Moomin (partially lost anime series; 1969-1970)

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Moomin my.jpg

Moomin and Little My as they appear in the series.

Status: Partially Lost

Moomin (ムーミン, Mūmin) is a multimedia franchise created by Finnish author Tove Jansson. The series is known for having many different iterations, including comic strips, books, TV shows, films, and anime. Despite being wildly popular in Japan, the 1969 anime was never approved by Jansson, due to drastic changes made to the settings and characters. Due to disapproval from the Jansson estate, cancelled contracts, and production getting moved to different companies, the 1969 series is riddled with issues preventing it from being released today. Despite this, many episodes have been recovered. The series ran for sixty-five episodes, and out of them, twenty-nine are still considered lost.

History

In 1969, Zuiyo Enterprises, now known as Nippon Animation, bought the rights to produce a Moomin anime as part of a television block for Fuji TV. The television block, now known as World Masterpiece Theater, is known for adapting classical books from around the world for a Japanese audience. [1] Famous animator and character designer Otsuka Yasuo would work as producer for the show as a side project from his current work, the anime adaptation of Lupin III. Oosumi Masaaki would join as director, along with writer Tadaaki Yamazaki. Zuiyo would contact production company Tokyo Movie Shinsha (TMS) to oversee completion of the project, with A Productions (now known as Shin-Ei Animation) animating the show.[2]

The dramatic shift in tone from Jansson's work is why she did not think fondly of the 1969 series.


Production Troubles

The series had an extremely troubled production period. When TMS adapted Jansson’s comic to television, some changes were made, many of which without her approval. The character designs by Yasuo Otsuka had notable mouths that appeared when the Moomintrolls spoke, which differed greatly from Jansson’s original artwork. Although many viewers considered these character designs cute, Jansson disliked their lack of sharpness, and how it made the characters resemble hippos.[3]

One character, who is simply known as “The Snork Maiden” had her name changed to “Non-Non” for the anime. However, Jansson associated the name with negative phrases like No, No, and asked for it to be changed.[4] As such, later iterations would either simply keep the name Snork Maiden, or change it to something different, like the 1990’s series changing her name to Floren.

When Episode 7 premiered, TMS decided to screen it to Jansson, hoping for her approval. She heavily disproved of it, sending letters to TMS, with one infamous quote being “This is not my Moomin!”[5] Characters could be seen with guns, getting drunk, and getting into fights, a major departure from Jansson’s mild-mannered series. Needless to say, she was not satisfied with how the anime was progressing.

Jansson did not dislike every aspect of the series, however. It is said that she enjoyed the backgrounds for the series, praising the way the sky and water was painted.[6] But, she was still dissatisfied with the series as a whole. As a result, she ordered TMS to switch producers, and they complied. Starting with Episode 27, Mushi Productions, best known for series such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, would start work on the series, causing a sudden shift in tone. [1] No longer were there any cars, guns, or alcohol present in the show, and it was overall much tamer. The series would go on for another 33 episodes. It ran for 65 episodes from October 5th, 1969 to December 27th, 1970.[1] In 1972, Mushi Pro would develop a sequel to the anime series, known as Shin Moomin.

There was a dramatic shift in character designs from the 1969 series to the 1972 series.

Episode List

# Japanese Title English Title Availability
1 " シルクハットのひみつ" "The Secret of the Silk Hat" Found
2 "悪魔のハートをねらえ" "Aim for the Devil's Heart" Found
3 "雨だ!あらしだ!!洪水だ!!!" "Rain! Storm!! Flood!!!" Found
4 "ふしぎの泉はどこにある?" "Where is the Wonderful Spring?" Found
5 "パパの思い出のライフル" "Papa's Remembered Rifle" Found
6 "かえってきたノンノン" "Nonnon Who Comes Back" Found
7 "さよならガオガオ" "Good-bye, Gao-Gao" Found
8 "ノンノンがあぶない" "Nonnon is in Danger" Found
9 "ムーミン谷の列車大強盗" "Train Great Robber of Moomin Valley" Found
10 "ふしぎなこびと" "Mysterious Midget" Found
11 "消えたコレクション" "Collection Which Disappeared" Found
12 "ムーミン谷のクリスマス" "Moomin Valley Christmas" Found
13 "パパは売れっ子作家" "Papa is a Popular Writer" Found
14 "ムーミン谷最後の日" "The Last Day in Moomin Valley" Found
15 "帆を上げろ!ムーミン号" "Put Up the Sail! Moomin Ship" Found
16 "謎のグノース博士" "Dr. Gnos of Mystery" Found
17 "ベビーはどこに" "Where is a Baby?" Found
18 "乞食になりたい" (再放送で「金持ちはもうやだ」に変更される) "I Want to Become a Beggar (changed to "I Already Got Tired of the Rich Person" at the time of rebroadcast)" Found
19 "月着陸OK!" "Moonlanding, O.K.!" Found
20 "スキーでハッスル! " "Hustle on Skis!" Found
21 "ふしぎな家なき子" "Strange Child Without Home" Found
22 "山男だよヤッホー! " "Mountaineer, Yoo-hoo!" Found
23 "チビのミー大作戦" "The Big Operation Plan of Little Mee" Found
24 "おさびし山のガンマン" "The Gunman of Deserted Mountain" Found
25 "おめでとうスノーク" "Congratulations, Snork" Found
26 "ノンノンこっちむいて" "Nonnon, Please Turn Around to Me" Found
27 "顔をなくしたニンニ" "Ninny Who Lost a Face" Found
28 "小さな大冒険" "Small, Great Adventure" Lost
29 "ひこう鬼現わる" "Flying Demon (The Hobgoblin) Appears" Lost
30 "天国からの贈りもの" "Present from Heaven" Lost
31 "ごめんねスティンキー" "Sorry, Stinky" Lost
32 "森のゆうれい屋敷" "Haunted House in the Forest" Lost
33 "おくびょうな豆泥棒" "The Cowardly Beans Thief" Lost
34 "金の馬銀の馬" "Golden Horse, Silver Horse" Found
35 "夏祭りのオーロラ" "Aurora of Summer Festival" Lost
36 "ムーミンパパのノート" "Moomin's Papa's Notebook" Lost
37 "小さなみにくいペット" "Small, Ugly Pet" Found
38 "人魚さんこんにちわ" "Miss Mermaid, Hello" Lost
39 "家にいるのは誰だ" "Who is in the House" Lost
40 "ニョロニョロのひみつ" "The Secret of Nyoro-Nyoro" Lost
41 "マメルクをつかまえろ" "Catch Mamelk" Lost
42 "大きな大きなプレゼント" "Big, Big Present" Lost
43 "あらしの怪獣島" "Stormy Monster Island" Lost
44 "海の星はどこに" "Where is the Sea Star?" Lost
45 "悪魔の島がやってきた" "Devilish Island Has Come" Lost
46 "真夏の雪を探せ" "Look for Snow of Midsummer!" Lost
47 "なくしたペンダント" "The Lost Pendant" Lost
48 "歩いてきた山びこ" "Echo Which Has Walked" Lost
49 "ピアノなんか大嫌い" "I Hate Pianos" Found
50 "眠りの輪をぬけだせ" "Slip Out the Ring of Sleep" Lost
51 "秋はおセンチに" "To Be Sentimental in Autumn" Lost
52 "月夜に踊る人形" "The Doll Who Dances in the Moonlit Night" Lost
53 "凧が知っていた" "The Kite Knew" Lost
54 "さようなら渡り鳥" "Good-bye, Migratory Bird" Lost
55 "鳩は飛ばない" "Doves Don’t Fly" Lost
56 "ムーミン谷のカーニバル" "Carnival of Moomin Valley" Lost
57 "お婆ちゃんのひみつ" "The Old Woman's Secret" Found
58 "ノンノンがいなくなる?" "Is Nonnon Gone?" Found
59 "手品にはタネがある" "There is a Trick in Magic" Found
60 "ひとりぼっちの冬" "Lonely Winter" Found
61 "消えた雪うさぎ" "Snow Rabbit Which Disappeared" Lost
62 "氷姫のいたずら" "The Ice Princess' Mischief" Lost
63 "一日だけのお姫様" "Princess Just for a Day" Lost
64 "影なんか恐くない" "Who's Afraid of Shadow?" Found
65 "おやすみムーミン" "Good Night, Moomin" Found


Availability

Surprisingly, all of the A Pro episodes have been recovered, while some of the episodes animated by Mushi Pro are still considered lost.

Episodes 1 to 26 were released on Laserdisc in Japan between December 1989 and December 1990 (7 volumes in total). The first volume also includes a 4 minutes pitch pilot never released before.

There was also 2 VHS released in Japan each containing 2 episodes each: 37 and 49, then 34 and 64.

In 2017, the YouTube channel "Muppet" uploaded several 1969 Moomin episodes, including episodes 57, 58, 59, 60 and 65.[7] In the same year, another YouTube channel, "David Dammann", uploaded some episodes of the series, though none were lost episodes.[8] The rest of the episodes in the playlist are mislabeled 1972 Shin Moomin episodes.

However, because of Jansson’s overall distain for the series, it is extremely unlikely that an official re-release will happen in the future. Not to mention, there are undoubtedly copyright issues because of production companies shifting from A Pro to Mushi Pro. However, the show was quite popular during re-broadcasts, so there are possibilities that VHS recordings of the remaining lost episodes could exist. Of course, this assumes that the original master copies of the Mushi Pro episodes still exist.

External Link

References