Similarly the fantastic characters whom Moomin and his family encounter, including worldly vagrants, pessimistic professors and eccentric artists were most likely all modeled after characters Jansson encountered in real life as the daughter of a sculptor and an illustrator. This comes as no surprise since many of the Moomintrolls’s adventures mirror experiences Jansson had during the summers she spent on Klovharu, an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Finland.
While readers may assume Moominvalley is an imaginary land, Finnish readers identify the setting as entirely realistic.
Tove Jansson, 1956 Courtesy Wikimedia Commons In her stream of consciousness memoir, Sculptor’s Daughter, Jansson recalls her unique upbringing within the city of Helsinki and among the rich nature of the Finnish countryside. Here, as everywhere, those who discover Moomin and his family become enchanted.Īs the daughter of artists, Jansson’s Moomin comics reflect her rollicking and introspective childhood. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2006 that the Montréal based publisher, Drawn and Quarterly, brought Moomin comics to North America. Today Moomins are as popular as ever and not just in their native Finland Moomin books have sold more than 15 million copies around the world since they were published in 1945. And this is despite Jansson’s refusal to work with Disney - take that Mickey Mouse! Since then, their adventures have been translated into 44 languages, and Moomins have become some of the most popular children’s characters in the world, even going as far as building their own theme park. In just two years the comic strip reached 12 million readers thanks to its publication and syndication through the British Associated Press in 120 newspapers around the world. In 1951, Jansson’s third children’s book, Finn Family Moomintroll, was translated into English and caught the attention of a London agent who asked her to produce six strips a week for the next seven years.
Tove Jansson, Self Portrait ( courtesy Tove 100) Moomin is the main character of Jansson’s comic strip, which follows the whimsical Moomintroll family on various adventures as they subvert their “very ordinary middle-class life.” The family is made up of practical Moominmamma and eccentric Moominpappa, their romantic son Moomin, and his flighty girlfriend Snorkmaiden. In the 1940s, the caricature evolved into the cuddly, and not entirely un-philosophical Moomintroll family. Moomin began as a caricature of Immanuel Kant, drawn on a bathroom wall by the Finnish visual artist, illustrator and author Tove Jansson during an argument with her brother.
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