In a contemporary mainstream cinema dominated by the CG produce of Pixar, Dreamworks and the next "classic" from Disney as well as to a less extent, Blue Sky, here is an eighty-minute U-rated hand-drawn cartoon (remember when Disney did those?) from Finland and France which has "no material likely to offend or harm" according to the BBFC (except for brief vague mild shark threat) and is witty (Snorkmaiden is worried about going to a swimming pool as she does not own a bikini), charming and slightly odd. Originated in Tove Jansson's comic strips, the Moomins have appeared in various forms of animation - perhaps mostly notably in puppetry and anime (the creepy Groke only gets a passing reference in this feature) and the latter's style is somewhat similar here. After rescuing Mymble and Little My (still a little shit) from pirates, the naive family (for them, the pirates' treasure is a chest containing seeds for the earth rather than the chest containing gold) set off for the Riviera and mistakenly end up staying in a Grand hotel. Little of dramatic consequence occurs and there's next to no character arcs, with the exception of a rich bohemian artist and elephant sculptor whom Moominpappa befriends. Despite the seemingly conservative, almost nuclear family set up (Pappa wears a top hat and Mamma always wears an apron), there is an interesting, if curious and not entirely discernible, Queer theme going - the Moomins meet a dog whose secret is that he "only likes cats" and Moominmamma persuades another male dog to pose as cat and has purple stripes painted on him. After being in the sea, his stripes wash off and the misled canine says he looks good without stripes (I'm not entirely sure he finds out the complete truth). It is sure to be enjoyed by students who are members of a university animation society and go to animation festivals and parents, if you're near both a multiplex and an independent cinema that are showing it, take your kids to the latter.
