Moomins series secures first buyer

MIPTV: Finland’s public broadcaster has come onboard the latest animated series based on the classic Nordic children’s property The Moomins.

Moomin & Friends

YLE has pre-bought the first two seasons of Moomin & Friends, totalling 52 episodes, which it is set to begin airing in the spring of 2019 in both Finnish and Swedish.

It marks the first sale for the series currently being produced by Helsinki-based Gutsy Animations, which is in the middle of an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise US$200,000 towards development costs. At the time of writing, 1647 backers have pledged US$103,012.

The creative team behind the series include UK-based writing partners Nick Ostler and Mark Huckerby, who are co-writing with director Steve Box (Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit).

The series will be the most faithful screen adaptation of Tove Jansson’s books to date and already has interested networks in the UK, the US and Japan, according to the producers.

“It is an excellent addition to YLE Drama’s family programming, in which animation has traditionally played an important role,” said Jarmo Lampela, head of YLE Drama.

“As a Finnish/British collaboration, Moomin has an international appeal, particularly in a world where Tove’s philosophy of friendship, tolerance, and personal courage is more important than ever,” said Marika Makaroff, CEO of Gutsy.

There have been three made-for-TV adaptations of Jansson’s books, with the most recent, Moomin, produced in 1990. More recently there has been the animated feature film Moomins on the Riviera, which was produced in France and released in cinemas in more than 50 countries in 2014.