At first glance, Tove Jansson’s Moomin may look like innocent childrens’ books with its cute, rounded characters, but if one takes time to take a closer look, they’ll see that there is still a darkness present in the stories. Many of the characters in Moomin have something melancholic over them, and perhaps that is something Jansson’s Moomin and Nintendo’s Zelda have in common; pretty on the cover but often something darker underneath the surface.
Lasse is the artist behind this black and white illustration, whose art you may also find at Instagram or his webshop. I grew up with Moomin, just like many other Scandinavians did, so to see Lasse’s artwork of my favorite video game franchise drawn in the style of Tove Jansson affects me in a special way. I feel somewhat nostalgic as both Zelda and Moomin have been a part of my childhood, but also delight and fascination because Lasse made it look so natural. His illustration almost makes me think that it was Tove Jansson who first came up with the story of a young boy fighting an evil pig.
Many of Tove Jansson’s illustrations were in color, but not all of them. Lasse has done a great job at taking inspiration of Jansson’s less vibrant illustrations by mimicking the short pen strokes to make it look as if the shadows might take over completely. And what better time is there for darkness to take over than when Ganon is lurking behind Link? Ganon, with his huge eyes, look like he’s silently watching the young boy and waiting to be noticed before emerging from the shadows and surprise him.
Link looks pretty cute in Lasse’s illustration, just like Jansson’s many characters in Moomin, but anyone who has played a Zelda game where Ganon is the final boss knows that he quickly makes the atmosphere feel more dangerous. Lasse has drawn Link looking around him as if he can sense that something is off, and the candle in Link’s hand is hopefully enough for him to see those huge eyes and large snout. After all, Ganon isn’t someone you should take lightly.
