Tintin in the News

Tintin, the timeless, ageless boy reporter, created by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé (Georges Remi), hangs onto a place in the news in the United States, a country which has never embraced him as other countries have, because Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are collaborating on three films of his adventures. The premiere of the first is scheduled for December 23, 2011 (more), with us Tintin fans in the United States hoping that after that film premieres, we will not be so lonely.

In many places, Tintin's adventures, both the old ones Hergé wrote about in his twenty-four classic tales and the new ones that keep appearing in the newspapers, are very much in people's minds.

Tintin the terrorist

There are few literary or historical figures who come across less as a terrorist than Tintin, but comedian Dom Joly was recently detained as a suspected terrorist for dressing like Tintin. Working on a documentary about Tintin for Britain's Channel 4, Joly donned a kilt, complete with a plastic skean dubh, a knife traditionally worn with the kilt, just as Tintin wore a kilt in his Scottish adventure, The Black Isle. Ironically, this incident occurred at the airport in Glasgow, Scotland, where they should know a few things about kilts (source; Joly's own account).

Tintin in Australia

Tintin just stopped briefly in Australia. But, in recently years, Tintin or, at least, his long lost twin, has been spotted down under. Kevin Rudd, even before becoming Prime Minister (more), was caricatured by cartoonist Bill Leak as Tintin. Australian newspapers are having fun with the current election campaign, pitting Kevin Rudd against Tony Abbott, known to exercise wearing nothing but a red Speedo. The obvious headline is "Tintin vs. Titan."

Moulinsart SA, the Belgian corporation which owns and controls all rights to Tintin, has objected to the use of the image of Tintin in Leak's cartoons and has demanded royalty payments (more). You can view some of Leak's caricatures of Rudd as Tintin: caricature 1 and caricature 2. Now, compare the photo of Rudd (above).

Moulinsart has tried to slap severe fines on Tintin fan clubs (yes, America, Tintin fan clubs!) for using images of Tintin; that is the reason this article is illustrated only with a photo of a Tintin look-alike. You can see the classic image of Tintin with his plus fours and quiff, accompanied by his dog Snowy, here, but do check all the legalese accompanying it.

Tintin in Quebec

Tintin has stirred up some controversy in Quebec. Hergé, Tintin's creator, wrote the Tintin stories in French, but recently, one of Tintin's adventures was released in what was called the French of Quebec, following a long-standing policy of providing translations of Tintin's adventures in a range of local dialects. People in Quebec were not amused, saying that they read and write European French, and that the language used in the new translation was actually nonstandard Quebec slang. There are no plans for a second volume (source).

Tintin in China... and in a Chinese restaurant

Tintin is quite popular in China. Perhaps the Chinese appreciate the effort of Hergé to create an authentic, non-stereotypical view of China in The Blue Lotus, even using correct Chinese in signs and posters shown in the drawings. Also, in The Blue Lotus, Hergé was favorable to the Chinese in their conflict at the time (1936) with the Japanese. A new Chinese translation, the first directly from French to Chinese, has recently been published (source).

Friends of mine recently announced that they had become fans of Tintin. I asked which books they had read, and they replied, no books, just a menu. It turns out there is a Chinese restaurant called Tin Tin (note the difference in spelling) in Charlotte, North Carolina (more).

Tintin and Avatar

The early twentieth century settings of the Tintin books seem far removed from the world of Pandora, where the film Avatar is set. But, already, commentators are making a connection between Avatar and the unreleased Tintin films, which are being shot with a similar technology. None of the actors in Avatar have been nominated for best acting awards, and there are questions whether the actors in the Tintin films, including Andy Serkis, who plays Tintin's friend Captain Haddock and who has been passed over for acting awards in similarly digitized performances as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings series and King Kong in the 2005 remake will be nominated (source),

You can keep up with all my articles on Tintin here.