The winter workshop in Inari for training Sámi voice actors was a success. There was even an oversupply of Moomins speaking North Sami.
The Sámi rap artist Ailu Valle was chosen to play the role of Mumenstall, or Moomintroll.
Valle said to Yle, “That was awesome. It's a great honor to be able to perform the Moomintroll. As a child, I watched Moomins on TV and we had Moomin books and cartoons at home.”
The BTI-Studios in Helsinki have dubbed for the first time the popular animated series The Moomin Valley into Northern Sami.
In addition to the recorder, the small booth is packed with a director and a language expert.
Behind the glass, Ailu Valle follows the Moomin Valley episode on the television screen and casts himself in the role of the Moomintroll.
He said, “You have to empathize, get in a flow, and keep it on. So long stretches can go like water.”
The pudding became a Sami dessert
Language expert Inger-Mari Aikio translated the text of the Moomin Valley into North Sami.
She said, “Translating was sometimes a bit challenging. For example, we have no word for pudding. I had to put the word dessert at that point.”
In the studio, Inger-Mari Aikio listens to the words being spelled correctly. Valle is accurate about that, too. “As a teacher and language revivalist, I have a great responsibility to provide the right language for children,” said Aikio.
Director Susa Saukko observes that the rhythm of the speech is like that of the Moomins in the original.
“The actors are tremendously energetic and inspired super-throwers,” she said.
The first season begins in April
Instead of dubbing, subtitling is preferred in Finland because it is considerably cheaper. The Broadcasting Initiative was established by the Sámi Parliament to translate Moomin Valley into Sámi.
Moomin Valley is a Finnish-British co-production. The series has been produced by the Finnish production company Gutsy Animations.
The first season of North Sami dubbed Moomin Valley animation begins on TV in April. In autumn 2020, part of the second season will be completed in Inari Sámi and partly in Skolt Sámi.
There are about 20,000 experts in the Sámi area in Sweden, Norway and Finland. 2000 to 3000 Sami live in Finland.
