Fem is a Finnish free-to-air television channel owned by Finnish state-broadcaster Yle. It was launched on 24 April 2017, after Yle Teema and Yle Fem merged to this channel. Teema & Fem is Yle's channel for culture, education, and sci ...

. It began airing in the United Kingdom on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

, Sky Kids and

NOW TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...

on 19 April 2019. The first eight episodes aired overnight between 2:00 and 6:00 am, and were then repeated in pairs between 5:30 and 6:30 pm over the Easter weekend from 19 to 22 April. Episodes 9–11 followed on the afternoon of Saturday 27 April, 12–13 on Sunday 28. The first five episodes of season 2 aired over the weekend before Christmas 2019, with the remainder broadcast over the following Easter weekend, 10–13 April 2020. Japan's national broadcaster

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

premiered Moominvalley on its BS4K channel on 4 April 2019. The series has also been sold to China. On 9 August 2019 it launched on

WildBrain WildBrain Ltd. (formerly known as DHX Media, Ltd.) is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of childr ...

's YouTube channel. In November 2020 it was announced that Moominvalley had been recommissioned for a third season by anchor broadcasters Yle in Finland and Sky in the UK. The first eight episodes aired on

Sky Showcase Sky Showcase is a British pay television channel which launched on 1 September 2021 along with Sky Max. It is owned and operated by Sky Group, a division of American media company Comcast. The channel was announced on 28 July 2021 to replace S ...

in pairs from Good Friday 2022 (15 April) until Easter Monday (18 April), with the remainder scheduled, also in pairs until the final episode, for subsequent Sundays. On 1 May 2019

PGS Entertainment PGS Entertainment is a French-Swiss privately owned investment family group dedicated to the financing and brand management of independent producers' children's television programming. PGS' broadcast and media partners include Nickelodeon, Disney ...

acquired the distribution rights to ''Moominvalley.'' In the United Kingdom, the series also airs on

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal ...

as part of the CBBC Alba block, where it is dubbed in Scottish Gaelic.

Reception

Ratings

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

Awards

In 2019 Moominvalley was awarded the ''Best Animated Kid's Programme'' at TBI'
Content Innovation Awards
The series also won a ''

Golden Venla The Finnish Television Academy (Televisioakatemia RY, which comprises MTV3, Yle, Sanoma and SATU ry) organizes the Golden Venla (Kultainen Venla) competition and gala. The Golden Venla Awards recognize the year's best Finnish television programs, ...

'' award for 2019 Best Children's Program and won ''Best Children’s Series'' at 202
British Animation Awards
Moominvalley was nominated for ''Best Animation'' and ''Best Storytelling'' at 2019

Shanghai Television Festival The Shanghai Television Festival (), abbreviated STVF, also known as the Shanghai International Television Festival is the first and one of the largest television festivals in East Asia. Held since 1986, STVF has become one of the most influential ...

. In 2020 Moominvalley was a

New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

nominee and additionally, nominated for the best Children's animation at

Banff Rockie Award The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

s. Moominvalley was shortlisted for Broadcast Digital Awards in 2020 and selected for Encounters' Film Festival's competition programme in the same year. It was nominated for an

International Emmy Kids Award The International Emmy Kids Awards, founded in New York City in 2013, recognize excellence in international children's programming produced initially outside the United States, and are presented annually by International Academy of Television Art ...

. In 2020 Moominvalley was nominated for Best Children's Program in Golden Venla Awards for the second year around.

References

External links

* *
Moominvalley
on Moomin.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Moomins (2019 TV series), The Moomin television series 2019 British television series debuts 2010s British animated television series 2020s British animated television series British children's animated drama television series Finnish children's animated drama television series English-language television shows Sky UK original programming British computer-animated television series