Moomins at Christmas are talking your language

They’ve been around for over 65 years, enchanting (mainly) children through books, television, film, radio and even opera. Now the Moomins have made a rather unique Guinness World Record attempt, a year in advance of the theatrical release of Moomins at Christmas.

December 2017 was evidently too long to wait, so to mark the official announcement of this date, along with 100 years of Finnish independence – the nationality of Moomins creator Tore Jansson – the movie’s title song, Bring the Snow, has been released on YouTube in 23 different languages.

Not only that, but the tune will also be used as the official ‘Christmas Greeting’ of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, as part of the celebrations. It was written by Finnish musician Paula Vesala and is performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The film itself is a joint production by Filmkompaniet and Animoon, with the former responsible for the restoration of the Moomins franchise animation, as well as the feature Moomins and the Comet Chase.

Filmkompaniet Executive Producer, Tom Carpelan, elaborates: “The Moominvalley is always inclusive and welcoming, with a great respect for those who are unique. For Filmkompaniet, the idea of recording multiple versions of the tile song reflected this spirit at its core; very few things are more personal and important than your mother tongue.”

The many languages through which Bring the Snow can be enjoyed include English, Russian and Korean, not to mention Hindi and Hebrew, with all now available to view online. The first two versions to be officially released, simultaneously, were in Finnish and Swedish with the rest to follow throughout this month. Krista Siegfrids, who sings the Swedish contribution, said: “I watched the Moomins as a child and I love all of the characters, so it has been  an honour to sing the title song of the film for all Swedish-speaking audiences.”

With the Moomins now reaching out to a wider global audience than ever before, something beyond the film and music has been created at this most symbolic time of the year. Click here for the Moomins at Christmas YouTube channel.