The Moomins take on the world

In the beginning, Moomintroll has a longer, sharper nose and is called ‘snork’. The character appears as a dark, shadowy figure in Tove Jansson’s pictures and becomes her trademark in the satirical magazine Garm. The figure can also be found even earlier, graffitied on an outhouse wall in response to a philosophical debate.

Tove Jansson writes the first Moomin story The Moomins and the Great Flood in the 1940s, a time of war and poverty, when children’s stories are rare. Even before its publication, she starts sketching her next book, while staying in Atos Wirtanen’s villa in Kauniainen. Perhaps she finds her inspiration there in the promise of a happier time.

Comet in Moominland

Tove Jansson sketches rocky mountains, starry skies, comets and an observatory similar to the one she knows from Kaivopuisto in Helsinki. The shape of Moomin becomes rounder, softer. Her work culminates in the chapter book Comet in Moominland, about a comet that has veered off course and is heading straight for Moominvalley. Moomintroll and Sniff head to the observatory to find out more. On their way, they meet Snufkin, who becomes Moomin’s best friend, and then Snorkmaiden, who becomes his love interest. Snork and Hemulen also join the gang, giving Moomin a fulsome community.

Faced with a row of disasters, big and small, the friends rescue each other from falling into a pit in the Lonely Mountains, from the terrible Angostura and a giant octopus. The friends survive by helping each other. Snufkin helps to remind Moomin of the things that really matter, namely art and the beauty of nature. He also convinces Moomintroll and Sniff to free themselves from their awkward, materialistic luggage.

The Muskrat philosopher

Atos Wirtanen, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Ny Tid, and Tove Jansson’s boyfriend at the time, decides that his paper needs a comic strip, as has become common in American papers. No sooner said than done, Tove gets to work writing and drawing, and the first series Moomintroll and the End of the World appears on the children’s pages.

It begins much like Comet in Moominland, with a great storm and the grumpy, boozing Muskrat telling the Moomin family about the impending comet. As the family goes out of their minds with worry, the Muskrat lies down in a hammock to read a book by Oswald Spengler about the decline of the West.

The Muskrat is a concrete reminder of the omnipresent philosophy and existentialism in Moominvalley. In the marshland near Wirtanen’s villa there is a place they call the “muskrat swamp”, where Wirtanen often goes to ponder philosophical questions. In her letters, Tove Jansson calls Wirtanen alternately “dearest”, “solofif” (a play on the Swedish word for philosopher – filosof) and “mi caro sofo”, and the thoughts of this real-life philosopher are deeply embedded in Moominvalley.

As the comet casts its shadow over Moominvalley, Tove Jansson tells a story about the importance of friendship, art, beauty and community. When the comet finally arrives in Comet in Moominland, Moomin, his family and friends sit in a cave and hold each other close – reminiscent of a bomb shelter during a wartime air raid. Afterwards, it is eerily silent. There, at the intersection of the warmth of a close-knit community and the cruelty of a great comet, lies the basic philosophy of Moominvalley.

It is February 1957 and Tove Jansson is the guest of honour in Stockholm. Stars of Swedish children’s fiction Astrid Lindgren and Lennart Hellsing are also present. Like Tove Jansson, their popularity has grown alongside the development of the welfare state. But of all the winding queues of fans waiting for autographs, hers is the longest. She has five published Moomin chapter books and a Moomin picture book under her belt, and she is now reading from Moominland Midwinter, her next chapter book to be published later the same year.

Remake!

With all this success, being Moomin-Tove, or the ‘Moomin doodler’, takes up a lot of time. She works across multiple disciplines and assignments. She edits Comet in Moominland several times and the story is adapted into a children’s play called Moomin and the Comet directed by Vivica Bandler at the Swedish Theatre in 1949. There are also two versions of the Moomin and Comet cartoon, first in Ny Tid and later with a professional redesign and modern stylisation, in collaboration with Lars Jansson.

Every time a new piece is produced, it is adapted to its new medium and time. The play Moomin and the Comet contains elements borrowed from Finn Family Moomintroll and The Exploits of Moominpappa, which Tove Jansson has also found time to write. As long as she has the final say, everything will be fine, but art has a way of slipping away from its creator, as though of its own accord. The Gothenburg City Theatre production of Moomin and the Comet is not a great success, and Tove is pleased that the play goes no further.

Moomin and commercialism

After making the conscious decision to support herself on her artistic work alone, Tove Jansson finds herself at a point where she has to turn down most offers, and the Moomins appear on everything from marzipan to ceramics. Moomins in various guises are first sold in Swedish department store NK and Stockmann, and she monitors and approves products through the nascent family company Moomin Characters. When Mettoy Playcraft wants to make dolls, she sends over detailed instructions:

”Say, about 5 to 6 inches for Moomin and Snorkmaiden, and 6 to 7 for the parents (possible 6 ½ for mamma and 7 for pappa as he has his hat on).” Tove Jansson. Life, Art, Words

When Tove Jansson is invited to take part in NK’s big Moomin campaign in Stockholm, she brings both her parents. It is the trip of a lifetime, during which her father Faffan is proud as a peacock and they thoroughly enjoy themselves. Travelling for business consists mostly of networking and signings, while also being an intensive course in the art of protecting one’s privacy, learning to discreetly withdraw.

Lauded and accused

By the time Moominland Midwinter is released, Tove Jansson has been lauded as a genius. She receives the Elsa Beskow Plaque for her illustrations etched from a dark surface, from black to white. She is darling of the critics, favourite of the public and subject of research – and this lavish attention also leads to problems.

An art professor writes in Expressen that Moomin is a rip-off of Verner Molin’s Dark Sow. The accusation is false, because it is technically impossible for Tove Jansson to have been influenced by Molin’s exhibition in Sweden in 1942 while she was stuck in war-torn Helsinki. The business of Moomin, with all the appearances and correspondence, is getting messy.

Writing a farewell

On occasion Tove Jansson says that she thinks Moomin-mania is slowing down, but it never really does. It eventually totals as nine chapter books, three picture books and so many collaborations, translations and business opportunities that a final farewell seems impossible.

The last Moomin chapter book Moominvalley in November is a sort of full stop. When Tove Jansson has finished writing the manuscript and is about to start illustrating, Ham dies. It is summer and her illustration work keeps her going. For a while she does nothing but sit huddled over the work table at Klovharun. She produces 83 pictures and notes: “I have a feeling that I have been worried about Ham all my life”.

Moominvalley in November is dedicated to Lars. He requests that the story be cheerier, but she chooses to keep much of the palpable sadness and sense of time passing. The melancholy wrapped around Moominvalley is reflected in the book’s reception. It is indeed possible to write a farewell.

“Snufkin stood outside his tent and knew that it was time to break camp, he was ready to be off. The valley would soon be cut off .” Moominvalley in November