It’s the end of a long day, and as news settled down for the evening, I had an idea to come in here and blog about something I love with all my heart: the official 24-hour, 7-day-a-week livestream of Moomin episodes on the official Moomin YouTube channel.
Except, when I went to find the stream to link it in here, it was gone. The Moomins have vanished. I am heartbroken. Please give them back.
The Moomins are a group of roundish, white, hippo-like creatures who are the stars of various books and comics by Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. They live in a mostly idyllic place called Moominvalley with a lot of other odd fantasy creatures (and a few odd humans). Though cartoonish, humorous, and acceptable for children’s consumption, Moomin stories aren’t really condescending in the way a lot of other children’s media is. It’s not really trying to teach readers anything. There’s nothing in here about numbers or the alphabet, and the stories often don’t really have lessons at all. Sometimes characters (Little My, mainly), are rude without consequences. The tales mostly consist of the Moomins and their friends getting up to little adventures in the fields and woods and beaches of Moominvalley, sometimes experiencing magic, sometimes getting into a bit of trouble, but always arriving home safe at the end of the day.
I love The Moomins, and my primary exposure to them is not via the comics or novels, but through a ’90s Japanese TV adaptation simply called Moomin. It follows Moomin, his father Moominpappa, his mother Moominmamma, a human girl living with them named Little My, and Moomin’s best friend Snufkin through several years of season changes in Moominvalley. They do all sorts of things, like get mistaken for hippos when a bunch of zoo animals escape into Moominvalley, ride in a flying ship, meet a witch and falsely accuse her of crimes, and try (and fail) to hibernate through the winter.
Moomin is a lovely, soothing, and often somewhat aimless show, and I love the 24/7 livestream of it run by the official Moomin YouTube channel. Whenever I have trouble sleeping because my brain is full of anxious thoughts, I put it on, and it helps me focus, calm down, and fall asleep. I also sometimes turn it on in the background while I’m working, or just watch a little bit at the end of a busy day to wind down.
Or at least, I did, until the livestream went down.
This has apparently happened before a few times in the last six months, according to posts on the Moomin subreddit. Each time, the livestream has been restored. I’m not sure how long it’s been down this time (I haven’t checked in on it for a little while), but I’m very sad to see it missing from my recommendations. I hope it comes back. The newer Moomin adaptations, which have included multiple video games and a TV revival, aren’t quite working for me. There’s something about them that feels forced, almost strained, and I miss the charm of the older animation style. On a nicer note, the Moomin YouTube channel also has most or all of the episodes in a big playlist, in order, so you can just watch them that way.
Still, there was something nice about the randomness of the livestream, coming in and finding yourself in the middle of an adventure and never quite knowing what Moomin will be up to. Please bring back the 24/7 Moomin livestream. I miss those goofy round guys.