Author Tiina Nopola tells what she plans to write next.
Tiina Nopola says that the story of Risto Räppääja ja villi kone started with the story of a boy from the neighborhood. ATTE KAJOVA
Red-headed Räppääjä conquers the big screen again, when Risto Räppääja and the wild machine -film premieres in February. This time, Risto Räppääjä can’t break free from the suction of the console game.
The film is based on Tiina and Sinikka Nopola’s book of the same name, which was published already in 2006. The story has a connection to reality.
– There was a boy playing nearby. Of course, we were exaggerating, and this neighborhood boy didn’t behave like that at all. Apparently, that book has taken some time, Tiina Nopola tells Iltalehte.
Nopola knows that the characters must be strong enough so that they feel alive and can be transported from one story to another. However, Nopola wants to be careful not to write in an “aunty” or funny way. The author’s own voice is important, and it’s great if the text feels like the children’s as well.
Collaboration between sisters
The beloved Risto Räppääjä, as well as the Hay hat and Felt Slipper book series, was written by the Nopola sisters.
The sad news of Sinik’s death stopped the Finns in January 2021. Tiina Nopola says that she and her sister had a hugely fun writing routine.
– We read a lot of text aloud while writing. We could alternate roles. It appears in Hay Hat and Felt Slippers. Blue was usually Hayhattu, and it was easier for me to come up with lines for Felt Slipper, Nopola says.
Last year, Risto Räppääjä turned 25 years old, in honor of which it was published Risto Räppääja and babysitter -book. The work was based on Risto Räppääää as a baby -to the play.
– I’ve been thinking that I want to write unpublished texts into books – our joint texts will be recorded, Nopola says.
Book and film plans are brewing. Nopola reveals that he has thought of making a book about the story Risto Räppäääja ja cool Venla, which was written as a film at the time.
The Risto Räppääjä actors gathered in the picture. Tiina Nopola is happy about how talented the actors have been in the Räppääja films. ATTE KAJOVA
Talented Nopols
The popularity of the series is still heating up Nopola. It has surprised him.
– It wasn’t our intention to make such series. We thought we’d make one Hay Hat and Felt Slipper, one Risto Räppääjä. They began to live their own lives as books, plays, musicals and films, says Nopola.
Thanks have come for the fact that the books also have an adult level: children and adults can find different things in them.
– It was also natural for us to write things through comics. It went well for my sister and me. The collaboration was extremely fun and nice. I’m trying to achieve the same thing, but that collaboration was unique, says Nopola.
– Sinikka was a crazy ideator and a great lyricist. Now his son Matias has done the lyrics for the new movie. It’s a wonderful thing. He is a talented rhymer and author of poems, Nopola praises.
Tiina Nopola’s daughter Emma has again been involved in scripting the film.
Will Tiina Nopola write new Risto Räppääji or Heinähattu ja Vilttitsusu books in the future?
– Time will tell. It could very well be, I haven’t thought about it that far yet. If it feels like it, but if it doesn’t feel right, then I don’t do it, says Nopola.
The Siiri book series is Tiina Nopola’s own project. He makes them in collaboration with illustrator Mervi Lindman. ATTE KAJOVA
This is what the new Risto Räppääjä looks like. In the picture Nelli Nuudelipää (Meri Lahikainen), Risto Räppääjä (Otso Törmälä), Pakataja-Elvi (Jenni Kokander) and Rauha Räppääjä (Minka Kuustonen). Solar Films / Marko Oikarinen
Maria Sidin directed by Risto Räppäääja ja villikone movie in cinemas on February 17, 2023.