"Who Will Comfort Toffle?" (short film) - a mini-review

 

GENERAL INFO

Other title(s): Vem Ska Tosta Knyttet? (Swedish) 

Kuka lhoduttaisi Nyttia? (Finnish) 

Year: 1980 

Country: Sweden

Language: Swedish (original) 

Directed by: Johan Hagelback

Runtime: 23 minutes

Suitable for ages: +3

REVIEWER'S NOTE 

Animation: 8/10

Story: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Sound design: 7/10

OVERALL: 8/10

Before we start... 

Hi everyone, hi kids! 

I just wanted to quickly wish a happy birthday to a very close friend of mine, O, and have fun reading! Okay, onto the review... 

FINAL THOUGHTS:

This is an adaptation to one of Tove Jansson's first Moomin picture books, produced for the Swedish Film Institute and draws heavy influence from the author's original work. But did it succeed at being a faithful adaptation of the story known from the book? 

The plot follow Toffle, a small creature living alone in his house, who's constantly scared of the enormous hemulens roaming outside. One night, he decides to escape and goes on to search for a new place to live. He visits a forest party and goes to a beach where his new home is. There, he receives a message from Miffle, who's terrified of the Groke... 

The story is quite simple, and yet, it carries a lot of charm and subtle depth to it, with an important message to the viewer about confidence and overcoming your limitat ions, as exemplified by Toffle, our protagonist, who develops more and more courage as the story goes along. 

The short has a lot of likeable, charming characters from the classic Moomins books, such as Miffle, the hemulens and Toffle himself. Everyone has their own unique personalities and struggles to overcome. 

When it comes to the animation and artstyle, the short tries its best to resemble how the original illustrations looked design-wise. Yes, it's a limited kind of animation, but it works really well, creating a hypnotic atmosphere.

Same can be said for the soundtrack, mostly In the Swedish version, though. The singer does a good job of convaying the story through vocals. 

To sum it up, despite its short runtime, Who Will Comfort Toffle is a great watch for the whole family, especially if you are Moomin fans. 

Before we say goodbye... 

Thank you for reading this mini-review and see you all in June. 

With love, 

     your Diva