It was announced today that Academy Award nominee Max von Sydow (“Robin Hood”, “Shutter Island”, “Minority Report”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Clash of the Titans”, “Casino Royale”) and Helena Mattsson (“Iron Man 2”, “Surrogates”) have joined the voice cast for the 3D animated family feature MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE.
Press Release from Oy Filmkompaniet
Helsinki, Finland – April 19, 2010 – It was announced today that Academy Award nominee Max von Sydow (“Robin Hood”, “Shutter Island”, “Minority Report”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Clash of the Titans”, “Casino Royale”) and Helena Mattsson (“Iron Man 2”, “Surrogates”) have joined the voice cast for the 3D animated family feature MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE. The trio round out an authentic all-star cast that includes Stellan Skarsgård, Alexander Skarsgård and Peter Stormare.
Max von Sydow will provide narration as the film’s story teller. Mikkelsen, coming off a star performance in Warner Bros. 3D blockbuster “Clash of the Titans” will voice the character Sniff. Mattsson, who will next be seen in Paramount’s “Iron Man 2,” is the voice of Snorkmaiden. Stellan Skarsgård and Alexander Skarsgård provide the voices of Moominpapa and son Moomintroll, respectively while Peter Stormare lends his voice to the character Snufkin.
MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE will have its highly anticipated world premiere in Cannes next month with several of the cast in attendance, including acclaimed recording artist and avid Moomins fan Björk, who provided the film’s title song. Original music is by Andrzej Rokicki.
Finnish production company Oy Filmkompaniet is bringing the iconic animated creatures to the big screen in a way they have never been seen before – presenting the first MOOMINS feature film in digital stereoscopic 3D. This is the first Nordic stereoscopic 3D film ever produced.
Maria Lindberg is the director. Based on the book by Tove Jansson, the script is written by Joel Backström, Iivo Baric, Anders Larsson, and Minna Karvonen.
Celebrating their 65th anniversary this year, the iconic MOOMINS are one of Finland’s greatest exports of the last 20 years. Translated in over 40 languages, they have been adapted for television, film, opera and radio and have spawned numerous books and comics as well as thousands of licensed products including food (pasta) and a theme park! Now, the unmistakable, distinctive look of the MOOMINS will be showcased like never before in the new epic big-screen adventure MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE.
Scheduled to hit theaters in fall 2010, the launch of MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE is backed by massive worldwide publishing and merchandising efforts that will include brand new MOOMINS books being published in over 20 countries around the world through major publishers such as MacMillan and Penguin Books.
In the film MOOMINS AND THE COMET CHASE, something strange has happened in the Moominvalley – grey dust covers everything; not just the grass, but the river, the trees, and the Moominhouse, too! It is declared that this is the way things tend to look like before the earth faces an awful fate coming from the sky… a comet!
Seeking answers, Moomintroll leads a long and adventurous trek where they meet many peculiar creatures and dangers on the way. But finally on their way back home they reach the Moominhouse, and discover that a ferocious comet will reach the Earth in four days, four hours, four minutes and 44 seconds. Maybe four seconds later. An additional chilling fact: the comet will fall exactly in the kitchen garden the same night. Will they get everybody safe in time? It's a long way home, and it's full of adventure.
About The Moomins Franchise:
The Moomins (Swedish: Mumintroll) are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Finnish illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. The Moomins are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses. The carefree and adventurous family live in their house in Moominvalley, in the forests of Finland, though in the past their temporary residences have included a lighthouse and a theatre. They have many adventures along with their various friends.
In all, nine books were released in the series, with five picture books and a comic strip also written by Jansson being released between 1945 and 1993. The Moomins have since been the basis for numerous television series, films and even a theme park called Moomin World in Naantali, Finland.
About Oy Filmkompaniet Alpha Ab
Oy Filmkompaniet Alpha Ab is a company specializing in children's films and in branding these products. Filmkompaniet was founded in 2003 by Tom Carpelan, who has worked in distribution since 1981.
Distribution of children's films through DVD and TV-channels in Scandinavia is one of Filmkompaniet's main areas. The company strives to work long-term on building good distribution platforms and creating a strong brand around the titles. A good example is the Little Mole, which has been in distribution through Tom Carpelan since 1986, and which has sold over 300.000 videos in Finland alone. Other well-known products include the Pat & Mat series, The Snowman, and a selection of Hayao Miyazaki's titles.
Production of animated films for children is the other area. Tom Carpelan co-produced the first Finnish international animated feature film, "Jungledyret 2: den store filmhelt". Filmkompaniet produced its first feature length animation “Moomin and Midsummer Madness” in 2008, which has so far been sold theatrically to over 10 countries, such as France and Japan. The new Moomin movie "Moomins and the Comet Chase" is now in production in stereoscopic 3D, making it the first Nordic stereoscopic 3D animation. A 78-part TV-series in HD is also currently in production.
For more information please visit www.originalmoomin.com
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
