• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Film
  • DVD
  • Editorial
  • About ScreenFish

ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • News
  • OtherFish
  • Podcast
  • Give
You are here: Home / Film / Moomins on the Riviera: Simple Lives

Moomins on the Riviera: Simple Lives

December 4, 2015 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

Do you know the Moomins? They are the characters in a series of Swedish/Finnish children books and comics dating back to the 1930s that have found their way to scores of languages around the world. Now they come to the big screen in Moomins on the Riviera, a hand-animated film that is very much child-oriented.

Image

The Moomins, created by Tove Jansson, are a family of trolls who live in the northern woods in Moominvalley. They resemble small white hippopotami, but we are assured that they are not related. The family is made up of Moomin, a very agreeable young man (he always seems to say “yes” to any request, his parents Moominpappa and Moominmamma, and Snorkmaiden, his girlfriend and playmate. These are happy and live in harmony with their neighbors and with nature. Moominpappa reflects that he loves being in Moominvalley “where I can live in peace, plant potatoes, and dream.” When they scavenge a wrecked pirate ship, they leave the gold and bring back a treasure chest filled with tropical seeds. Theirs is a life of simple pleasures.

While we see a bit of their life in Moominvalley and meet a few of the other characters from the story (such as Little My, a bit of a bratty human child that revels in the negative), most of the film is about their adventure to the south to go to the Riviera. When they get there, they do not really fit in. They go to an expensive hotel not realizing that they will have to pay. The jet setters and glamourous movie stars bedazzle Snorkmaiden (raising Moomin’s jealousy). Everyone there thinks that the Moonmins must be wealthy enough to be eccentric and so they try to make friends with them. Yet it is clear that the swanky lifestyle is not for the Moomins. As Moominmamma says, “It wouldn’t matter so much if the high life was good for them.”

The idea of simplicity is central to the Moomins and to this film. In a world of Pixar’s technical expertise, and of the beauty of animated films from Studio Ghibli and Cartoon Saloon, some may discount the simplicity of the animation here. But the almost rudimentary style of animation fits very well with the philosophy behind the Moomins. The Moomins live by very simple values: hospitality, honesty, resolving resolutions peacefully, enjoying life. This story teaches those values. It speaks to a life that is not centered in materialism, but in contentment with the basic things in life: family, friends, home, nature. When one of the jetsetters discovers the truth about the Moomins he asks, “You’re not rich?” To which Moominmamma responds, “Not in the way you understand it.” Perhaps these simple lessons and simple values would make good foundations for the children for whom this film is designed.

Share it!

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: animated, Finland, Moomins, Sweden, Tove Jansson

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

THE SF NEWS

Get a special look, just for you.

sf podcast

Hot Off the Press

  • The Ultimate Playlist of Noise: Listening for Life
  • My Little Sister – Bonded for Life
  • WandaVision: Reviving the MCU in the Past
  • Good News: 1on1 with Paul Greengrass (News of the World)
  • From Dreamland to Jungleland, Pursuing Dreams
Find tickets and showtimes on Fandango.

where faith and film are intertwined

film and television carry stories which remind us of the stories God has woven since the beginning of time. come with us on a journey to see where faith and film are intertwined.

Footer

ScreenFish Articles

The Ultimate Playlist of Noise: Listening for Life

My Little Sister – Bonded for Life

  • About ScreenFish
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 · ScreenFish.net · Built by Aaron Lee

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.