Helsinki-born writer/illustrator Tove Jansson’s enduring creations come to the big screen in this subversively old-fashioned (and lovingly respectful) feature. Shipping up on the ritzy shores of the Riviera, the Moomins unwittingly check into an expensive hotel, naively dazzled by l’elegance of the Côte d’Azur. Sharp gags about the value of art and the worthlessness of wealth are interwoven through the folk-tale noodling, while the gentle strokes of the animation provide a pastel-hued riposte to more fashionably frenzied family-friendly fare.
