Moomins on the Riviera

After 70 years and countless comic strips, books and TV series, Finland's famous cartoon characters finally make their first British cinema appearance. And a sweet if decidedly odd debut it is, too, with a sea adventure taking the quirky, hippo-faced creatures from dully idyllic Moominvalley to the warmer, more exciting climes of the south of France. They find, though, that the Riviera's obsession with celebrity, wealth and status, though initially seductive, is superficial and decidedly non-Moomin. Hand-drawn, eccentric and episodic, the film flies in the face of the current trend in animation for computer-generated excess - it's strangely comforting, old-school cartooning. Aimed at younger kids, it may sadly prove too quiet and slow for them, with its quirks and subtleties probably best appreciated by adults.