Tintin- A Cartoon Masterpiece Everyone Should Know
Title card for Nelvena's Tintin series running from 1990-1993
I am a huge fan of The Adventures of Tintin series. A lot of people who personally know me, are aware I talk about this series a whole bunch and never really shut up about it.
Why? because as an artist I adore these wonderful comic strips, and the characters who inhabit them.
The enrapturing stories, and the exotic locations that fill the pages of these books have enthralled me for more than a decade. And I am so excited to finally share my love for Tintin with you!
Tintin pretty much inspired me to take my artwork seriously in life. I have always wanted to be an illustrator or an animator to create my own cartoons. I grew up with many cartoons throughout my life but besides Jonny Quest,Scooby Doo Where Are You? and maybe the first season of Spongebob, I found a cartoon series that was so different than anything I have ever seen.
Herge was a pioneer in the art department, as well as a very creative cartoonist. He put his characters into real serious situations that were happening in real life and tried to resolve them, through the use of his creation.
I started reading about Herge, learning about how he would draw and apply that to my own creations. I never learned how to draw from a school or anybody physically teaching me, I learned from the great minds of storytelling and cartooning.
I would take elements from various works I was inspired by and taught myself how to draw just by looking at pictures. Herge was one of my primal influences on me wanting to become what I strive to be today.
Thats why I treasure the Tintin comics so much. They brought me into this magical world and really made me realize I could have the power to do this too, if I pushed myself. And the rest was history.
- Let's recap, What is Tintin exactly?-
(List of all the Tintin books, normally featured on the backside of the albums)
The Adventures of Tintin is a Belgian/ Flemish comic series that has ran for many decades and has continued to a beloved classic among comic and art fans.
Created by Belgian comic artist Herge ( Gorges Remi) in 1929, Tintin was a reporter who went on adventures centered around real life events that were happening in the news during the 20th century.
These events that were covered in the comics ranged from the Chaco War in Mexico, The Bolshevik uprising in Russia, The Japanese and Chinese war, the Moon Landing, the Arabian Oil Crisis, Nazism uprising, and WW2.
The Tintin comics have been widely praised for being a stunningly illustrated, creating a totally new and innovate comic illustration style, "Le Ligne Claire" ( the clear line) which would influence hundreds of other Belgian comic artists for the years to follow.
Tintin has also been widely regarded as being visually compelling form all the exotic locations that are depicted on his adventures. Although, Herge actually never really visited any of those locations in real life until much later on his career. He had a friend who was a photographer and he would go and document his travels, Herge would draw from those photos from inspiration, and come up with the rest on his own.
The Tintin comics themselves ran from 1929 until Herge's death in 1984, where the last title, Tintin and Alph Art would never see completion.
Even after Herge's passing, Tintin remains to be his biggest success and the one creation he is known for all around the world.
There are hundreds of toys, games, and memorabilia based around Tintin and his friends. And yes, oddly enough I have ran into some very odd Tintin items like soap, pool inflatables, laundry detergent, sleeping bags, garbage pails, and even musical jewelry boxes.
Almost anything and everything has Tintin on it. Where are these items you may ask? They are mostly available in Europe, because wherever you go in France or Belgium you will see Tintin everywhere.
There is even a bronze statue of Tintin and Snowy in Brussels, and a gigantic mural of every single character from the Tintin universe in a Brussels train station that was painted after Herge's passing to pay tribute to him.
Believe it or not, Tintin is a universal icon. He is exceedingly popular in his place of origin in Europe, but he is also very popular in locations such as India, Japan, China, Mexico and Canada. All except America. I have found on my experiences, Tintin is very not well known in the States, and is not fondly remembered aside from the 2011 theatrical movie.
In Europe, there is even a string of Tintin related stores, called The Tintin Shop, which features various Tintin merchandise. There is a store location in locations such as China, Japan, England, Canada, Brazil, France, but there is not one Tintin shop location in the entirety of the United States.
Herge's work has become so iconic that there is even a museum dedicated to his art in Brussels Belgium that focuses on the creation behind Tintin and his other characters.
The most amazing thing is that almost every single year there seems to be a new Tintin themed auction that is selling Herge's original artwork. And it always breaks records, even over all the Disney and Marvel themed art.
This proves, that Tintin, even though it is not well known in America, it still has a very devoted fan group that would pay millions to have the iconic artwork in their own homes.
( cover for the fourth Tintin adventure, with early character sketches)
Tintin was published in the Franco/ Belgian newspaper Le Petit Vingtième, (The Little Twentieth) on January 10th of 1929. It was serialized within this paper until the Nazi's invaded Belgium in the late 1930's which forced Herge to leave his roots and migrate to an underground newspaper under German rule called, Le Soir. Which would serialize Tintin until the end of the second world war in 1945.
Within each issue of the magazine Herge would illustrate his own original artwork that would coincide with whatever is happening in that particular adventure, which would entice audiences to read his stories.
Le Petit Vingtième was a conservative, catholic, French newspaper centered around young audiences, which would serialize various actives and cartoons.
Herge's mentor, a pastor named Norbert Wallez, gave him the illustration position in the magazine after he briefly served in the military and boy scouts for a number of years.
He was assigned to create various advertisements and cartoons for travel, women's fashion, and Boy Scout handbooks, which would lead to his evolution into creating comics.
He created a small comic series centered around Herge's personal life in the Boy Scouts, a mischievous trickster named Totor. Which would be the first character to be serialized in the magazine until his creation of Tintin in the following year of 1929.
Tintin was an immediate success. Following the recent news about Bolshevik Russia frightened many in Belgium, and Tintin was almost like beacon of hope in their eyes since he was a cartoon hero placed in a real world setting. Fighting real world issues, and real world leaders.
( The very last issue leaving Tintin on a cliffhanger in a sandstorm)
Tintin was then serialized within Vingtieme until the early 1940's where Herge was forced to move to the underground German occupied newspaper.
The Tintin stories became very successful while in their syndication, as the character soon became a cultural icon and a beacon of hope to all the Belgian people due to the characters heroic attitude against the enemy.
Lots of real world issues such as the Japanese/ Chinese war, drug smuggling, forgery, Nazism, and wars over oil in Mexico were all taken from the recent news. Herge then placed Tintin into these situations to resolve them. This gave his creation a universal appeal by giving a "what if" notion to his readers that Tintin resolved these real world problems in an imaginary sense.
( Advertisement for Lucky Luke, another famous Belgian comic series)
( Cover advertising the iconic Tintin moon saga)
( Cover for Blake and Mortimer, another famous Belgian comic series)
He created a comic series heavily based upon the classic film noirs and takes the wonderful world of Tintin into a darker turn, with the Blake and Mortimer comics.
Herge was at the helm of this new feature, called Tintin Magazine which ran into the middle 1950's. Here Herge was able to do whatever he pleased with his stories and his characters, and nobody could tell him otherwise on how to write Tintin form now on.
Tintin Magazine is an interesting form of media because it doesn't just showcase Tintin comics and Blake and Mortimer comics. The magazine showcases many other little known comics and takes time to serialize them into a mainstream consumer product that people would buy.
Some very famous Belgian cartoons like Lucky Luke, Bob and Bill, Ric Hochet and others were all born in the serialization from the Tintin magazine and determined wether or not it would sell as a mainstream album after the reviews would pour in.
( From Herge's other comic series Jo Zette and Jocko)
( Tintin and Haddock in Red Rackham's Treasure)
There are many things I adore about the Tintin comics, and one primal reason I fell in love with the series is due to the wonderful cast of characters we travel with in each story.
Of course you got Tintin, who is the main lead, with his wire fox terrier pal Snowy ( Milou in French version). Captain Haddock, the bumbling drunk sea captain who later inherits his pirate ancestor's fortune. Professor Calculus, who may be deaf in one ear, but is an absolute genius at inventing machines and knows a lot about various civilizations.
The two detective's Thomson and Thompson, who are NOT related but look oddly identical. Bianca Castaforie, the opera singer who pesters the captain to no end. Nestor the butler and many more!
All these characters have a special place in my heart as they are all apart of one big family that you fall in love with as you read the comic books.
Another interesting fact is, Herge actually based the characters off of real people he knew, or real people he admired.
His father was a tailor and he had a twin brother who inspired the concept for the two detectives. Calculus was inspired off of the Belgian Physicist, Aguste Picard. His landlady owned a dog, and the most popular canine in shows at that time was the fox terrier, which inspired Snowy.
And the list goes on and on.
Sometimes, inspiration is the most sincere form of flattery. For Herge, it certainly was the case, because he created his whole main cast form people he knew and people he admired.
Also he even added himself within the series! He can be seen in certain frames and even in episodes of the TV show as am onlooker observing the life of his characters.
( A collection of character portraits Herge did of his main cast)
Now we are going to cover another part I love about these stories. The evildoers.
Herge has a wonderful knack to create compelling villain characters that leave the reader in suspense.
These aren't your average super hero villains, these are regular bad guys, humans who choose to stand in Tintin's way and cause havoc.
The bad guys are my favorite element in a story because if they are really dangerous, it will hold the audience in suspense on what will happen to the hero. For me as an artist and storywriter I take great inspiration form these characters that Herge created in the world of Tintin, as they are all unique in their own twisted way.
Some are crooks, some are animals, some are drug smugglers, and some are supernatural beings. You never know what you will get in the long list of colorful characters in Herge's universe.
( Roberto Rastapopolous, Tintin's rival and evil tycoon)
By far, Rastapopolous is my favorite out of all the villains in the series. He's a famous movie director, a rich tycoon, a cunning evil mastermind, and a real twisted crook.
He's Tintin's arch nemesis, and for a very good reason. Rastapopolous is always foiled by him and he never can figure out how to rid himself of the heroic reporter.
Reason why I love Rastapopolous is mainly due to his portrayal in the Nelvena cartoon. He's voice casted so perfectly and really delivers each line in full character, like he's actually passionate about his evil deeds.
He only appears in a few episodes, but those are my favorite because you really get to see an evolution between him and Tintin's rivalry. As the series progresses Rastapopolous becomes more wicked, and tries to fully kill Tintin off for good, even if it meant doing away with the main cast.
( Allan Thomson, Haddock's rival and main henchman)
Either you hate him or love him, Allan is one of those bad guys that everyone just has a chip on their shoulder about. And thats good!.
Allan Thomson is a very interesting villain because he is never *Fully* introduced until way later into the series in Haddock's debut album, The Crab with the Golden Claws where he plays his iconic role as Haddock's treacherous first mate.
We also see Allan and his henchman Tom smuggling captives who were caught in the mummy tomb, ( Tintin, Snowy and the professor) abroad their ship during a rainstorm, only to be caught by the Moroccan Coastguards. This was present in the fourth Tintin album, Cigars of the Pharaoh where we are introduced to his character being a key goon to Rastapopolous in his drug smuggling operation but we are not given a full story on who this guy is until way later into the series.
Allan is the one character everyone hates but loves as well because he is such an intense villain.
Here's an example, in the later albums, Red Sea Sharks, he is seen working with his boss Rastapopolous once more smuggling refugees as slaves aboard his ship and taken to a buyer in that area.
The fact that Allan stoops so low to do the most dirtiest deeds on the planet for his boss, just to get money is sickening! but again, thats what makes him a great bad guy! because us as the audience HATES him!
Allan makes his final appearance in the second to last Tintin story, Flight 714 to Sydney, where he works with his boss once more, and hijack a billionaires plane. The plane takes our crew to a secluded island where Rastapopolous can use the billionaire's signature to inherit his vast fortune when he returns to civilization.
Allan is seen terrorizing the main cast once more like he always did, but this time he gets a grim lesson taught to him. Near the climax of the story where Rastapolous finds the whereabouts of Tintin and his friends, he finds Allan with all of his teeth knocked out of his mouth.
It is never shown, but he describes that the natives of the island were spooked by the supernatural occurrences and stampeded over Allan's body. Despite the backlash he gets from his boss, not giving a single thought about his wellbeing, Allan continues to do his job and blows up the mountain to find Tintin.
Allan is an iconic Tintin villain and serves as a classic bad guy stereotype in most vintage cartoons. He is also present within the Tintin Wii/ 3DS games based on the movie from 2011, where he plays as the lead antagonist who is after the pirate ship treasure.
He is a fan favorite and he continues to be present in various Tintin projects, merchandise and books.
( The Beast of Black Island, Ranko the Gorilla)
Besides humans Herge gave Tintin other bad guys to face as well, to give it a more magical approach to a kid's imagination.
-Tintin Animated Series's/ and Incarnations-
(Tintin and Snowy investigating the tomb!)
The Nelvena Tintin TV cartoon adaptation is possibly the most well known and most remembered piece of Tintin media.
Reason being, this show was broadcasted on many networks back in the late 80's and early 19990's on channels such as HBO, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network.
This cartoon served as a gateway for people who were not familiar with Tintin, and as a returning point for people who grew up with Tintin.
The series consisted of over 50 episodes, which were straight adaptations from the Herge books, and would run in the duration of two parts.
The series is herald as being incredibly faithful to the original source material, as well as a great tribute to the Herge books as well. The show was broadcasted from 1989, and into late 1993 where the series concluded on a cliffhanger which was never fully explained in the last episode, Tintin in America.
Despite the series being so well received, there are a few fallbacks, and one of them is the continuity of the books. The Crab with the Golden claws was the first episode to be released, but it is the 9th book of the original run. This became an issue for many longtime Tintin fans because they just place you in the middle of the series, but that is a very positive thing!
Reason I say that is because it sets up the world of Tintin perfectly. You see the introduction of the conflict right away, you are met with the main cast, as well as some background to Tintin's life, and then you are met with the adventure filled parts.
Many have dissagreed, but The Crab with the Golden Claws is possibly the best story to begin with. Casing point, it introduces the most important characters of the franchise in one episode, Tintin, Snowy, The detectives, and Haddock.
The Nelvena series skipped around the Tintin timeline a little bit by doing episodes of books that came way later in the franchise, and then going back to books that came before it. I have no issue with that at all, but as a person who was watching the show and reading the books at the same time, it got confusing in some parts. Especially if you are very unfamiliar with the series.
There are references some books would have to previous installments. The Nelvena series did an episode of Flight 714 to Sydney, in the second season of the TV series, while in retrospect it is one of the last books in the franchise. Red Sea Sharks is the precursor to how Rastapopolous and his goons needed up on the island in Flight 714, but the Nelvena TV series decided to do that installment in the third and final season.
Anybody who is familiar with the books would know this is totally not in line of how the original story went. The series itself is fantastic, but there are a few errors they made with the release dates.
One very amazing thing the Nelvena series did was they were not afraid to add high stakes to the characters. What I mean is, if you read the Tintin stories you will find that there is a ton of intense material happening. Tintin fighting drug smugglers, a mad man trying to cut Tintin's head off, Haddock almost killing himself to save Tintin, a villain breaking Snowy's leg, Muller pointing a gun to his head to avoid being taken into custody, scientists suffering from a disease, and much more.
This show was not afraid to tackle some really dark and intense aspects of the Tintin franchise. They ended up creating some of the best scenes in the entire animated series, because it added drama.
In previous Tintin installments they never ventured into the dark moments that were present in the original Herge stories. This series had the guts to actually do Jonny Quest intense level scenes and treat it's audience like adults, not children.
Explorers on the Moon and Destination Moon are two of my absolute favorite stories of all time. I adore these two adventures but the TV adaptation made it even better for me. Reason being, the drama.
There was so much drama and compelling scenes added into the TV adaptation that it really feels like, we are not seeing the colorful side of Tintin anymore. We are adults, and it is time to face some really dark aspects of the series.
I am NOT going to spoil anything like I did with the previous titles I mentioned, because this itself is a grand experience on it's own. You are going to have to watch it for yourself, because I can't give away any details, other than, it is possibly one of the most intriguing episodes to a TV series I have ever seen.
The pacing, the characters, the historical context, the soundtrack, the artwork, and the storyline is by far a top notch episode in its own right.
One of the things I really adore about the Nelvena TV series are three elements, the voice cast, the musical score, and the art style.
The voice cast is by far amazing. Many people say Andy Serkis is the quintessential Captain Haddock portrayal, but I think that award goes to Canadian stage actor David Fox. He is the perfect person to cast for that role because every line he delivers, yelling or not, he brings so much life into the character.
There is so many great things I can say about the voice cast because, none of them are really well known actors in the United States. All of them are mainly Canadian stage or voice actors, and thats really unique.
Even the minor characters like people who have one liners, they STILL manage to make the characters so believable.
Colin O' Mera is excellent as Tintin. Many argue that his portrayal of Tintin is better than the Jamie Bell version in the 2011 movie, but I think I would have to agree.
Colin O' Mera brings a humorous nature to Tintin, as well as making him do silly things, giving him flaws, and making him tough when he needs to be. He gives him an all around personality, and yes I do think some of his line deliveries are quite weird with the yells and grunts, but I do think he is a tad bit better than Bell's portrayal.
Only reason being, Bell is magnificent as Tintin, but he sometimes is dry as sandpaper. Bell makes Tintin seem prim and proper, like he stands for no nonsense, and he is always serious about everything.
In the Herge comics, Tintin is portrayed as a young man, who is very intelligent, but is also very comical and has faults to him.
I think Colin O' Mera brings those flaws to the table, and addresses the fact that Tintin, despite him being a very lucky guy who gets out of every situation, he does have flaws. And that is ok! characters are supposed to have flaws. It makes them human.
The soundtrack was composed by two guys, Ray Parker ( no not the Ghostbusters guy) and Tom Sezenaik. The music in the series is mainly consisting of synths and a slight percussion of winds, brass and strings.
They do a magnificent job on this soundtrack. You would have to listen to it for yourself, because I can't really describe it but each of the musical tracks they composed for the show its perfectly with each scene.
There's chase music, action cues, jungle trek music, mysterious music, cues for suspense and sad scenes, happy music, and my personal favorite, the theme song.
The opening titles is possibly one of the most iconic credit sequences as well as musical scores in any TV show.
Right away, the music pulls you in with the animation of the train moving through the comic panels like you're reading the Herge book. Tintin grabs Snowy and jumps out of the frames into a running spotlight where the main theme kicks in.
This theme literally gives you what you're about to watch. No lyrics, no annoying sounds, just pure musical orchestra. And that is just flawless.
( A Tintin resin figure from 1992)
The Nelvena series actually kind of rekindled Tintin in a way. What I mean by that is the series was dormant during the 1980's and through a brief spell in the 1970's after the release of the spin off, theatrical film in 1971.
Nelvena brought Tintin back into popularity in a way since the show was a big success. During the early 1990's a ton of Tintin merchandise started coming out, like resin figures, watches, board games, blankets, calendars, plush toys and even home crockery.
Sony even developed a video game for the Playstation1 called, Tintin Destination Adventure, which was heavily inspired by the Nelvena TV series.
In a marketing sense, Tintin came back into full swing with brand new products that were even being shipped to North America.The TV series became a very popular show on Nickelodeon and HBO at the time, both kids and adults alike were tuning into the program and buying the English VHS releases of the series.
( There are even scenes where they replicated actual comic frames)
The Nelvena series is a masterpiece of TV animation. I'm not just sugar coating it because I am a Tintin fan, I am serious when I mention it is by far a masterpiece.
I am saying this because, as a animation/ film enthusiast, I truly believe that this adaptation is a classic on all levels.
Even if you did not grow up with Tintin, even if you are not even sure on what the heck it even is because it's European, or even if you're skeptical because it's a cartoon. You should take time to seriously watch this series. I hate to be blunt but I truly think this should be one of the TV shows people should watch before they die, it's just that good of a series. Beginning to end, it is one heck of a show.
You can tell that Nelvena put their heart and soul into doing this show. They wanted to bring Herge's world to life in a cartoon adaptation that would be possibly the best representation of the franchise.
This is crazy but Nelvena is known for doing children's content, like Madleine, Barbar, Rupert Bear, and even a Strawberry Shortcake TV series. This creative direction they took with Tintin is by far a huge slap in the face because, this show, is dark. It is surprising because I used to watch Franklin and Friends and Little Bear when I was a toddler on Nick Jr., which were Nelvena properties as well.
Tintin, is basically the company saying they aren't going to be labeled as a kids company, and they do something that is totally out of the norm for them. The team behind this cartoon is genius. They got the right people at the right time to be involved with this project because it would have turned out to be like the horrid, 1950's- 1960's Tintin TV series. Which did not even try to take a leap into some really dark aspects of the franchise. All I can say is, Nelvena is bold for doing this show. They are really gutsy doing half of the stuff they got away with on this show, including Haddock's alcoholism!
I always find myself coming back to this series every year to watch it for creative inspiration. If you ever get a chance, please watch this show It will not disappoint you one bit because it's gripping from start to finish.
The Previous Tintin Incarnations both on film and TV-
Herge's Adventures of Tintin TV series 1957
Honestly not the best incarnation of Tintin, some consider it the worst one out of all of them. But I think this one deserves a pass since it was made during the early days of TV cartoon syndication.
This series ran in a collection of episodes that were over 10 minutes each. This was formatted more in the style of a old movie house serial where you'd have to tune in the next day to see the continuation.
This series unfortunately portrays the Tintin books, in a very loose manner. So loose that the series added characters who are NOT even supposed to be in those stories at all. I have no idea what Belivision was thinking but anybody who has read the comic knows for certain Calculus and Haddock are not in Black Island, and they just added them in there for the hell of it.
I remember when I first saw this show, I was very ticked off because as a fan of the books I expected a solo Tintin adventure with him battling the evil Dr. Muller and the counterfeiters on the deserted island.
This series does NOT deliver that. You'll probably think this is crazy but they added really random scenes that are not even in the original Herge book.
Here's an example, Tintin and Haddock are captured and Muller takes them prisoner. Muller by however chance was designed looking really old with grey hair, even though in the comic he is supposed to be in his Middle Ages and he's an EX Nazi scientist.
(Muller somehow GOT OLD!!!)
(Muller in the 90's series as he is seen in the comics)
These animated films are kinda, not really good.
They are sometimes very loose from the source material and the animation looks more like a looney tunes cartoon than a Tintin cartoon with realistic perils.
I have watched these films a few times and never really was too fond of them for their poor storytelling and the voice actors really sound like they don't want to be there.
I can't give it too much hate though because I am a Tintin fan, and thus I must respect all forms of media good or bad. And also the legendary voice actor Paul Frees voiced Captain Haddock in many of these adaptations in the 1960's. You might remember his name because he played almost every bad guy, also Santa, in the majority of all the Rankin Bass productions, which I am also a huge giant fan of.
So I would watch these and when I see Haddock, I would say. " oh yes, there's Burgermister Mister Burger!" or " ITS clobbering time!" because he also played The Thing in the Hanna Barbera adaptation of The Fantastic Four in the mid 1960's.
( Each episode would open up with a title card)
The one interesting thing about this specific Tintin series is that there is no known home video/ commercial released as of December 2022.
There is no evidence of any release of this series being on VHS, DVD, or even Laserdisc or Betamax tapes in existence. There are releases of the theatrical films from the 1960's, but this Belivision series was never released on a home video format for viewing.
The only way you would be able to view this series is you would've seen it on TV in the 1960's, or your would've taped it on TV in the 1980's where it was reruns broadcasted in England on channel 4. This itself is a mystery because nobody really is sure on where the prints or reels of this series lies. Some suggest that it is stored away in an archive somewhere in Belgium or it is protected by the Herge foundation and not released to the public.
The only evidence I have come across regarding the Belivision series is a group of Animation Cels that have been on the market for a few years now. These can be found on the French and British version of eBay and Catawiki, and sometimes the Belgian auction site, 2ndmemain.be which houses auctions strictly centered in Belgium. These are interesting because I have never come across any animation cels for the Nelvena series besides maybe a few production drawings that the animation team painted over with celluloid. The animation cels used in the Nelvena TV series have been since reported "lost" as a bunch of Tintin enthusiasts and collectors have no idea where half of them may be located. There has been discussions on the famed Tintinologist site about where they could be stored, but there seems to be only one or two collectors I have run across who own a bunch of them. Other times I have run into Nelvena animation cels and drawings from sellers on Catawiki from time to time.
The Tintin TV series from the 1960's could very well be lost forever. Nobody really knows of what happened to all the prints and the reels used during syndication. I have been able to watch some of the episodes through a guy who taped them in the mid 1980's, and has uploaded them online to the public. I honestly think we could unravel this mystery on where the lost Tintin tapes may be hidden if we dedicate time to search for them. Maybe in the near future, there will be a day where we will finally see this series available on home video for all the world to see in it's entirety. But for now, it remains a mystery, almost unsolvable.
(Tintin and Snowy in the spin off movie, Lake of the Sharks 1972)
This is a very weird side of the Tintin world we are getting into now. During the 1970's there was a awkward recession and also reinvention of the character. Just so you are aware, Lake of the Sharks is technically NOT a Tintin story. It is not written by Herge, or even illustrated by him. This film got under the radar of his nose during its release. The folks who were doing the Asterix movies during the 1960's were at the helm of this project, which makes it even weirder.
I have no hate towards this movie. I actually really enjoy it because of it's unique storyline and it's characters. But this film is kind of a "Tintin Fan Project" that was made into a reality.
There is nothing wrong with fan projects. Even I myself have been working on a passion project of a topic I really enjoy. As long as you make it faithful to the source material, and don't try to make the characters go outside their boundaries, it should be fine.
This film was created by Greg, comic editor for Tintin Magazine, and a friend of Herge. The film was directed by Raymond Leblanc who was the head supervisor in the Blake and Mortimer series, and publisher of the Tintin albums. There actually was a tie in book that was made during the film's initial release, which only used still images from the movie as mock illustrations for the comic.
There was even a tie in sponsorship from the ESSO gas company in France, which advertised the Lake of the Sharks toy and playset.
The film follows the storyline of where Tintin, Snowy, The detectives, and Haddock go to this island to meet Calculus, and discuss the new machine he has been working on. They unfortunately run into trouble as their plane crashes into a mountain, only to be saved by these random kids who are form the nearby village named Niko, and Nushka, who are accompanied by thier Scooby Doo-ish dog named Gustav.
They find out that professor Calculus has made this weird machine that can make an illusion of whatever it wants, almost like a hologram but it can become real if the power is on a high setting.
This creepy old maid who works on the island overhears this and tries to make trouble for our crew, with a few deep sea divers who kidnap Tintin and take him to the underwater James Bond hideout.
Surprise, surprise, Rastapopolous is at his evil tricks again trying to obtain the professor's invention, but Tintin kicks ass, and causes more trouble.
Then later, the machine goes haywire? and spews melted cheese?, I dunno, it looks like cheese and sends our bad guys on a chase, only for Tintin to catch them.
The movie ends with everyone in the village being happy and all is good. The end.
( The Movie poster with some of the main cast)
A Pretty simple storyline, but it's an okay film. Not the best they could have done, but nonetheless it's a Tintin film! the first one in a few years.
If you want to be critical, Lake of the Sharks is not apart of the original 26 adventure run created by Herge. This story is on it's own as a fan project turned into a theatrical film. Yes, toys, and a book exists which means it was popular at the time. And I am going to say this, the film was so popular in Europe that they even sold Tintin, laundry detergent as a promotional item!
No joke! I saw this on Catawiki once, and even I was surprised.
To be fair, I do not hate this movie. I am certainly not going to come out onto my lawn and tell you over a million reasons why this movie should not exist. As a fan, I respect it, and actually have a soft spot for the film because it's different from other Tintin media.
Yes it is not by the creator, It is not really considered a Tintin cannon story, Herge did not really have any involvement in it, but I can still accept it for being original and somewhat creative.
( it's been 12 years and I am still patiently waiting for a second one)
( Captain Haddock portrayed by actor Andy Serkis)
( Even a reference to Herge was mentioned in the movie!)
The Books That Were Not Adapted to the TV Series-
Almost every book to film adaptation has been changed in some way or another. Following in the case of Tintin, it is a different matter,
(Tintin's first trek to battle the USSR)
Released in 1929, the first Tintin album finds our hero battling against the Red Threat in Moscow. This book has been widely regarded as controversial and historical in it's own sense.
Reason being it dealt with heavy topics such as the horrors of the Bolshevik uprising in Russia, as well as the ongoing starvation of the people who lived within the country.
Herge has been considered by many comic enthusiasts as a bold man, to take on such a heavy topic as his first debut album. But this was the album that really mad this creation a smash hit.
There is a very interesting scene that sticks out to many, where Tintin and Snowy encounter a long line of people who look disheveled and poor on the street.
Tintin tells Snowy, and us as the audience that these people are waiting in a bread line to get food, which was a very prominent thing in Russia at the time.
The man asks a little boy who has his ribcage showing if he is a communist, and he replied no. The man then kicks the boy out onto the street and says he might as well starve and die if he refused to agree with his ideologies.
Snowy then picks up the loaf of bread and gives it to the crying child, where Tintin states to the man that he is being heartless to the starving children. Tintin is then put into a prison cell where he will soon be beheaded and tortured to death by the Soviet police.
That scene was considered by many critics as anti Soviet propaganda, but for people who were fearing the Russians in the 1920's in Europe, it was very insightful. Herge was taking real life issues that were talked about at the time and placed them into his comic book as a way to convey the message that these things were happening in another part of the world.
He was not afraid to tackle these harsh subjects, as cruel as they were, they needed to be discussed and brought to the public's attention one way or another.
In a sense, he made Tintin resolve this matter in an imaginary sense, which is one of the reasons Tintin became so popular.
( Tintin runs from the Soviet spies in the snow)
Personally I strongly believe that this story would have made and excellent episode in the Nelvena TV series. I know they could not adapt the story at the time due to the overwhelming controversy with censorship but they could have worked around that issue.
I think if they had to create a structure for the episode it would follow very closely to the original book, with some loose tie ins to fill in some story gaps.
This book is a bit longer than normal Tintin adventures and for a 40 minute TV episode it would have to be condensed. I think the episode would follow Tintin and Snowy on the train. Then it would then cut to the Rasputin looking guy with the bomb who would be given a tiny bit of dialogue on why he is choosing to get rid of Tintin on his journey for context.
The train accident happens, Tintin and Snowy are brought to the police and he ensues in a car chase. Then the episode would just follow as it is told throughout the book.
There are some bits I think could be present within a part 2 episode as well. One of my favorite comical elements in the story is where Tintin freezes to death.
No joke, he actually becomes a living ice cube with eyes sticking of to it!
He is then met by this Russian guy who ties him to his horse and he drags him away to the police. Snowy finds a bag of salt in the snow, ( how convenient) and pours it on Tintin to thaw him out.
Then the guy notices he has escaped but Tintin proceeds to pick a fight with this guy!
Tintin tells the guy he is too chicken to face him, which really was not a good idea because the guy turns out to be a heavyweight Russian wrestler. He throws Tintin into the snow and the guys threatens to rip his arms out of his body but he is stopped by punching a tree and a branch falls on his head, knocking him out.
This is such a weird and awkward scene. It is so out in left field that it kinda feels like Herge had no idea what he was trying to write about. But again, this was his first story, and he himself was evolving just as much as he was as an artist.
When I first read the book I found this scene very comical and amusing because Tintin is picking a fight with this huge Russian guy and immediately regrets the decision after he gets the wind knocked out of him.
It's just so funny and out of character in a way because Tintin is so, "mature" in most of his stories, and to have him deliberately picking fights with people is kinda out of his boundaries.
In this book he seems more kid like and silly. His age is never mentioned at all in the series but a lot speculate that he is about 19 or 20 in his first adventure, due to his immature nature of learning how to be on his own.
( The book addresses the Soviet Union and the Bolshevik uprising in Russia)
The Land of the Soviets is one of my personal favorite albums from the Tintin series. Not only because of it's historical context, but for the wonderful world we are brought into by Herge. We as readers get to participate in Tintin's investigation as the story becomes more surprising with every flip of the page.
So many things happen throughout the comic, as Tintin fixes a airplane by cutting a propeller from a tree trunk, Tintin battles goons with a soup bowl, Snowy smokes a cigar and explodes, Tintin gets into some high speed chases with boats and cars, he fixes a car by himself and crashes into a train, and many more crazy exploits as well.
The comic may be set within the real world, with real world issues, but there is also that relief of comedy. The mindset of the imaginary, where anything, as kooky as it may sound can actually happen.
That's why I think this is a very charming story, because it not only introduces the main characters to you, but it also gives you one heck of a rollercoaster ride of an adventure. By the time you are done reading the album, you kinda wish it continued because, it was such a thrilling joinery to go on.
For a first debut album, Herge made one big smash hit. Even if sites like Wikipedia call it one of Herge's weakest entries in the Tintin series.
Tintin's most controversial album
Released in 1930, The second Tintin adventure follows him to the Belgian Congo where he encounters a tribe of natives, and a vicious stowaway who plans to kill the reporter on his journey.
There are over six various versions of this book that have been in released. If Nelvena had to do an animated adaptation of this story, most likely they would choose the most recent iteration which was released in the late 1970's which completely removes any of the violent hunting sequences that were shown.
The original version was released in a album format taken from the Le Petite Vingtime (The Little Twentieth) Belgian newspapers in the 1930's and released by Casterman.
This version of the story has been since considered lost media, due to the publishing companies deeming it controversial. It has been a very rare book to find, and a book that is officially out of print.
The other versions have been published by Casterman, with additional scenes Herge had to illustrate to lessen the intense hunting scenes.
Following with the other releases, the English book company, Methuen had the opportunity to publish this title in the 1990's and in the early 2000's until it was taken off the market permanently. The Methuen version is the most recent incarnation of this title, and could possibly be the most likely candidate if Nelvena chose to do an animated adaptation of this story.
If Nelvena did a animated adaptation they could have easily created a storyline following the evil stowaway guy instead, and have him foil Tintin every now and then. Only small sections of the animals would be shown, but they would be more of obstacles that Tintin would face instead of hunting them. One of the interesting aspects that Herge added into this story is that Tintin is a photographer instead of a reporter this time.
An interesting route Nelvena could have taken would be to have Tintin as a photographer in the Belgian Congo and he tries to take pictures of the African wildlife. instead he meets obstacles of the animals going after him, and he'd have to outrun them, but in a comedic manner.
Maybe then, the evil stowaway could follow Tintin on his journey and he asks the voodoo witch doctor to murder Tintin later that night in the jungle, which would follow up into a chase between Tintin and the stowaway.
Those are some ways Nelvena could have gone about making an animated adaptation of this story, without addressing the natives.
( Voodoo Doctor from the village stalks Tintin)
Surprisingly, when I mention Nelvena, I'm not addressing Belivision. That company did their own animated adaptation of Tintin in the Congo for one of the episodes in the 1950's TV serials. This was only a small scene, told in flashback by Tintin as it shows him fighting a lion with a rifle.
If Belivision got away with doing a section of this story, why couldn't Nelvena?
Anyways, I think an animated adaptation of this story would be neat to see, and if they could go outside the barriers to create an interesting storyline that would be interesting to see!
The last story I am going to cover is the final entry in the original line of Tintin stories by Herge, Tintin and Alph Art.
To be fair, not much is known about this book. There is only a half of it done, and it was never finished by Herge, so only people speculated with their own minds on what happened to Tintin.
The book ends off with Tintin getting captured by the enemy, and being held at gunpoint walking into a room where they will presumably "Ceasar" him. Meaning, turn him into a statue and kill him from the inside and bury him in boiling wax. Ouch!
People who read the book had to use their own imagination on what happened to our hero. It was speculated that Tintin dies, and was never to be seen again. Spoilers, but the main bad guy Akass is actually our old friend Rastapopolous in disguise as a religious cult leader, trying to control peoples mind with the power of the supernatural.
French Comic artist Harry Edwood released a "what if" version of the story, but in his own vision. He finished the book, but it got mixed reviews because not everybody agreed on his vision of the story. There has been many theories where Tintin gets saved by Haddock, or Snowy, or even him escaping and running for help. Then there are the Debbie downers who want to ruin people's fun and say he died and Haddock mourns one his death and everything is awful and depressing.
So whatever your feelings are on this story, good for you. Everyone has their own interpretation on what happened to Tintin at the end of this story.
For the record, Rastapopolous being a cult leader and controlling peoples minds sounds really cool! creepy, but really cool! because it's a different role for him. We already saw him as a drug smuggler, slave dealer, rich tycoon, movie director, and a counterfeiter. Something different that people would never expect is nice because it's a unique approach to a well known character.
So I am all in for our main villain being a tad bit more powerful but a good enough opponent to give our hero a challenge to overcome. Drama is key ladies and gentleman!
( one of the very last sketches Herge did of this book)
If the Nelvena series had to do an adaptation of this book it would be a shot in the dark to be perfectly honest.
The writers could only speculate and draw conclusions from Herge's unfinished work on what was happening in the book. An animated adaptation would be a bit hard to do, but NOT impossible. They would just have to use their better judgement and think along the lines of what Herge would do and go from there.
While we are on the topic of unfinished Tintin books, I quickly want to note that there are at least a handful of titles that did not get to see the light of day. A book called, Thermozero, which was almost like a sequel to the Calculus Affair. There was another called, The Airport, which featured no particular adventure but a story told in flashback, kind of discovering who our main characters are from a personal perspective. And there were a few others, but just to be perfectly clear, Tintin in Vietnam never was an official Tintin book. People say it's a "lost" book but it was created as a "Pistache" meaning a parody book in the style of Herge.
There is rumors of Tintin in Angola, which was a part 2 of Tintin in the Congo but this was a hoax. This story was a subject to an African paper serializing the Congo story under a different name, which confused a bunch of people.
If you are wanting to get super technical, then look no further, because Tintin and the Blue Oranges and Tintin and the Golden Fleece are indeed REAL Tintin stories. They are not parody books created by the underground, they are actual Tintin stories. Here's why!
Herge had a hand in two live action Tintin theatrical movies in the middle 1960's. Yes you heard correct. Live action. God help us all.
I'm not going to cover all of it because I want to save this for another time, as well as the creepy stop motion Tintin movie from 1947. Herge wanted to bring Tintin to the big screen once again and created two tie in story books to the theatrical films.
I don't know what these books look like, I don't own them but I hope they aren't just pictures with little word bubbles or else we are doomed.
The Future of the Franchise-
The second Tintin film has been on hold for almost a decade
To be perfectly honest, I would love to see another adaptation of Tintin for TV audiences. My hope is for it to closely follow the source material and stay true to the spirit of Herge.
The Tintin movie is taking its sweet old time, when it should've been made a decade ago when the movie was still relevant with its audience.
Discarding the Tintin movie universe, there should be another Tintin incarnation that should be made for TV, to keep the legacy of Tintin moving to people who will appreciate Herge's creations and stories.
I honestly doubt they could recreate the cast and environment the Nelvena series brought to us. The team they had working on this series was an incredible set of people, who really put tons of passion on bringing the world of Tintin to life.
The artwork, the voices, the music, even the opening title sequence was crafted so perfectly, that it would be almost impossible to override this series as a whole.
But I don't want the next Tintin incarnation to be exactly like the Nelvena series, I want it to have it's own creativity, and really take a different approach to adapt what was lost from the Nelvena series.
Maybe this Tintin series could add completely new adventures, like the Blake and Mortimer series did.
Maybe this future Tintin incarnation would have it's own movies and merchandise.
A new Tintin TV series would be perfect to rekindle the character and the creations of Herge to a different audience, and perhaps maybe educate those who are older, but have no idea on who Tintin is.
I think a TV series would be the only way to finally give Tintin some recognition in America as well!
Iv'e tried to educate almost everyone I know about the topic. Some are interested, some confused, and some just have no interest at all. Which is a darn shame because they are missing out!
I'm a very passionate Tintin fan, so I would like hand in this project as well. Iv'e been talking about doing something like this for many years, and I think I could provide lots of creative background and advice on how to adapt this series again.
We just need Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak to do the music again, because the score composed for the Nelvena series is downright incredible!
In conclusion, Tintin needed to brought to the TV screen somehow once more, and the 90's series does it perfectly with a very faithful tribute to the comic books. Yes, some may argue not ALL of the events that happened in the books are present, but again, it captures the spirit of Herge's world and characters so well, you can barley notice it.
The Nelvena series should be watched by all people who enjoy cartoons, or you're an animation/ illustration student like myself, or who are interested in French culture.
This series does not disappoint, just the opening credits alone should be enough for you to sit down and enjoy this show in it's entirety.
You'll be taken on a wonderful adventure full of fantastic colorful characters, who are centered around historical events from the 20th century. All created by a Belgian comic artist who wanted to become a reporter, thus.. he created one.
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