Moomin (partially lost anime series; 1969-1970)
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]
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.
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
- The Japanese Wikipedia article on the series. Retrieved 17 Jun '20
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Article from cartoonist Charles Brubaker about the 1969 Moomin series. Retrieved 15 Jun '20
- ↑ Information on the production history of the 1969 Moomin anime. Retrieved 16 Jun '20
- ↑ Information on what species Moomin is from the official Japanese Moomin website. Retrieved 17 Jun '20
- ↑ Information on the 1969 series from the official Japanese Moomin website. Retrieved 15 Jun '20
- ↑ Yamazai, Tadaaki (2007). "Nikatsu Action Muyocho."
- ↑ (11 Nov, 1971). “Yomiuri Shimbun.”
- ↑ YouTube User "Muppet", who has uploaded many episodes from the 1969 Moomin series. Retrieved 12 Oct '20
- ↑ YouTube User "David Dammann", who has uploaded episodes from the 1969 Moomin series. Retrieved 12 Oct '20