Meet Sniff and the Muskrat, the new Classics

Ponder life’s big questions with the Muskrat.

The Muskrat arrives at Moominhouse in Tove Jansson's story Finn Family Moomintroll (orig. published in Swedish 1948). The Muskrat likes to spend his time in peace and quiet, reading his books and pondering life's big questions.

His philosophical views are somewhat existentialist, as the title of the book in his lap tellingly reveals: “The Uselessness of Everything”.

The solemn philosopher is not easily bothered about anything, but after falling to the ground from a hammock, his dignity takes an embarrassing hit, as is shown on the new dishes. Already tired of the restlessness in Moominhouse, he retreats to solitude in a beach cave where nothing interrupts his thoughts.

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Dream big with Sniff.

Unlike the Muskrat, Sniff approaches life with endless enthusiasm. He’s one of Moomintroll’s best friends, like a little brother, and eager to participate in everything the Moomins do, although not favourably in anything dangerous.

Sniff is also a big dreamer who desires fame and fortune, always trying to come up with different ways to become rich.

In the illustration of the new dishes, Sniff helps his friend Moomintroll raise money to build his own house. Sniff invents an elixir of youth, which he starts selling in Moominvalley. Surprisingly, anyone who drinks the potion transforms into their opposite, like a tortoise into an express train. The illustration is based on Tove Jansson's comic story Moomin and the Brigands (1954).

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The last Classics illustrations by Tove Slotte

Both Sniff and the Muskrat illustrations were created by Tove Slotte, who retired in 2022 after a thirty-year career at Moomin Arabia. The two are the last Classics the beloved illustrator designed, but Moomin fans still get to enjoy her work in many Moomin collections yet to be released in the coming years.