As Aventuras de Tintim

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!

Firstly, let me affirm most of this series IS very faithful to the source. There are times you can follow the show and the book together for pages in a row with every scene and the dialog faithful captured to screen. But for such a faithful adaptation it's astonishing how little of the depth and variety of the comics is retained.

At the most basic level, the Tintin comics are adventure tales with some charming whimsy (sidetracks and double takes) and slapstick comedy... enough to appeal to an 11 year old. But there's intrigue, suspense, irony, politics, and (speaking only for the English translations) wonderful verbal humour also... material that unfolds well through one's teens and continues to appeal to an adult.

So as a repeat Tintin reader for decades I was delighted to find a complete box set of DVDs of the TV series. And subsequently most disappointed with the adaptation.

I've recovered from my initial disappointment to enjoy them as offered. Over the last couple of weeks I've re-watched the series from start to fin, with the books in hand as reference material, and I realise the flavour of the (usually but not always subtle) changes is consistent and intentional, with a presumption of a younger audience.

A BRIEF CATALOG of adjustments in style should serve to highlight what to expect...

• Plot lines, sense of adventure, danger, and escape are generally well presented.

• Ironic humour is in general removed entirely or at least dumbed down.

• Any sarcastic dialog is also removed.

• Much of the dialog is subtly adjusted to be more straight forward.

• Suspense and intrigue are significantly diminished. In the comics there is often a slow unfolding as to who the major villain may be and with what motivations, but on screen they've chosen to lay details out for us as early as fit within each story. And sometimes sledgehammer the points home in case we miss them.

• In a couple of cases, whole major players (individuals or nations) are removed, presumably for simplification... eg in "The Calculus Affair" only the Bordurians appear. The Syldavian's are not mentioned.

• Political and economic backdrops are left out. eg in the Blue Lotus there's only the briefest mention of Japan occupying China, no mention at all of the "International Settlement", and aspects of the story related to those are simply left out.

• "Here we are, right back where we started". Or... not. While book- Tintin may experience more or less failed attempts escaping a situation (and we get to enjoy the efforts), on screen they generally show us just his successes to keep the plot moving along.

• Similarly, almost all the whimsy is taken out. The sticking plaster that won't give up, the Thompsons investigating wrong lines of enquiry, etc. ... I guess to pack the "real" plot into the screen time they've had to drop most of the tangents.

• Captain Haddock doesn't drink! This significantly alters the character (eg without alcohol he's dependable) and makes for a couple of only semi-successful story adjustments.

• Snowy doesn't talk! He's a clever and communicative dog, just no inner dialog. This is a shame since in the comics he has some superb lines to offer.

• The Thompsons' banter is ... simplified to the point of being plain. You'll hear no "Thompson, with a 'P' as in 'psychology'", and while they say "to be precise" a great deal it's rarely followed by the wit of the comic. This one's a real comedown.

• On a number of occasions, a scene is played out "faithfully" but misses either quite enough setup (due to the above edits) or else adjusts a crucial turn of phrase to be more straightforward ... and thus loses the playfulness or wit that comes out in the comics.

All of the above and more are a consistent editorial style serving what adults perceive would be suitable for the presumed younger audience.

Overall as I say the basic sense of adventure story is preserved, the comic artwork style on screen is a match in almost all detail, and taken as presented the shows are done quite well. On *that* basis these shows are still OK entertainment.

For my own taste though I would have preferred all the sidetracks, irony, charm and wit of the original to be captured even if it meant the two TV episodes per story became three. Oh well.

I can't imagine Tintin or any other characters from the Tintin books played by actors, I just think it would botch up the characters. I can only imagine them either as comic book characters or cartoon characters. This Tintin cartoon series is as close as you could possibly get to the Tintin comic books. The characters all look and sound exactly as they do in the comic books. Each episode of the Tintin cartoon (either one or two part episodes) has basically the same story as in each of the Tintin books. Not just the same story, the same characters the same settings even some of the same quotes. I've enjoyed the Tintin cartoon

series as well as the Tintin books ever since I was a child. Tintin is basically meant for children but a number of adults like Tintin as well. Some episodes of the Tintin cartoon have been available on video but I wish all the entire series was available on DVD.

For those who aren't familiar with Tintin, the main characters in the Tintin saga isn't just Tintin the intrepid reporter and adventurer and his clever little dog Snowy. Tintin has friends who are often with him on his adventures. They

include Captain Haddock the grumpy sailor, Professor Cusburt Calculous a

genius scientist but at the same time a rather stupid person, and Thompson and Thomson the clumsy detective twins.

Captain Haddock is a rather bad tempered seaman, most likely because he

drinks too much whiskey. He often uses exclamations like "Blistering

Barnacles!" or "Thundering Typhoons!" or if he was really outraged or amazed

he would say "Billions of blistering blue barnacles!" or "Ten thousand

thundering typhoons!"

Professor Calculous is an amazing inventor. He's invented some amazing

things for example a "shark-proof submarine", a drug which makes alcoholic

drinks taste disgusting to cure alcoholic addicted people and a rocket ship to travel to the moon. But he's also rather stupid because he's deaf and always

miss hears what people say. He also ignores non-verbal communication and

pretends that he doesn't understand how angry Captain Haddock is which really drives him mad.

Thompson and Thomson or "the Thompson's" as they're usually called are both

rather stupid detectives and often have clumsy accidents. One of the

Thompson's is often saying "to be precise" correcting the other Thompson and

since they're identical twins and always wear the same clothing you've no idea which Thompson it is. They think they're the worlds best detectives but Tintin always proves to be a much better detective then they'll ever be.

So the the Tintin saga is more than just great adventure and detective stories for children but also a combination of rather humorous characters which will delight audiences of all ages.

I have loved the Tintin comic book series since a very young age and I still collect the books to this day, so naturally a loved this cartoon. But I was too young to really remember it. Anyway, the Tintin saga it truly an adventure to remember. The history is enough to see that this childrens cartoon is alot more, for anyone of any age. I'm just hoping the movie rumours are true, I'm sure it will be a worldwide phenomenon.