द एडवेंचर्स ऑफ़ टिनटिन

I used to love watching this when I was young. I noticed that with some children/family shows, I hated them when I view them now because I sometimes see them as rip-offs or a way of making kids dumb (some of the playhouse Disney shows for example, and even some of the Asterix films). However, in this case, watching it again after a long time made me like it even more.

Tintin and the Lake of Sharks was a total screw-up!!! An absolute disgrace to the comics. The voices (Captain Haddock sounding like Popeye), the ridiculous music (especially when there is one part when the two kids sing an annoying song, making it a musical), the cheap animation and a number of Tintin-related factual errors like Calculus hearing badly and hearing well most of the time, the inaccurate characters ...all of it made it horrible a movie. The series has none of these flaws.

The visuals remain true to Herge's fantastic drawing style and the animation fits really well with it. The music in the series is perfect for Tintin. The humour remains the same(just as good), with a couple of clever add-ons for the Thompsons. The characters remain the same as in the comic books. The voice-cast is perfect and the voice-acting by everybody makes the characters portrayed exactly like they were in the books. The Thompsons are really hilarious and their voices were a joy to listen to, making the two detectives in the comics really come to life. My congrats to them, the voices of Tintin and Captain Haddock and the rest of the cast.

The stories remain true to the books even though any fans of the books will easily spot a few differences. I am pleased to say that they actually fit really well with the episodes, because picturing some of the edited parts being identical to these parts in the book instead of being altered, just wouldn't work. And hearing me say that the stories are reasonably true to the books clearly means that they are fantastic, matching the clever imaginations and twists that Herge came up with in his books.

A flawless adaptation is perhaps the best way to describe the series. Forget about that movie which rips off the books. If you want an enjoyable, loyal series, then pick this one as soon as you can.

Let me start by saying I was an adult when I first saw this series and I was thrilled they had FINALLY put out what looked to be a decent Tintin cartoon. Unfortunately, the Tintin characterization here is WAY too bland for today's cartoons and the animation really doesn't capture the vibrant color and brilliance of Herge's "ligne clair" illustrations. In the books Tintin has his quiet moments, yes, but when there's action he's on top of it all the way. The books' dialogue is vibrant and witty and so we flipped the pages eagerly awaiting the next turn of events. In the cartoon they try but they really don't succeed very well in holding our interest in every episode. I found myself growing bored the cartoons and finally just grabbed one of the books instead. So yes, if I had been twenty years younger I might have appreciated this effort more but the fact is we were spoiled by the books and this wasn't as good as they were.

The previous television adaptation of the cub reporter with the Hugh Grant-type fringe and the twisted taste in legwear was in serialised five-minute form (all together now - "HERRRGEEEE'S ADVENNNNTURRRRES OF TINTIN!!!") way back in the 1960s; this newer version was less bite-sized in its presentation, and was much better animated as well as remarkably faithful for the most part to its source material. (Unlike virtually all other famous fictional creations, Tintin's adventures on film, TV and radio have all come from Herge's work - in accordance with his wishes, no one's allowed to concoct new stories now that the original creator is dead.)

Of course, there were a few tweaks made to bring Tintin, Captain Haddock, the Thompson Twins, Professor Calculus, Signora Bianca Castafiore and the rest to television this time, but nothing story-wrecking (in the adaptation of "The Broken Ear," the two villains of the piece are brought to justice alive - in the book they drown and go to Hell). The writers, animators and voice cast preserve the spirit of the tales wonderfully; Tintin may speak with a Canadian voice, but so what? It's not like the series has been thoroughly butchered. Far better than "Tintin and the Lake of Sharks," and one of Nelvana's best.

"PRODUCED BY TELE-HACHETTE AND BELVISION!!!!" (The '60s one, that is. Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Probably the best screen adaption of Belgium's most famous reporter, Adventures of Tintin stays faithful to the spirit and stories of original comics. The stories themselves make for brilliant adventures whether it's finding buried treasure, going to the Moon or venturing to a far off land.

The animation is also of very good quality and considering that it was made on a TV budget back in 1991 is actually quite ahead of it's time, for example 'Explorers on the Moon' has one of the earliest of 3D cartoon animation. These shows will appeal to all ages and everyone is bound to have a favourite out of the various crazy characters, whether it's old sea dog Captain Haddock, the brilliant but hard of hearing Professor Calculus or even Tintin himself (not forgetting Snowy).

Unpretentious, exciting and fun, "The Adventures of Tintin" was great viewing despite the blandness of the title role. Being the only dull character in the team, Tintin and his smart dog Milou were a great contrast to the insane people that surrounded them: the foul-mouthed sea captain with a great vocabulary, Captain Haddock, the somewhat confused but brilliant Professor Calculus, and the always-ready French detectives Dupond and Dupondt.

Throughout his adventures Tintin visited the moon, fought giant spiders, stopped wars, investigated meteorites and huge mushrooms, and unraveled mystery after mystery. And it never got boring, not once! Absolutely amazing show that can be watched again, and whose plot won't insult the intelligence of adults, either!