Last Spring, Magic Pony was on a Tokyo adventure and we visited the Tove 100 exhibition as a celebration of the 100th birthday of Finnish artist Tove Jansson. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tove Jansson (1914-2001), she was an artist, illustrator, political caricaturist, author and internationally known as the creator of the Moomin characters and stories. Moomins are a family of white, roundish fairy-tale trolls with large snouts that live in a land called Moominvalley. First appearing in 1945, Jansson imbued each Moomin character with a philosophical nature and their adventures have been adapted as storybooks, comics, stage plays, animated series, original music scores and theme parks.

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The exhibition featured hundreds of original ink drawings and paintings from Jansson’s long career. Although we couldn’t take photos of the artwork, visitors were treated to the most incredible Moomin surprise room at the end that contained a Moominvalley diorama, documentary, figures and character chart. Everyone got to explore the 3D Moominvalley and search for all the Moomin characters - from Moominpapa & Mama, Little My, Snufkin, Stinky, the Groak and the coolest island of Hattifatteners - through recreations of scenes from the books and comics. The Japanese exhibition also presented documentary films of Jansson’s 1970’s visit to Japan as well as some rare, original mid-century Moomin figures. The exhibition is only touring Europe and Asia this year, and since there are so many Moomin fans at Magic Pony, we wanted to share our photos with everyone. Check out the link below to see the Japanese exclusive Tove 100 merchandise including Moomin tote bags, postcard books, housewares and exhibition catalogues.

Enjoy your visit to Moominvalley!

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Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

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Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

Magic Pony at Tove 100 Moomin Exhibition, Japan

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