Miffy (Nijntje) | |
---|---|
First appearance | 1953 |
Created by | Dick Bruna |
Voiced by | Eva Poppink (Miffy the Movie) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Rabbit |
Gender | Female |
Miffy (Dutch : Nijntje, pronounced [ˈnɛiɲtɕə] ) is a fictional rabbit appearing in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. The original Dutch name, "nijntje", is a shortening of the diminutive konijntje, "little rabbit".
The first Miffy book was produced in 1953 and over thirty others have followed. In total they have sold over 100 million copies. In addition, four separate television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character followed. On 30 January 2013, a feature-length film, Miffy the Movie , was released in theaters and stars Eva Poppink in the title role.
Four television series based on the character have been produced: Dick Bruna's Miffy Storybook Classics from 1984; Miffy: Colors, Numbers, and Shapes from 1996; Miffy and Friends from 2003; and Miffy's Adventures Big and Small from 2015.
Miffy was created in 1953 after Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son, Sierk, stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, [1] while on holiday at Egmond aan Zee. Miffy became a female after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit.
At first Miffy looked like a toy animal with floppy ears, but by 1963, her design was changed to her current incarnation, a stylized form of a rabbit. Miffy is drawn in a graphic style, with minimalist black graphic lines. Bruna chose to only use black, white, the primary colours (red, yellow, and blue), green, orange, brown, and grey. It is his use of primarily primary colors that makes Miffy instantly recognisable, and also popular with preschoolers, because of her bright and intense simplistic colours.
Almost 32 Miffy titles have been published and many more for the other characters. Bruna has produced a total of 124 picture books for children. The Miffy books each contain twelve pages of story. Each page has one illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last of the fourth. They are written about things that children can understand, and situations they will face such as going to the hospital and going to school, and they always have a happy ending. Some books have no text at all, such as Miffy's Dream.
The books are printed in small format. Bruna considers it important that his audience feels that his books are there for them, not for their parents. Most Miffy books have an advisory reading level of age four to eight years.
Bruna's books have been translated into more than 50 different languages, and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world. [2] It is also translated in dialects, including in Zeelandic by Engel Reinhoudt. [3] Dick Bruna has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990, for Boris Bear and the Silver Brush for Miffy In The Tent in 1996. In 1997, he was awarded the Silver Slate for Dear Grandma Bunny, a book where Miffy's grandmother was sick and died.
The other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her Grandma and Grandpa, her Auntie Alice, and 'Uncle Bob,' a family friend, who appears in Miffy Goes Flying. A new brother or sister for Miffy is introduced in Miffy And The New Baby. She also has many friends, Boris and Barbara Bear, who first appeared in 1989 and are boyfriend and girlfriend, Poppy Pig, who appeared in 1977, and her niece Grunty, Snuffy, who appeared in 1969, and other bunnies such as Aggie and Melanie.
In the early 1990s, an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action against the UK government's road building program. This unauthorised use of the character spread [4] and Miffy became a mascot for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.
Miffy appeared in her first TV show in 1984, called Dick Bruna's Miffy Storybook Classics: The Original Series. Directed by veteran animator Gene Deitch, each episode was traditionally animated and ran for approximately five minutes. The show aired in the Netherlands on KRO, in the United Kingdom on ITV, in Canada on TVOntario in Australia on ABC, and in the USA on Cartoon Network's Small World block with VHS releases from Geneon USA, episodes of the show were later included as Bonus Features on Miffy and Friends DVDs.
From 2003 to 2007, Miffy and Friends aired on children's television channels such as Treehouse in Canada, and Noggin in the USA. The show added several new characters, such as Melanie's African family and the family of Boris' and Barbara's common cousin, Umik. The series was produced by Pedri Animation BV, [5] a Dutch stop-motion animation company. It was voiced simply by a feminine storytelling narrator.
Miffy is sometimes assumed to be a Japanese character, because Sanrio's Hello Kitty, introduced in 1974, is rendered using a similar line style. The Miffy brand is popular in Japan, with strong sales of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. In an interview for The Daily Telegraph , Bruna expressed his dislike for Hello Kitty. "'That,' he says darkly, 'is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, "No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself". [2] In 1999, Miffy was the ninth top-selling character in Japan, where licensed merchandise sold ¥37.59 billion [6] ($330 million). [7]
In addition, on 26 August 2010, Mercis BV, representing Bruna, brought suit against Sanrio with the claim that one of Hello Kitty's companion characters, a rabbit named Cathy, infringes on the copyright and trademark of Miffy. [8] On 2 November 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. [8] [9] [10] On 7 June 2011, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement requiring Sanrio to halt production of merchandise that features Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle, the two companies announced that they would donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims. [11] [12]
In Bruna's hometown, Utrecht, there is a square named after nijntje, the Nijntjepleintje (lit: Little Nijntje Square, to retain the rhyme) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum opened a permanent exhibition, the dick bruna huis (Dick Bruna house). [13]
Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This was marked in cities across the globe, for example, at the Manchester Art Gallery in England. She also serves a "celebrity character spokesperson" for UNICEF. [14]
Miffy's namesakes include a new species of booklouse from Peru. The insect was given the scientific name Trichadenotecnum miffy in 2008, because its epiproct, an appendage on its abdomen, resembles a small rabbit. [15]
In July 2014, Bruna announced his retirement; the rights to the Miffy character are not sold. [16]
Miffy's Adventures Big and Small premiered 2 October 2015. [17] It currently has a total of six seasons. [18] It airs on the Nick Jr. Channel in the USA. [19]
On 16 February 2017, Dick Bruna died at the age of 89. [20]
In 2021, Miffy collaborated with Converse [21] to capsule menswear collection in the Netherlands to celebrate the creator of Miffy, Dick Bruna.
In December 2022, Tommy Hilfiger announced its new collection with Miffy [22] as the main attraction for the new partnership in celebration of the Lunar New Year of the Rabbit.
In October 2023, the fifth series was announced and will premiere in 2025 on Canal+ in France. It will be produced by StudioCanal, Mercis and Superprod Animation. This series will also feature the debut of Miffy's younger brother, Bun. [23]
Dick Bruna was a Dutch author, artist, illustrator and graphic designer.
Hello Kitty, also known by her real name Kitty White, is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. According to her backstory, she lives in a London suburb with her family, and is close to her twin sister Mimmy, who is depicted with a yellow bow.
Kawaii(Japanese: かわいい or 可愛い, [kawaiꜜi]; "cute" or "adorable") is a Japanese cultural phenomenon which emphasizes cuteness, childlike innocence, charm, and simplicity. Kawaii culture began to flourish in the 1970s, driven by youth culture and the rise of cute characters in manga and anime and merchandise, exemplified by the creation of Hello Kitty by Sanrio in 1974. The kawaii aesthetic is characterized by soft or pastel colors, rounded shapes, and features which evoke vulnerability, such as big eyes and small mouths, and has become a prominent aspect of Japanese popular culture, influencing entertainment, fashion, advertising, and product design.
Sanrio Company, Ltd. is a Japanese entertainment company. It designs, licenses, and manufactures products focusing on the kawaii ("cute") segment of Japanese popular culture. Their products include stationery, school supplies, gifts, and accessories, which are sold worldwide, including at specialty brand retail stores in Japan. Sanrio's best-known character is Hello Kitty, a cartoon cat and one of the most successful marketing brands in the world.
Sanrio Puroland, also known as Hello Kitty Land, is an indoor theme park located in Tama New Town, Tokyo, Japan. Opened on December 7, 1990, it hosts attractions, live shows, shopping outlets, and restaurants dedicated to Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty, My Melody, Cinnamoroll, Gudetama, and Aggretsuko, in a manner akin to Disney theme parks.
Cinnamoroll is a character series created by Sanrio in 2001, with character designs from Miyuki Okumura. The main character, Cinnamoroll, is a white puppy with chubby and pink cheeks, long ears, blue eyes, and a tail that resembles a Cinnamon roll. He starred in his own manga series, an anime movie, and various animation shorts.
Yuko Shimizu is the Japanese designer who created Hello Kitty.
Telescreen B.V. is a Netherlands-based television production company that was acquired by the German company Made 4 Entertainment (m4e) in 2008. It has produced and distributed children's TV series such as Miffy, Moomin and Alfred J Kwak since 1983.
Musti is a cartoon character, created by Flemish Belgian graphic artist Ray Goossens.
The Adventures of Hello Kitty and Friends is a 3D animated preschool television series featuring Hello Kitty and other characters from the Japanese company Sanrio. It was never actually dubbed in Japanese at all. It was produced from February 2008 onwards by Sanrio Digital and Dream Cortex, and distributed by Sanrio Digital. It consists of 52 episodes and deals with themes of happiness, family and friendship.
Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is an animated series based on the Japanese character Hello Kitty, co-produced by DIC Enterprises and MGM/UA Television Productions and animated by Toei Animation. The series involves Hello Kitty and her friends doing their own version of popular fairy tales and stories. Each of the 13 episodes consisted of two 11-minute cartoons, for a total of 26 "shows"; each show was a spoof of a well-known fairy tale or movie. The series is notable for featuring Tara Strong in her first major role as a voice actress.
Jewelpet is a Japanese media franchise and toy line created in 2008 as a joint venture between Sanrio and Sega Toys, produced by the third character designer of Hello Kitty, Yuko Yamaguchi and illustrated by the character designer of Cinnamoroll, Miyuki Okumura. The franchise was originally launched on January 15, 2008, focusing on animals named after jewels, birthstones and minerals, who can use magic using their eyes.
Musti is a Flemish animated children's television series created by Ray Goossens. It first aired in 1968, but new episodes have been made over the decades in more sophisticated animation, even going to 3D animation from 2007 on.
Wish me mell is a character series created by Sanrio on December 27, 2010, with character designs done by Miyuki Okumura, who designed Cinnamoroll. The main heroine of the series is a rabbit named Mell, who is meant to be a character that expresses the feelings everyone has, simply stating "Thank you", "I am sorry" or "I like you!", connecting hearts in the process.
Miffy and Friends is a Dutch stop-motion animated television series, based on the Miffy book series by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. The series was co-produced by Mercis Media and Palm Plus Multimedia. The series was originally broadcast from 2003 until 2005 on KRO in the Netherlands
Small World was a children's animated anthology show and variety show, which aired on Cartoon Network in the late 1990s every Sunday morning, as a showcase of foreign animated series for children which had otherwise been disregarded by U.S. networks in the past, alongside special weekday episode airings. Most of the programming came from Europe, particularly the United Kingdom since that programming has no need to be translated.
Miffy's Adventures Big and Small is an animated television series based on the Miffy book series by Dutch artist Dick Bruna, and a continuation of Miffy and Friends (2003–07). The series first aired on October 2, 2015 on Tiny Pop in the UK and aired on NPO Zappelin in the Netherlands and on the Nick Jr. Channel in the US. The series finale aired on June 16, 2019.
Miffy the Movie is a 2013 Dutch stop motion animated family film, based on the Miffy character created by Dick Bruna. Produced by KRO and A. Film A/S, the movie debuted on 30 January 2013 in the Netherlands.