1955: Miffy is Born
Miffy was created in 1955 after Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son, Sierk, stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, while on holiday at Egmond aan Zee. Miffy became a female after Bruna decided he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can range in age from being a baby to being four years old.
1963: Miffy is Stylized
At first Miffy looked like a toy animal with floppy ears, but by 1963, she looked the way we see her today, a stylized form of a rabbit. Miffy is drawn in a graphic style, with minimalist black graphic lines. Bruna chooses to only use black, white, the primary colors (red, yellow and blue), green, orange and brown. It is his use of primarily primary colors that makes Miffy instantly recognisable, and also popular with preschoolers, because of her bright and intense simplistic colors.
1984: Miffy's First TV Show
Miffy appeared in her first TV show in 1984, called Dick Bruna's Miffy Storybook Classics: The Original Series. Each episode was traditionally animated and ran for approximately five minutes. The show aired in the Netherlands on KRO, in the United Kingdom on ITV, in Canada on TVOntario in Australia on ABC, and in the United States on PBS with VHS releases from Sony Wonder, episodes of the show were later included as Bonus Features on Miffy and Friends DVDs.
1990: Miffy as a Mascot
In the early 1990s, an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action against the UK government's road building program. This unauthorised use of the character spread[3] and Miffy became a mascot for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.
1996: Miffy Takes Off
Bruna's books have now been translated into more than 50 different languages, and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world. He has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990, for Boris Bear and the Silver Brush for Miffy In The Tent in 1996.
Also in 1996, Miffy: Colors, Numbers, and Shapes aired on children's television channels such as YTV in Canada, and Cartoon Network as part of their Small World block, in the United States, with VHS releases from Pioneer Entertainment, episodes of the show were later included as Bonus Features on Miffy and Friends DVDs.
2002: Miffy and Friends
In 2002, Miffy and Friends aired on children's television channels such as Treehouse in Canada, and Noggin in the U.S. It 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. It was voiced simply by a feminine storytelling narrator.
2005: Miffy's 15th Birthday
Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This was marked in cities across the globe, for example, at the Manchester Art Gallery in England. She also serves a "celebrity character spokesperson" for Unicef.[
2006: Dick Bruna Huis Museum
In Bruna's hometown, Utrecht, there is a square named after Nijntje, the Nijntjepleintje (lit: Little Nijntje Square, to retain the rhyme) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum opened a permanent exhibition, the dick bruna huis (Dick Bruna house).
2017: Dick Bruna Passes
On February 16, 2017, Dick Bruna died at the age of 89.