Miffy

Miffy in a Toy in (Netherlands).

Miffy is a children's character created by Dick Bruna. Miffy is a bunny. Her original name in the Dutch language is Nijntje, which comes from konijntje, which translates to "bunny". In Dutch her last name is Pluis. (Nijntje [ˈnɛɪ̯ncǝ])

The first Miffy book was produced in 1955, and nearly 30 more have followed. In total, they sold more than 85 million copies in 40 languages and spawned two different television series, as well as clothing items and toys featuring the character's drawing. A feature film, Miffy the Movie , was released on January 30, 2013. In Spain it was released under the title Miffy y la amigos de él .

At least two television series based on the character have been produced: Miffy and Friends, which aired from 2003 to 2007 on the Nick Jr. cable television network, in the United States, and The adventures of Miffy, big and small, which premiered on October 2, 2015 on the same network. This second series is broadcast in Spain, on the Clan RTVE television network.

Features

Miffy became a female bunny after Bruna decided she wanted to draw a dress instead of pants on her rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can range in age from a baby to four years old.

At first, Miffy looked like a toy animal with floppy ears, but by 1963 she looked like we see her today, a stylized form of a rabbit. Miffy is drawn in the light line style, very few lines and one or two primary colors, introduced by Hergé. Bruna chose to use only black, white, the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), green, and orange. It's this use of primary colors that makes Miffy instantly recognizable, and also popular with preschoolers, due to his bright, bold undertones.

Now there are almost 32 titles for Miffy and many more for the other characters. Bruna has produced a total of 124 picture books for children. Miffy's books each contain twelve pages of history. Each page has an illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhyming with the last of the fourth. They deal with topics that children can understand and situations they will face, like going to the hospital or going to school, and they always have a happy ending. Some books have no text, like Miffy's Dream. The books are printed in small format. Bruna considers it important that her audience feel that her books are there for them, not their parents. Most of the Miffy books are recommended for ages 4-8.

History

Exhibition of the world of Miffy in a House of Culture of San Sebastian.

Miffy was born in 1955, when Dick Bruna was telling his one-year-old son stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier that day.

Bruna's books have been translated into more than 50 different languages and have sold more than 85 million copies worldwide. He has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990, for Boris Beer ("El bear Boris") and Silver Brush for nijntje in de tent ("Miffy in the tent") in 1996. In 1997, he received the Silver Slate for lieve oma pluis ("Dear Grandma Bunny"), a book where Miffys grandmother gets sick and dies. In 2016 she was awarded the prestigious triennial Max Velthuijs Award.

Other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her paternal grandmother and grandfather, her paternal aunt Alicia, and Uncle Brian, a family friend, who appears in Miffy Goes to fly. Miffy will have a new brother or sister kleine pluis ("The Baby"). She also has many friends, the bears Boris and Barbara, who first appeared in 1989 and are a couple, Poppy Pig, who appeared in 1977 and her niece Grunty, Snuffy, who appeared in 1969, and other bunnies such as Aggie and Melanie.

Miffy was originally a character in a children's scrapbook, but her design is now used on many other things including clothing, stationery, toys, cups, household items, etc.

In the early 1990s, an illustration of Miffy holding an adjustable wrench behind her back appeared in leaflets produced by people taking direct action against the UK government's road construction programme. This unauthorized use of the character spread and Miffy became a mascot for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.

Miffy appeared on her first television show in 1992, called Dick's bruna Miffy Storybook Classics. Each episode was traditionally animated and lasted approximately five minutes. The show aired in the Netherlands, in the United Kingdom in Canada, in Australia and in the United States.

From 2003 to 2007, Miffy & Friends aired on children's television channels such as Treehouse in Canada and Noggin in the United States. He then moved to public television. 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, a Dutch stop-motion animation company.

Miffy is sometimes believed to be a Japanese character, due to the similar line style of Hello Kitty, created by Sanrio in 1974. The Miffy brand is very popular in Japan, with strong sales of its domestically made products. In an interview for The Daily Telegraph, Bruna expressed her dislike for Hello Kitty.

In addition, on August 26, 2010, Mercis BV, on behalf of Bruna, filed a lawsuit against Sanrio alleging that one of Hello Kitty's companion characters, a rabbit named Cathy, infringed copyright and trademark rights. from Miffy. On November 2, 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. On June 7, 2011, after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement whereby Sanrio would stop production of Cathy items. Rather than continue the legal battle, the two companies announced that they would donate the legal fees they would have spent on it, to aid earthquake victims.

Miffy in a public square.

In Bruna's hometown of Utrecht, there is a square named after Nijntje, Nijntjepleintje (illuminated: Nijntje Square) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum opened a permanent exhibition, the Dick Bruna huis (Dick Bruna's house).

Miffy's namesakes include a new species of insect from Peru. The insect was given the scientific name Trichadenotecnum miffy in 2008, because its epitope, an appendage on its abdomen, resembles a small rabbit.In July 2014, Bruna announced her retirement from it; the rights to the Miffy character will not be sold. On February 16, 2017, Bruna died at the age of 89.

Characters

• Miffy: Miffy is a bunny. He likes to draw and play with his friends.
• Friends of Miffy School: Miffy and his school friends have been friends for a long time.
• Dan: A new boy in Miffy class. He sits next to Miffy at school.
• Miffy's uncle.: Miffy's uncle has his own plane.
• Father and Mother Rabbit: Father and mother Bunny live in a white house with red roof. They often take Miffy to the zoo, the playground or the museum.
• Grandpa and Grandma Rabbit: Grandpa and Grandma Rabbit are the father's parents. Miffy loves to visit them.
• Aunt AliceAunt Alice is Father Bunny's sister.
• The new baby: the new baby is still a small baby.
• Melanie: Melanie is Miffy's friend.
• Snuffy: Snuffy is a bitch who has three puppies.
• The bear Boris: The Boris bear lives in a wooden house near the forest with his girlfriend, the Barbara bear.
• The bear Barbara: Barbara bear is the Boris bear bride.
• The Poppy Pig: Poppy Pig lives in a beautiful little house with small plants under the windows.
• Grunty/Posie: Grunty is the niece of La Cerdita Poppy.
• The John Farmer: It is one of the human characters.

Work

Some of Miffy's books translated into Spanish

• Miffy (nijntje, 1955/1963)
• Miffy at the zoo/Miffy at the zoo (nijntje in de dierentuin, 1955/1963)
• Miffy in the snow (nijntje in de sneeuw, 1963)
• Miffy will fly/Miffy minta In Avion (nijntje vliegt, 1970)
• The Feast of Miffy/The Birthday of Miffy (het feest van nijntje, 1970)
• Miffy in the park/Miffy in the Children's Paraque (nijntje in de speeltuin, 1975)
• Miffy in the hospital (nijntje in het ziekenhuis, 1975)
• Miffy's bike (nijntje op de fiets, 1982)
• Miffy at school (nijntje op school, 1984)
• Miffy's house (het huis van nijntje, 1991)
• La Tia Alice party (het feest van tante trijn, 1992)
• Miffy at the museum (nijntje in het museum, 1997)
• Miffy dances (nijntje danst, 2002)