The Moomin - Series 1 - Complete [1990] [DVD]

I have been waiting for this animated version of The Moomins to come out ever since it went off TV!

As a child of the 90s,I never saw the version with puppets so I didn't want to buy that(although I am sure it is very good,since so many people rave about it).

The Moomins was my favourite TV show when I was little and I was devastated when it was took off(I've only got one recorded episode,The Golden Fish from series 3, to keep me going all these years)!

I never thought after all this time,they would release this show...but then I saw a review in The Times for it and I was so happy!

They don't make such quality kids programs these days but I think children of today would adore The Moomins!

I only have 2 complaints about this DVD...

1.The picture/sound quality isn't the best(which is the reason I gave it four not five stars),in some parts it even echoes,but then this DVD isn't exactly expensive and I'm prepared to put up with a few flaws just to be able to see The Moomins again!

2.My other complaint is that I can't buy ALL of the episodes!
Please please release all the other series too!

I have a link to the website which lists information on the other series and episodes of the Moomins,so if anyone is interested,please email me.

I got this today, have been waiting for a DVD release for YEARS. It's just as lovely and strange as I remember it! Snork Maiden remains my favourite character, and Sniff or the Hemulen my least. But who could forget the Hattifatners?! They're so weirdly-cute!! I'm a little disappointed by the fact says "complete series one" when series one of Moomins spans 78 episodes. But for £5.94(the price I got it for before it rose) 14 episodes are TOTALLY worth it.
If your a fellow moomin fan who's been waiting to see the BBC version again you will not be disappointed. I can't remember if the text on the opening is the same as before, but I know there were some conflicts with the actual name, because it was called The Moomins on cbbc when it shown right?(I was very young when first watching them, therefore can't remember everything lol) Really it doesnt matter about the text. Because the music is the same!!! And I know how many people were after this theme!! For it to finally be available is magical really. And it seems longer!! The ending and opening both seem to be a bit longer than when they were shown on the BBC, but thats unsuprising considering how the BBC cut the credits etc. (And according to the credits, Pierre Kartner does the music, and he's done a Smurf theme or something, don't know much, google for yourself.)
The quality of the actual video is probably exactly how it looked when it was shown on tv, quite grainy in places. And there are some places where the sound wobble a bit. But frankly I expected this. And for a RRP of £9.99, you can't really expect much more.
All I hope is that they release the rest of the episodes. :fingers crossed: But honest to god, this is a saviour to all British moomin fans. We can rejoice finally.

Episode details; (as I'm sure people might want to know before buying right?)
There are 78 episodes to the original moomin series of the 90's, 14 of which are on this dvd, I'm not sure how many were translated into english and shown on the BBC, but this is a start at least.
1. Spring in Moominvalley
2. The Magic Hat
3. The Wreck
4. The Desert Island
5. The Hattifatners(god I love them)
6. Tiny Guests
7. The Suitcase
8. The Invisable Friend
9. The Hobgoblin
10. The Invisable Child
11. The Wings
12. The Pirates
13. The Last Dragon on Earth
14. Our Neighbour is a Tough Teacher
If you check IMDB, or ANN, or Wiki for the episode names, it only says the Japanese ones. The only episodes that look to be out of order are 8 and 9. They seem to have been switched in the BBC showing, or the dvd got it wrong. Going by the names in Japanese ep 8(Magic Trick of the Flying Demon) is probably ep 9(The Hobgoblin, who flies on a black panther if you didnt know) on this DVD, so the "Invisable Friend" episode 8 should really be 9. But that doesn't matter really.
The episode names themself arn't too far off the actual Japanese if you check the websites that tell you that kinda thing. Which is nice, and btw, on the dvd the episode names are slightly longer in most cases. "The Wreck" for instance is "The discovery of a wrecked ship"

Anyways, thats all from me. Hope it helps some people make a decision to buy. Moomins is a lovely series, get this, get the books, get everything you can. I'm lucky enough to own a full set of the mini-plushes which sold in Ottakars round about the year 2000.
Just buy it! It's only £7.49 for crying out loud! What do you have to lose? It's one of the most endearing, weird series you'll ever have the pleasure of seeing!

(This is Meimi132, but because amazon has changed the way they let people review, now I can't use my account anymore...)

Like most of the people who will be interested to buy this DVD, I watched Moomin when I was little, and then missed it for a long time between it disappearing from normal TV broadcasting until recently becoming available on DVD. And as such, I'm not disappointed - all those episodes collected in one place in a digital format - great!

As many other reviewers have mentioned, the sound and picture quality are not up to 'today's standards', and though the series was made a good few decades ago now, I can't help but feel that if they'd really wanted to they'd have managed to clean it up a bit for the DVD. If you want an idea of what the quality is like, I don't think it's any worse than it would have been off your TV 20 years ago. As far as I'm concerned, it's fine.

I was a bit concerned when starting the first episode, that the audio had a slight but distracting echo. However, this does not appear in the rest of the episodes, as far as I can tell. One other problem is that on the second disk, the first and second episodes are the wrong way round in playing order, creating discontinuity if you're trying to watch all in one go. There are no other language options than English, and no subtitles at all. The DVD menu gives you just 'episode 1', 'episode 2' etc, so you have to refer to the back of the DVD box to know what you're selecting. Those are all the problems as far as I've found.

If you're unfamiliar with the series but are considering buying the DVD for children, then it's a fantastic choice. I'll never cease to be horrified by the incredible crap TV that's made for children these days, and if you want something stimulating, thoughtful and entertaining to give children via a TV then you're much better off referring back to the 80's stuff like Pingu, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Moomin, to name a few. The age range for all of these examples is great too, from toddlers to 8 year olds being the ideal, in my opinion. Myself, I still enjoy Moomin and Pingu at 22 years old, which must say something good about them. The stories are structured, the characters are engaging, developed and entertaining, and there is plenty of excitement without being too scary (the classification on the back of the DVD is 'mild threat', to be specific), and there are many lessons and 'morals' in the stories.

In summary, whether you're buying for nostalgia or for a new young audience, this is a perfect choice. As long as you don't mind the same quality as analogue TV, a couple of minor mistakes on the DVD ordering, and a lack of language and subtitle options, then you won't be disappointed (escpecially for the price Amazon are selling it for).

N.B. Incase you haven't noticed, there are also three more DVD volumes of Moomin available to buy on Amazon, with many more episodes. I've bought these too but as I've not yet watched them I will return later to review them too.