Why are Rosamund Pike and Kate Winslet stuck in the CGI Moominvalley?
The Moomins are back, moving in that way they do, with their big eyes and animal nudity – plus an all-star cast!
Always got slightly disconcerted by the Moomins. Can’t quite drill down as to why without the necessary therapy; their curious blob-like shapes? The idea of a family of hippopotami walking upright on two legs? Their near-pathological lack of a mouth? The way they always moved just two beats too slowly on the screen? That one who looked like a baby witch? All the ghosts? But they always made me nervous as a boy and, if we’re being honest, still do now. The original Moomins series more or less split the children who watched it into two adult camps: those who are still filled with a deep abyss of dread (me), or those who still buy Moomin-themed cups and Moomin-themed plates and Moomin plushies, even though they’re 40.
And so this week to Moominvalley (Friday 26 April, 5.30pm, Sky One), where the Moomins are back, moving in that way they do, with their big eyes and their animal nudity, ready to either terrify or delight a new generation of children and keep the novelty teacup industry ticking over well into 2049. The latest iteration has everything: a crowdfunded pilot episode; an Oscar-winning director (Steve Box); and an all-star cast, featuring Taron Egerton (too big for this), Rosamund Pike (too big for this) and Kate Winslet (it’s Kate Winslet!). Things are still wholesome and sprinkled with woodland magic – you always feel as though someone’s day can be unutterably altered by a mushroom – but now the ink-and-primary-colours of the original art style have been switched out for squishier, blander computer animation.