Winter is clearly leaving so it’s a last chance for winterly topics. Such as the midwinter horrors of the Moomin stories by Finnish author Tove Jansson. I think many children feel that the Moomin books can be quite discomforting. I’ve heard my friends tell how scared they were and I understand why when you consider characters such as The Lady of the Cold who kills small animals in the bleak midwinter or worse – The Groke!
Tove Jansson, The Groke.
The Groke is the personification of depression and loneliness, and she exterminates all light and warmth, which she sadly enough is extremely attracted to. You feel sad for the Groke, but you can never love her – just too darn scary that one.
Here we meet her as she has been lured by the warmth of the Moomin family home. Sniff wants to go home trying to convince himself and the others that there’s nothing to be scared of. But there is…
Scandinavians will notice the wonderful Finnish accents the Swedish dubbers have added. Is that kind of meta? I’m not wholly decided on that.
When watching this I was reminded of Totoro of the Japanese animated film My Neighbour Totoro. Same inarticulateness but a completely different attitude. Must be some kind cousin of the Groke or perhaps Totoro is the Groke before she became depressed…
/anna
Annina Teatime 
La cosa più strana per me sono le voci… Abituato a leggere i libri, ho creato nella mia mente una dei timbri vocali totalmente diversi per i personaggi… Specie per Sniff!
Sí, infatti non mi piace molto questo film animato. I disegni di Tove sono superiori di questo e i Moomin sono veramente libri. Meglio leggerli che guardarli. E neanche le voci sono ottime. Ma mi fa ridere l’accento finlandese!
/anna
Hi. Just googoled around the net lookin for this picture of lonely Groke. I’m a big fan of hers 🙂 And I love those original drawings by Tove her self. These new japanese they don’t have the same spirit.
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I love the Groke, she balnces things in Moominvalley. We all have fears, but often, once confronted ( eg Moomintroll, Moominpappa at Sea), we discover that there was nothing to be scared of really. Worse are those creatures that never seek light and warmth. They are the ones who should be feared, The Groke is lonely. Few of us want to be lonely.
Hi. I love the Groke, she’s my favorite!
I think the dubbers on that Moomin cartoon are Swedish speaking Finns, the video is removed from YouTube, but the series that run in Finland at mid 90’s, were both dubbed in finnish and in swedish.
The Groke is the one character from the Moomin books that I remembered from childhood, and having re-read Finn Family Moomintroll recently I feel really sorry for her! She is cold and lonely and only evokes sympathy from me! She has nobody to love her and had her only possession stolen. Poor Groke. 😦