Moomin - Volume Two [1990] [DVD]

Firstly, the bad points: That is, the one bad point. The art on the boxset/menu screen is obviously not the geniune art is an incredibly lazy imitation. Was it so had to just get a screenshot? The good points: Completely ignore the above because MOOMIN. This is an incredible series. I loved it as a child, and my partner and I recently thought it wise to purchase the DVD sets. And We were not dissappointed in any way. The characters are just as I remembered them (Snufkin was always a favourite and still is) and wow. It's an engaging program, and it somewhat follows a storyline, not so much that you'd need to have seen all the previous episodes, but it's not just Random Episode followed by Random Episode, like a lot of children's television (and some television meant for adults these days...). And the best thing is, it isn't patronising, so as an adult, it isn't embarrassing to watch. If you enjoyed Moomin in the 90s, you'll still enjoy it, and if you have children, I'd recommend showing them what Mummy/Daddy used to watch, as it's far better than whatever rubbish they're showing these days! [But of course, buy the first volume first!]

This is the second in the series of the 90's animated version of the Moomins. As with the previous release,the picture and sound quality are not perfect and the quality control could have been better(on the list of episodes,one episode is incorrectly titled 'Hurry Up Snifkin',instead of Snufkin),but there's no major issues. And as I have mentioned on my review of the first series of the Moomins I am prepared to put up with a few flaws just to see this imaginative,charming and mystical cartoon again! If anyone is interested in the other series of the Moomins,I have emailed Stax Entertainment who is involved in producing these DVD's and they told me "Volume 3 will be out around Easter next year with Volume 4 around September next year and hopefully 2 more series during 2010." If you are a fan of the Moomins,I would recommend you buy this now as it is a brilliant show and really captures the magic of the books(which were written by Tove Jansson.

I remember watching these when I was a kid (about 12 yo circa 1990). Now I live in Finland (home of the Moomins)and as such am subjected to the Finnish version constantly. So I bought vol 1 & vol 2 (English lang) for my kids to watch. They love it, I love it, and even our Finnish friends love it! Really great story lines, charismatic characters, lovely animation, and hauntingly beautiful music. I'd highly recommend this dvd to any parent, and maybe even the kids would love it too ;0).

Avid Moomin followers often give this cartoon series a hard time, simply for daring to be a little inventive with the source material. As J.K. Rowling understands with the movie adaptations of the Harry Potter books, source and adaptation will never be the same, and any attempts at keeping them landlocked together may hurt the integrity of the adaptation. Bulls TV Tokyo and Telecable Beneluxe thankfully understood this when making this Moomin cartoon series. It stays close enough to the books but still with plenty of air to allow it to grow into something special on its own (the makers of the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series would do good to learn from this example). This is the second set of the English dub Moomin series, and features 13 episodes. This is when the series really was getting on a roll, and indeed this set spans many of my favourite episodes. "A Change of Air" is one of my biggest favourites, essentially two episodes in one, where Moominpappa decides to run away to search for adventure. "A Close Encounter with Aliens" is delightful as well. Though both are based on two comic strip stories by Tove Jansson, they are much more developed and deeper here (especially "A Change of Air", a good peak into the character of Moominpappa). The two-episode lighthouse saga is also one I love, though they really should have decided whether to base it off "Moominpappa at Sea" or the comic strip lighthouse story. They try to do both at once and it ends up making the story a bit unfocused. But only just, mind you. Then the whole winter story is here, and in the cartoon the number of guests is limited to the two most memorable ones from the novel Moominland Midwinter; the little dog Sorry-oo, looking for his brothers the wolves, and the Healthy Hemulen who eats a lot of jam. Of course, many of the faults of the first set continue here. My biggest beef is still Moominpappa's voice actor. He still has that irritatingly and off-character lofty demeanour, laughing at the end of most sentences even when he's falling over or such. It especially comes down on some of the very episodes I love here, especially (to my regret) "A Change of Air". It's a real shame, and I blame the director for not checking him being on-character. It seems as though that did indeed happen, though, because he gets gradually better with every episode on this set. Even so, a huge jump seems to happen when in this set's very last episode, "Aunt Jane", he sounds wonderful! A good sign for the future, I hope. Yes, this set still is pretty barebone in terms of special features (there are none) and picture quality (still decent, but not brilliant). The illustrations on the cover aren't as charming as the in-show characters, either. Nonetheless, if you remember the series fondly or are just interested, this is the only series with properly-released Moomin with English dub on the market today (apart from the American version, which they sadly seem to have discontinued).

I bought this a while ago to relive my childhood deep in Moomin Valley. Now I have a child myself, she is being brought up watching the very same Moomin cartoons that her dad watched! Quality is exactly as you'd expect from a 30 year old cartoon, fantastic!

Having loved the Moomins as a child I was delighted to find this on DVD. This volume seemed to have more of my old favourites on than the first one, but I suppose that's down to personal preference. Perfect for big kids like me, and for kids who are of a generation who have never seen the Moomins- it's innocent, moral and imaginative. I'd recommend it to anyone.

my 9 year old has read all these books now, so its great to discover a new writer, really great, so seeing the video or should i say dvd was great, lots of hours too

A direct port from VHS to DVD. The quality of the footage is as good as you'd expect from something created in 1990/91. A remaster would work wonders; failing that, this will suffice. Enjoy!

Personaje divertido y que transmite valores de ayuda, amistad...Nos ha gustado mucho. Entretenido. Un nuevo concepto de serie de animación....

Perfect

arrivato prestissimo , imballato perfetto prodotto senza difetti complimenti per il servizio grazie sempre

hermosa serie que ademas de enseñar valores es muy recomendable para los niños y toda la familia. buenos graficos y sonido

Hard to find, great quality.