Tintin Opens on DVD Before Opening in Theaters

For two years now, I have been writing articles about Tintin, the most popular fictional character of the twentieth century that most people in the United States have never heard of, in preparation for a new film based on the original Tintin stories that Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have been working on.

Although Tintin is scarcely known in the United States, according to the India Times ( source ), "The brand awareness for the character in India is over 90%." The film The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (apparently, in the United States, the title will be simply The Adventures of Tintin ) opened in Tintin's hometown (Brussels, Belgium) in October 22, and has since been opening in other countries, with the opening in the United States reserved until December 21.

But November 22 marks a more important Tintin opening, at least for this old Tintin fan. Back in the 1990s, a wonderful three-season, thirty-nine episode animated television series, The Adventures of Tintin was broadcast on HBO and Nickelodeon ( more ). The original DVD releases have long been out of print in the United States, but Shout! Factory is re-releasing the series, with the thirteen episodes of the first season coming out on November 22 and the episodes of the other two seasons scheduled for later release.

This series is wonderful. Since it was aimed at an audience of children (and the original stories of Tintin are too subtle and include too much history and speculation on a great many adult topics to be limited to children), there are a number of changes from the original stories, although not as many as in the Spielberg/Jackson film. Best of all, these animations capture the magnificent drawings that Belgian author/artist Hergé (Georges Prosper Remi), Tintin's dad, created to show us his and Tintin's world, a sort of alternative twentieth century.

In contrast to Hergé's influential ligne claire (French for "clear line") style, retained in this animated series, what we are seeing of the Spielberg/Jackson film, such as this trailer ( here ) is dark, dreary, almost fuzzy.

So, since this is turning into a review, no matter how hard I try for not not to be that, I will say that, having seen all the episodes in the television series, in fact, having seen most of them more than once, if you are going to invest any money in getting to know Tintin, you will receive more delight for your dollars by investing in the DVDs. By the way, included in the first season are the three stories, The Crab with the Golden Claws , The Secret of the Unicorn , and Red Rackham's Treasure , on which the Spielberg/Jackson film is based.

One of the first of my fourteen articles on Tintin (this is number fifteen) is "Parents, Children: Watch Tintin Films Online for Free" ( here ). In it, I provide links to all the episodes in this series, mainly on YouTube. Unfortunately, now that the DVDs are being re-released, many of the YouTube videos have been taken down. But, if you check my links, which are to search results, you probably can still find most of them.

Sources are linked to throughout the article. The most important source, however, is my personal experience and enthusiasm.