The article spots well the dark side of the moomins, but in my opinion goes too deep into it. My disagreements boil down to this: "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life." Yes, all these things exist, but the point to me has always been that they are cutesy despite that! The stories paint a very typical family dynamic (at least of the time, at least in a Finnish swedish speaking family like Tove's), throws it into weirdest situations, and they all survive together thanks to, and despite, their dysfunctions. And Moominmamma is the most wholesome character ever, period.

On topic: interesting read. I'd never think these stories had so much dark side to them.

I got all 9 stories in 3 books at the age of 11 and read most of them, and was very happy with the stories, never noticing any of the dread the article speaks about.

Especially the Midwinter story was fascinating - we lived not that North, but in cold winter mid-continent, and the story was like looking out watching for the first signs of the spring, that eventually always comes, but you shouldn't celebrate any of those too early -- when day temperature comes above 0 in March, you know it's going to be freezing in the evening. (Later I was stunned with foreigners in our city complain of this March weather, call it "winter" and be depressed!)

A few years ago someone on social networks posted her impressions from reading them out loud to children -- that indeed it's depressive.

So I guess, the conclusion is that people make opposite meanings and moods of the same events.

Another thing is that for long-running franchises, it's really interesting to watch the progression of character design. Both visually and characteristically. The first Moomins look really weird, but fun, compared to the later iterations. Because, of course, the context also changed a lot around them - in real life, not in-universe.

I'm watching them now with our son, and I guess I was just born with a strong appreciation for melancholia.

I changed my mind, when I was a kid I thought they were good, now I think they are great!

In many ways, what makes moomin dark is that it shows us what we already know, the world _just_is_ and in the big picture, does not care about you, you might die, someone you care about might go away, and everyone is, fundamentally, alone, and what makes a person who they are, is partly how they deal with, if at all, being alone in this world of loners.

Moomin is very real and very direct in its dealings with the pain of the meaninglessness of life.

Snufkin, as a child, I took him for a cynic and disliked him, but he taught me something about the world, I think he is a stoic and a nihilist, and I very much like him now, he simply _IS_ in the world, and he accepts, and so appreciates that which also simply is, and which he cannot control.

Yeah, Moomin is dark, but life is dark, life is pleasure and pain, and we will all die, everyone we ever loved will suffer and die, but they will also experience pleasure and life, one could chose only suffering and death, one cannot chose only pleasure and life, and must come to terms with the fact that the underpinnings of pleasure and life is indeed suffering and pain. That's it, the world just is, and we're just in it.

I feel like a lot of the cartoons and tv shows of my childhood was like this, life.. it kinda has bad parts.. and back then, they showed them to kids, and what do I know.. maybe it prepared us to take it on ?

Everything the Grimms brothers collected and Disney sanitised still hides warnings.

I have read all my children “The Tiger who came to Tea” as well as taken them to theatre performances- and the author ran from Germany hours before the Gestapo came knocking and it affected much of her life and writing (“Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit” is the autobiography I think)

So yeah. It’s got layers onion boy, layers.

Still have fond memories of my kid hugging a six foot moomin in Covent Garden.

https://www.moomin.com/en/blog/who-will-comfort-toffle-backs...

> But when he tries to write about how lonely he has been, About his house and Hemulen, the smooth white shell he’s seen,

> The Groke, the night he sailed the sea, he finds no words will come. He is too shy to write his tale. Poor Toffle is struck dumb.

> So Who Will Comfort Toffle now? Will someone lend a hand And help him write to Miffle so that she can understand?

Mozzarella is moomin meat.

It used to be even more but someone from Japan found a few.

And the creator refuses to talk about some of the lost episodes.

Findus is more of experimenter. He comes up with an idea about something, and ends up following that idea so that it gets tested. He isn't a systematic, scientific experimenter though, since he's a cat.

I also liked all the little animals. To contrast that with the Moomin stories, I only saw it on TV, but it was immediately obvious that they were very austere and very Finnish, even though of course, the author is a Finland-Swede. It's good stuff, but can be, not scary, but something adjacent, to watch as a child. It might be worth it since it allows you to understand these characters in this very austere, isolated environment.

As for the Moomins, I don't know what you all are on about in the comments. I'm with OP on this one. Lasting child Moomin impressions:

- Original comic: Dark, heavy, existential, anxious, depressed, sarcastic, "this is probably not for kids". Still loved them and still find them underrated and wish more people read them.

- Mainstream TV cartoon: Fun fantastical times. And Groke (aka Mårran) was indeed nightmare material

- Newspaper comic: Couldn't keep track

- TV live action: Now this was the true nightmare material. I think it was supposed to be lighthearted but my brother at 37 still talks of how it traumatized him.