# Any Moomin love on the Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989 "2011-09-20T21:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/21 "2011-09-21T20:01:04Z")
> [@Time\_Stranger](#): > > See here: [Moomin Pez Dispensers](http://mmcbride.myweb.uga.edu/img/moomin_pez.jpg). They are mini ones! I kind of get the feeling over in Finland there is Moomin **everything** though. Those are _great_! I also love the [birthday cake](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v341/Madigan24/MoominCake.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/22 "2011-09-21T20:27:22Z")
I loved Moomin as a kid, too. Now my kids’ TV channel has a moomin cartoon show that is pretty good. Tove Jansson wrote a [novels](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?field-keywords=tove+jansson&url=search-alias%3Daps&x=0&y=0) as well. It has the same atmosphere as the moomin books. I always thought the Japanese movie/comic [Spirited Away](http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3619684633/) was inspired by Jansson. OOh! Their [wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin) says they have a themepark ! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/23 "2011-09-21T20:47:54Z")
\*\*Massintroll \*\*- I’ve read _The Summer Book_, and I really liked it, but I disagree it has the atmosphere of the \*Moomin \*books. _The Summer Book_ is like a very spare watercolor, but what those few brushstrokes paint is reality. The \*Moomin \*books feel more surreal. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/24 "2011-09-21T21:40:08Z")
:eek: EEk! and I thought I was the only person who knew what a Mumintroll was! Frankly, I always thought the Smurfs were a ripoff but oddly both Finland and Japanese share some characteristics. Both have an agglutinated language and a belief in a variety of odd eff-like creatures, both visible and invisible that inhabit the world. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/25 "2011-09-21T21:50:16Z")
The Smurfs are from Belgium and Moomins from Finland. The Moomins are cooler (and predate _Les Schtroumpfs_). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/26 "2011-09-22T00:01:16Z")
I read some Moomin books as a boy. And haven’t seen one since. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/27 "2011-09-22T01:24:55Z")
So what is the age range for Moomin? I have a niece that just turned 2… If I wanted to get her started, where would I start? And when? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/28 "2011-09-22T02:01:51Z")
They’re chapter books; I could read about a chapter a night to my kids maybe around age 5 or 6. They could read them themselves maybe at age 8. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/29 "2011-09-22T04:23:04Z")
I went through a big Moomin phase at around 8-9 years old and still have a fond spot in my heart for the books. I currently own around 5 or 6 of the books, most of which are discarded library copies. Gotta have some as part of the home library so I can introduce my kids to the Moomins! I can’t remember where I bought it, but around 10 years ago I was in a store and came across some little (about 3" across) ceramic saucers with Moomin scenes on them. I bought one and it’s one of my prized possessions. Holy cow, I just checked out ebay and [it’s selling for $169](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arabia-Finland-Moomin-wall-Plate-Quiet-Moment-1995-02-/160500659327?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255e95b47f). :eek: I think I bought it for about $10. It’s been a while since I’ve read the books so they’re a little foggy in my memory, but my favorites are Comet in Moominland, Finn Family Moomintroll and Moominsummer Madness. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/30 "2011-09-22T12:18:04Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > OOh! Their [wikipedia page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin) says they have a themepark ! They sure have: [Moomin World - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin_World) ETA: [http://www.muumimaailma.fi/en/home](http://www.muumimaailma.fi/en/home) ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/31 "2011-09-24T11:52:28Z")
> [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](#): > > Comet in Moominland was pretty much an allegory for the Soviet invasion of Finland during WW2. 😕 What invasion? There never was one, thank Og. Sorry for the hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/32 "2011-09-24T12:15:24Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > 😕 What invasion? There never was one, thank Og. Sorry for the hijack. Perhaps you’re using another definition for the word “invasion” than I am, but when a country attacks another country with the explicit intent of taking over, it’s an invasion. From [thefreedictionary.com](http://thefreedictionary.com). > [@](#): > > in·va·sion (n-vzhn) > n. > **1. The act of invading, especially the entrance of an armed force into a territory to conquer.** > 2. A large-scale onset of something injurious or harmful, such as a disease. > 3. An intrusion or encroachment. Emphasis added. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/33 "2011-09-24T12:40:53Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I \*love \*those books–I grew up reading them! They are partially responsible for the dark, warped adult I became. Ditto. My personal love was for the Hattifatteners, inexplicable animal/plant things that clustered around being vaguely and inexplicably menacing, and ate electricity. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989/34 "2011-09-24T15:15:08Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > 😕 What invasion? There never was one, thank Og. Sorry for the hijack. I expect he means [this invasion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War), the Winter War. (I’ve been listening to bits of the Hardcore History podcast, and the guy says that the way the outnumbered Finns fought off the enormous-but-weakened Red Army helped to convince the Germans that it was a good idea to invade the USSR.) Anyway. I also have much Hattifattener love, especially the way they wave their hands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-moomin-love-on-the-dope/596989.md?page=1)