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The Adventures of Tintin

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Cartoons

   The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of comic
   strip narratives created by Georges Remi under the pseudonym Hergé (a
   reversal of his initials, R G, as pronounced in French). They first
   appeared in French in a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper
   Le Vingtième Siècle in 1929. Set in a painstakingly researched world
   closely mirroring our own, The Adventures of Tintin present a number of
   well realised characters in distinctive settings. The series has
   continued as a favourite of readers and critics alike for over 70
   years.

   The hero of the series is the eponymous character, Tintin, a young
   reporter and traveller. He is aided in his adventures from the
   beginning by his faithful dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular
   additions to the cast included Captain Haddock and other colourful
   supporting characters.

   The success of the series saw the serialised strips collected into a
   series of albums, spun into a successful magazine and adapted for both
   film and theatre. The series is one of the most popular European comics
   of the 20th century, with translations published in over 50 languages
   and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date.

   The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive
   drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style. Engaging,
   well-researched plots, straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling
   adventures with elements of fantasy; mysteries; political thrillers;
   and science fiction. The titles in the Tintin series always feature
   slapstick humour, offset in later albums by sophisticated satire and
   political/cultural commentary.

Overview

   Tintin is a reporter, and Hergé uses this to present the character in a
   number of adventures which were contemporaneous to the period in which
   he was working, most notably the Bolshevik uprising in Russia, the
   Second World War and the moon landings. Hergé also created a world for
   Tintin which managed to reduce detail to a simplified but recognisable
   and realistic representation, an effect Hergé was able to achieve with
   reference to a well-maintained archive of images.

   Though Tintin's adventures are formulaic—presenting a mystery which is
   then solved logically—Hergé infused the strip with his own sense of
   humour, and created supporting characters who, whilst being
   predictable, were filled with charm that allowed the reader to engage
   with them. This formula of comfortable, humorous predictability is a
   similar to the presentation of cast in the Peanuts strip or The Three
   Stooges. Hergé also had a great understanding of the mechanics of the
   comic strip, especially pacing, a skill displayed in The Castafiore
   Emerald, a work he meant to be packed with tension in which nothing
   actually happens.

   Hergé initially improvised the creation of Tintin's adventures,
   uncertain how Tintin would escape from whatever predicament appeared.
   Not until after the completion of Cigars of the Pharaoh was Hergé
   encouraged to research and plan his stories. The impetus came from
   Zhang Chongren, a Chinese student who, on hearing Hergé was to send
   Tintin to China in his next adventure, urged him to avoid perpetuating
   the perceptions Europeans had of China at the time. Hergé and Zhang
   collaborated on the next serial, The Blue Lotus, which has been cited
   by critics as Hergé's first masterpiece.

   Other changes to the mechanics of creating the strip were forced on
   Hergé by outside events. The Second World War and the invasion of
   Belgium by Hitler's armies saw the closure of the newspaper in which
   Tintin was serialised. Work was halted on Land of Black Gold, and the
   already published Tintin in America and The Black Island were banned by
   the Nazi censors, who were concerned at their presentation of America
   and Britain. However, Hergé was able to continue with Tintin's
   adventures, publishing four books and serialising two more adventures
   in a German licensed newspaper.

   A post-war paper shortage forced changes in the format of the books.
   Hergé had usually allowed the stories to develop to a length that
   suited the story, but with paper now in short supply, publishers
   Casterman asked Hergé to consider using smaller panel sizes and adopt
   an arbitrary length of 62 pages. Hergé took on more staff (the first
   ten books having been produced by himself and his wife), eventually
   building a studio system.

   The adoption of colour allowed Hergé to expand the scope of the works.
   His use of colour was more advanced than that of American comics of the
   time, with better production values allowing a combination of the four
   printing shades and thus a cinematographic approach to lighting and
   shading. Hergé and his studio would allow images to fill half pages or,
   more simply, to detail and accentuate the scene, using colour to
   emphasise important points. Hergé notes this fact, stating "I consider
   my stories as movies. No narration, no descriptions, emphasis is given
   to images."

   Hergé's personal life also affected the series, with Tintin in Tibet
   heavily influenced by his recurring bad dreams. These nightmares, which
   he reportedly described as being "all white", are reflected in the
   snowy landscapes. The plot has Tintin set off in search of Chang
   Chong-Chen, previously seen in The Blue Lotus, and the piece contains
   no villains and little moral judgement, with Hergé even refusing to
   refer to the Snowman of the Himalayas as "abominable".

   The conclusion of Tintin's adventures was untimely. Hergé's death on
   March 3, 1983 left the twenty-fourth adventure, Tintin and Alph-Art,
   unfinished. The plot saw Tintin embroiled in the world of modern art,
   and the story ended with Tintin apparently about to be killed, encased
   in perspex and presented as a work of art.

Characters

Tintin and Snowy

   Tintin is a young Belgian reporter (as well as an accomplished fighter
   pilot) who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic
   action to save the day. Almost every adventure features Tintin hard at
   work at his investigative reporting, but he is rarely seen actually
   turning in a story. He is a young man of more or less neutral attitudes
   and is less colourful than the supporting cast.

   Snowy, an exceptionally white terrier, is Tintin's four-legged
   companion, who travels everywhere with him. The bond between the dog
   and Tintin is unbreakable, and they regularly save each other from
   perilous situations.

   Like Captain Haddock, Snowy is fond of the Loch Lomond brand of whisky,
   and his occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into trouble, as
   does his raging arachnophobia. The French name of Snowy, "Milou", has
   nothing to do with snow or the colour white. It is an oblique reference
   to a girlfriend from Hergé's youth, Marie-Louise Van Cutsem, whose
   nickname was "Milou".

Captain Haddock

   Captain Archibald Haddock, a seafaring captain of disputed ancestry (he
   may be of English, French or Belgian origin), is Tintin's best friend,
   and was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Haddock was
   initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but later he
   became more respectable. He evolves to become genuinely heroic and even
   a socialite after he finds a treasure from his ancestor, Sir Francis
   Haddock, in the episode Red Rackham's Treasure. The Captain's coarse
   humanity and sarcasm act as a counterpoint to Tintin's often
   implausible heroism; he is always quick with a dry comment whenever the
   boy reporter seems too idealistic. Captain Haddock lives in his
   luxurious mansion called Marlinspike Hall ("Moulinsart" in the original
   French).

   Haddock uses a range of colourful insults and curses to express his
   feelings, such as "billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles", "ten
   thousand thundering typhoons", "troglodytes", " bashi-bazouk", "
   kleptomaniac", " anacoluthon", and " pockmark", but nothing that is
   actually considered a swear word. Haddock is a hard drinker,
   particularly fond of Loch Lomond whisky, and his bouts of drunkenness
   are often used for comic effect.

   Hergé stated that Haddock's surname was derived from a "sad English
   fish that drinks a lot". Haddock remained without a first name until
   the last completed story, Tintin and the Picaros (1976), when the name
   Archibald was suggested.

Supporting characters

   Hergé's supporting characters have been cited as far more developed
   than the central character, each imbued with a strength of character
   and depth of personality which has been compared with that of the
   characters of Charles Dickens. Hergé used the supporting characters to
   create a realistic world in which to set his protagonist's adventures.
   To further the realism and continuity, characters would recur
   throughout the series. It has been speculated that the occupation of
   Belgium and the restrictions imposed upon Hergé forced him to focus on
   characterisation to avoid depicting troublesome political situations.
   The major supporting cast was developed during this period.
     * Professor Cuthbert Calculus (Professeur Tournesol {Prof. Sunflower}
       in French), an absent-minded and half-deaf physicist, is a minor
       but regular character alongside Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock.
       Introduced in Red Rackham's Treasure, and based partially on
       Auguste Piccard, his appearance was initially not welcomed by the
       leading characters, but through his generous nature and his
       scientific ability he develops a lasting bond with them.

     * Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond) are two bumbling detectives
       who, although unrelated, look like twins with the only discernible
       difference being the shape of their moustaches. They provide much
       of the comic relief throughout the series, being afflicted with
       chronic spoonerism and shown to be thoroughly incompetent. The
       detectives were in part based on Hergé's father and uncle,
       identical twins who wore matching bowlers.

     * Bianca Castafiore is an opera singer who Haddock absolutely
       despises. However, she seems to constantly be popping up wherever
       they go, along with her maid, Irma, and pianist, Igor Wagner. She
       was based upon Hergé's Aunt Ninie.

     * Other recurring characters include Nestor the butler, Alcazar the
       South American general, Kalish Ezab the emir, Abdullah the emir's
       son, Chang the chinese boy, Muller the evil German doctor, and
       Rastapopolous the criminal mastermind.

Settings

   The settings within Tintin have also added depth to the strips. Hergé
   mingles real and fictional lands into his stories, along with a base in
   Belgium from where the heroes set off. This is originally 26 Labrador
   Road, but later Marlinspike Hall. This is best demonstrated in King
   Ottokar's Sceptre, in which Hergé creates two fictional countries (
   Syldavia and Borduria) and invites the reader to tour them in text
   through the insertion of a travel brochure into the storyline. Other
   fictional lands include San Theodoros, San Paolo and Nuevo Rico in
   South America, the kingdom of Gaipajama in India, Sondonesia in
   Australasia and Khemed in the Middle East. Despite these fictional
   countries, he also included real countries and places; the U.S.A.,
   U.S.S.R, Congo, Japan, Belgium, Egypt, India, Sahara Desert, Germany,
   Scotland, England, Peru, Tibet and China. Another setting was the Moon,
   and in the first edition of Land of Black Gold, Palestine, though this
   was later replaced by the fictional Khemed.

Creating the works

Research

   Hergé's extensive research began with The Blue Lotus, Hergé stating:
   "it was from that time that I undertook research and really interested
   myself in the people and countries to which I sent Tintin, out of a
   sense of responsibility to my readers."

   Hergé's use of research and photographic reference allowed him to build
   a realised universe for Tintin, going so far as to create fictionalised
   countries, dressing them with specific political cultures. These were
   heavily informed by the cultures evident in Hergé's lifetime. Pierre
   Skilling has asserted that Hergé saw monarchy as "the legitimate form
   of government", noting that democratic "values seem underrepresented in
   [such] a classic Franco-Belgian strip." Syldavia in particular is
   described in considerable detail, Hergé creating a history, customs,
   and language. He set the country in the Balkans, and it is, by his own
   admission, modeled after Albania. The country finds itself threatened
   by neighbouring Borduria with an attempted annexation appearing in King
   Ottokar's Sceptre. This situation parallels Czechoslovakia or Austria
   and expansionist Nazi Germany prior to World War II.

   Hergé's use of research would include months of preparation for
   Tintin's voyage to the moon in the two part storyline spread across
   Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. His research for the
   storyline was noted in New Scientist: "[T]he considerable research
   undertaken by Hergé enabled him to come very close to the type of space
   suit that would be used in future Moon exploration, although his
   portrayal of the type of rocket that was actually used was a long way
   off the mark."

Influences

   In his youth Hergé admired Benjamin Rabier and suggested that a number
   of images within Tintin in the Land of the Soviets reflected this
   influence, particularly the pictures of animals. René Vincent, the Art
   Deco designer, also had an impact on early Tintin adventures: "His
   influence can be detected at the beginning of the Soviets, where my
   drawings are designed along a decorative line, like an 'S'...". Hergé
   also felt no compunction in admitting that he had stolen the round
   noses from Geo McManus, feeling they were "so much fun that I used
   them, without scruples!"

   During the extensive research Hergé carried out for The Blue Lotus, he
   became influenced by Chinese and Japanese illustrative styles and
   woodcuts. This is especially noticeable in the seascapes, which are
   reminiscent of works by Hokusai and Hiroshige.

   Hergé also declared Mark Twain an influence, although this admiration
   may have led him astray when depicting Incas as having no knowledge of
   an upcoming eclipse in Prisoners of the Sun, an error attributed by
   T.F. Mills to an attempt to portray "Incas in awe of a latter-day
   'Connecticut Yankee'".

Criticisms of the series

   The earliest stories in The Adventures of Tintin have been criticised
   for racist and colonialist leanings, including caricatured portrayals
   of non-Europeans. Whilst the Hergé Foundation have presented this as
   naïveté, and scholars of Hergé such as Harry Thompson have claimed
   "Hergé did what he was told by the Abbé Wallez", Hergé himself felt his
   background made it impossible to avoid holding certain right-wing
   views. He stated: "I was fed the prejudices of the bourgeois society
   that surrounded me."

   In Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, the Bolsheviks were presented as
   the villains of the piece, with Hergé drawing on Moscow Unveiled, a
   work given to him by Wallez and authored by Joseph Douileet. The work
   is highly critical of the Soviet regime, although Hergé contextualised
   this by noting that in Belgium, at the time a devout Catholic nation,
   "Anything Bolshevik was atheist". Hergé later dismissed the failings of
   this first story as "a transgression of my youth". By 1999 this
   presentation was being noted as far more reasonable, The Economist
   declaring: "In retrospect, however, the land of hunger and tyranny
   painted by Herge was uncannily accurate".

   In Tintin in the Congo, the Africans have been criticised as being
   presented as naïve and primitive. In the original work, Tintin is shown
   at a blackboard addressing a class of African children. "Mes chers
   amis," he says, "je vais vous parler aujourd'hui de votre patrie: La
   Belgique" ("My dear friends, I am going to talk to you today about your
   fatherland: Belgium"). Hergé redrew this in 1946 to a lesson in
   mathematics. Hergé later admitted the flaws in the original story,
   excusing it by noting: "I portrayed these Africans according to ...
   this purely paternalistic spirit of the time". The perceived problems
   with this book were summarised by Sue Buswell in 1988 as being "all to
   do with rubbery lips and heaps of dead animals" although Thompson noted
   this quote may have been "taken out of context". "Dead animals" refers
   to the fashion for big game hunting at the time of work's original
   publication. Drawing on André Maurois' Les Silences du colonel Bramble,
   Hergé presents Tintin as a big game hunter, bagging 15 antelope as
   opposed to the one needed for the evening meal. However, concerns over
   the number of dead animals did lead the Scandinavian publishers of
   Tintin's adventures to request changes. A page which presented Tintin
   killing a rhinoceros by drilling a hole in the animal's back and
   inserting a stick of dynamite was deemed excessive, and Hergé
   substituted a page which saw the rhino accidentally discharge Tintin's
   rifle whilst the erstwhile hunter snoozed under a tree.

   The adventure which is usually regarded as the first "serious" Tintin
   adventure is The Blue Lotus. This story, set in China during the
   then-current Sino-Japanese War, criticised Japanese and Western
   colonial meddling in China and helped to dispel popular myths about the
   Chinese people. From then on, meticulous research would be one of
   Hergé's trademarks.

   Some of the early albums were altered by Hergé in subsequent editions,
   usually at the demand of publishers. For example, at the instigation of
   his American publishers, many of the black characters in Tintin in
   America were re-coloured to make their race white or ambiguous. The
   Shooting Star album originally had an American villain with the Jewish
   surname of Mr. Blumenstein. This proved to be controversial, as the
   character looked very stereotypically Jewish. He was changed to an
   American with a less ethnically specific name, Mr. Bohlwinkel, in later
   editions and subsequently to a South American of a fictional country.
   Hergé later discovered that 'Bohlwinkel' was also a Jewish name.

   Whilst Tintin has been criticised on many occasions for not being much
   of a reporter, given he is rarely seen filing copy, Harry Thompson
   advanced a rebuttal in his work Tintin: Hergé & His Creation. Thompson
   argues that the 1920s had seen a change in the role of reporting, with
   "adventurer-journalists, who created their own news and reported it
   from a very personal perspective" very much the vogue of the day.
   Thompson asserts that Tintin was filing "news back in the shape of a
   cartoon strip." Tom McCarthy has noted that Tintin in the Land of the
   Soviets is presented as being the copy of a real journalist, with the
   illustrations purportedly photographs, which he avers "would allow it
   to invoke notions of documentary rigour". At the end of the serial
   publication of this first adventure an actor was hired to pretend to be
   Tintin, arriving back from the Soviet Union by train on the 8 May,
   1930.

Adaptations and exhibitions

   The Adventures of Tintin have been adapted in a variety media besides
   the original comic strip and its collections. Hergé encouraged
   adaptations and members of his studio working on the animated films.
   After Hergé's death, the Hergé Foundation became responsible for
   authorising adaptations and exhibitions. The Foundation has stated that
   its role is to protect "Hergé's work ... ensuring that it is respected,
   both in its content and in its spirit."

Film

   There have been both live-action and animated film adaptations of The
   Adventures of Tintin.
     * The Crab with the Golden Claws (1947) - animated, based on the
       book.
     * Tintin and the Golden Fleece (1961) - live action, developed from
       an original script.
     * Tintin and the Blue Oranges (1964) - live action, developed from an
       original script.
     * Tintin and the Temple of the Sun (1969) - animated, based on the
       book.
     * Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (1972) - based on an original script
       and subsequently adapted into comic book form.

   Steven Spielberg, a lifelong fan of The Adventures of Tintin, has
   obtained the rights to produce the next movie, but has twice had to
   drop his plans. Spielberg's love of the character is thought to have
   influenced the atmosphere and lead characterization in his Indiana
   Jones trilogy. Both characters having strong moral codes and childhood
   adventures with the boy scouts. Spielberg has commented on the
   influence, noting he has "always loved Tintin," and that "some of
   Indiana Jones was inspired by the books".

Documentaries

   Two documentaries have been made about Tintin and his creator Hergé.
     * I, Tintin (1966), a French documentary
     * Tintin and I (Tintin et Moi) By Danish director Anders Høgsbro
       Østergaard in 2003 and was a co-production of companies from
       Denmark, Belgium, France, and Switzerland. This documentary was
       based on a taped interview with Hergé by Numa Sadoul from 1971.
       Although the interview was published as a book, Hergé was allowed
       to edit the work prior to publishing and much of the interview was
       excised. Østergaard wanted to explore "the relationship between
       life and art" in the documentary, asserting that Hergé was "a
       highly sensitive, nervous person who is absorbed by impulses but
       who tries to maintain control and wisdom at the same time. The
       comic strip is influenced by Hergé's personal maturation process;
       he transforms his life, and the Tintin universe is never the same
       again". The documentary was broadcast in the United States as
       "Tintin and I" on the PBS channel, July 11th, 2006.

Television

   Two animated television series have been made, both of which were
   adaptations of the comic strips rather than original stories.

   The first was Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, produced by Belvision. The
   series aired from 1958 to 1962, with 104 five-minute episodes produced.
   It was adapted by Charles Shows and then translated into French by
   Michel Regnier ("Greg"), the then editor of Tintin magazine. This
   series has been criticised for differing too greatly from the original
   books and for its poor animation.

   The second series was The Adventures of Tintin , featuring 21 of the
   stories. It ran for three seasons (from 1991 to 1992) and was
   co-directed by Stéphane Bernasconi, unit directed by Peter Hudecki, and
   produced by Ellipse (France), and Nelvana (Canada), on behalf of La
   Foundation Hergé. Writers for the series included Toby Mullally, Eric
   Rondeaux, Martin Brossolet, Amelie Aubert, Denise Fordham and Alex
   Boon. Traditional animation techniques were used on the series,
   adhering closely to the books during all stages of production - some
   frames from the original albums were transposed directly to screen. The
   series has aired in over 50 countries.

Theatre

   Hergé himself helped to create two Tintin stage plays: Tintin in India:
   The Mystery of the Blue Diamond (1941) and The Disappearance of Mr.
   Boullock (1941–42). These were written with Jacques Van Melkebeke and
   performed in Brussels.

   In the late 1970s and early 1980s, two Tintin plays appeared at London.
   They were adapted by Geoffrey Case for the Unicorn Theatre Company. The
   plays were, Tintin's Great American Adventure, based on the comic
   Tintin in America, which was shown 1976–77, and Tintin and the Black
   Island, based on The Black Island, and shown in 1980. This second play
   later went on tour, eventually reaching Quebec in Canada.

   A musical based on The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun
   premièred on 15 September 2001 at the Stadsschouwburg (city theatre) in
   Antwerp, Belgium. It was entitled Kuifje – De Zonnetempel (De Musical)
   and was broadcast on Canal Plus, before moving on to Charleroi in 2002
   as Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil. The show boasted an impressive
   orchestral score composed by Dirk Brossé with lyrics by Seth Gaaikema
   and performed by Het Nationaal Orkest Van België (the National
   Orchestra of Belgium). The show featured around twenty different songs.
   Three CDs were later released based on the music from the show; the
   first, a single of De Zon was released on the 9th April 2001; the
   second, released on the 2nd October 2001 was a full cast album; whilst
   the third CD, released in 2002, contained a thirteen minute orchestral
   suite based on some of the songs appearing in the show. The music was
   performed by the JWF Military Orchestra, conducted by Jørgen Jensen.

   The Young Vic theatre company ran a musical version of Tintin in Tibet
   at the Barbican Arts Centre in London from December 2005 to January
   2006. The production was directed by Rufus Norris, and was adapted by
   Norris and David Greig. Grieg has noted that the production had
   difficulties with the adaptation, in particular that the adaptation had
   to be faithful to the spirit of the work rather than the actual text:
   "To find the essence of the story, you sometimes have to see things
   from a different angle". Norris also noted that the work had needed to
   be expanded: "We had to deepen it and show these characters in a
   three-dimensional light". The Hergé Foundation have organised the
   return of this show to the West End in December 2006 and January 2007
   in order to celebrate the Hergé centenary (2007).

Unofficial comic books

   Various unofficial comics have been released, ranging from illegal
   pirated versions of original albums to pastiches and parodies,
   including the pornographic Tintin in Thailand, which reportedly
   circulated from December 1999 onwards. The Belgian police launched a
   sting operation and made a number of arrests in early 2001,
   confiscating 650 copies. However, the BBC has reported that thousands
   of the forgeries were still in circulation in Thailand in February
   2001.

   Yves Rodier has produced a number of Tintin works, although none of
   these have been authorised by the Hergé Foundation and are thus
   illegal. The unfinished Tintin book, Tintin and Alph-art, was
   unofficially completed by Rodier and saw publication in Autumn 1986,
   Rodier then presented it to Moulinsart, asking that it become an
   official book, a request Moulinsart denied. In 1991, Rodier met Bob de
   Moor, and together they asked to redraw the book, but again Moulinsart
   refused permission; De Moor died in 1992. Rodier later redrew certain
   parts of the work and released it on CD-ROM. Rodier has also created
   new adventures for the character; The Witches Lake; the first page of
   an uncompleted work titled A Day at the Airport; an extra page for
   Tintin in Tibet, page 27b; and the three page Tintin, Freelance
   reporter for 'le petit vingtieme', to show how Tintin got his first
   major reporting job and went to the U.S.S.R.

   Harry Edwood is another famous artist producing pastiches of Tintin. He
   draws covers for stories that do not exist in the canon, as well as
   several of his own Tintin stories - The Voice of the Lagoon and The
   Elves of Marlinspike.

   In 1989, an anarchist graphic novel entitled Breaking Free was
   published in England under the pseudonym "J. Daniels". The propaganda
   story is not related to any of the original Tintin novels, and only two
   characters from those books appear in this unauthorized work with their
   original names, though a small number of other characters make cameos
   under different names. Tintin and Captain Haddock appear as nephew and
   uncle, and are labourers. They grow disenchanted by ineffective labour
   unions, corruption in high places and the affluence of the wealthy who
   are driving out poorer tenants to make room for luxury housing. They
   unite with friends, neighbours and striking co-workers, to slowly
   organize into a nationwide movement that by the end of the novel is on
   the verge of toppling the British government. The book was published
   without copyright and was released into the public domain.

Exhibitions

   Hergé's work on Tintin has formed the basis of many exhibitions, with
   the Hergé Foundation creating a mobile exhibition in 1991. "The World
   of Hergé" is described by the Foundation as being "an excellent
   introduction to Hergé's work". Materials from this exhibition have also
   formed the basis for larger shows, namely "Hergé the Draughtsman", an
   exhibition to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Tintin's creation, and
   the more recent "In Tibet With Tintin". In 2001 the Musée de la Marine
   staged an exhibition of items related to the sea which had inspired
   Hergé. In 2002 the Bunkamura Museum of Art in Japan staged an
   exhibition of original drawings, as well as the submarine and rocket
   ship invented in the strips by Professor Calculus. Barcelona has also
   hosted an exhibition on Tintin and the sea, "llamp de rellamp" at the
   Maritime Museum in 2003.

   2004 saw exhibitions in Holland, "Tintin and the Incas" at the Royal
   Museum of Ethnology; the "Tintin in the City" exhibition in the Halles
   Saint Géry in Brussels; and an exhibition focusing on Tintin's exploits
   at sea at the National Maritime Museum in London. The latter exhibition
   was in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the publication of
   Tintin's first adventure, and was organised in partnership with the
   Fondation Hergé. 2004 also saw the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art
   add an area dedicated to Hergé.

Memorabilia and merchandise

   Three soft toy versions of Snowy (Milou). Image by misocrazy.
   Enlarge
   Three soft toy versions of Snowy (Milou). Image by misocrazy.

   Images from the series have long been licensed for use on merchandise,
   the success of the Tintin magazine helping to create a market for such
   items. Tintin's image has been used to sell a wide variety of products,
   from alarm clocks to underpants. There are now estimated to be over 250
   separate items related to the character available, with some becoming
   collectors items in their own right.

   Since Hergé's death, the Hergé Foundation have maintained control of
   the licenses, through Moulinsart, the commercial wing of the
   foundation. Speaking in 2002, Peter Horemans, the then director general
   at Moulinsart noted this control: "We have to be very protective of the
   property. We don’t take lightly any potential partners and we have to
   be very selective ... for him to continue to be as popular as he is,
   great care needs to be taken of his use." However, the Foundation has
   been criticised by scholars as "trivialising the work of Herge by
   concentrating on the more lucrative merchandising" in the wake of a
   move in the late nineties to charge them for using relevant images to
   illustrate their papers on the series.

Shops

   Tintin memorabilia and merchandise has allowed a chain of stores based
   solely on the character to become viable. The first shop was launched
   by Jane Taylor in 1984, located in Covent Garden, London, and there are
   now branches worldwide, including two in Belgium, located in Brussels
   and Bruges. The British bookstore chain, Ottakars was named after King
   Ottokar, from the Tintin book King Ottokar's Sceptre, and their shops
   stock a large number of Tintin merchandise. There are also a number of
   Tintin themed cafés located around the world.

Stamps

   Tintin's image has been used on numerous occasions, the first issued by
   the Belgian Postin 1979 to celebrate the day of youth philately. This
   was the first in a series of stamps with the images of Belgian comic
   heroes, and was the first stamp in the world to feature a comic hero.

   In 1999, the Royal Dutch Post released two stamps on October 8, 1999,
   based upon the Destination Moon adventure, with the stamps selling out
   within hours of release. The French post office, Poste Française, then
   issued a stamp of Tintin and Snowy in 2001. To mark the end of the
   Belgian Franc, and also to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the
   publication of Tintin in the Congo, two more stamps were issued by the
   Belgian Post on December 31, 2001. The stamps were also issued in The
   Congo at the same time. 2002 saw the French Post issue stamped
   envelopes featuring Tintin, whilst in 2004 the Belgian post-office
   celebrated its own seventy-fifth anniversary, as well as the fiftieth
   anniversary of the publication of Explorers on the Moon and the
   thirty-fifth anniversary of the moon landings with a series of stamps
   based upon the Explorers on the Moon adventure. In 2007, to celebrate
   Herge's centenary year, Belgium, France and Switzerland all plan to
   issue special stamps in commemoration.

Coins

   Besides stamps, Tintin has also been commemorated by coin several
   times.

   In 1995, Monnaie de Paris issued a set of 12 coins to commemorate the
   10th anniversary of Herge's death, made of silver, and in a limited
   edition of 5000.

   Another coin was released to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
   Tintin book ' Explorers on the Moon', in a limited run of 10,000.

   Belgium minted a limited edition 10-euro coin to celebrate the 75th
   birthday of Tintin in January of 2004. The coin, composed of silver,
   was limited to a minting of 50 000, and although a euro is legal tender
   only in Belgium, which launches a commemorative coin annually. Other
   coins have honoured Georges Simenon and the 60th anniversary of the
   peace in Europe which began with the end of World War II. The coin
   features Tintin and Snowy. The sum of ten euros is usually represented
   by a note rather than coin.

Translation into English

   The process of translating Tintin into the English language was a
   complex affair, commissioned in 1958 by Methuen & Co. Ltd. of London.
   It was a joint-operation, headed by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael
   Turner, who worked closely with Hergé to attain an accurate translation
   as true as possible to the original work. The works were also sold in
   the American market by the Atlantic Monthly Press in cooperation with
   Little, Brown and Company beginning the 1970s. The text features the
   originally translated British English text with alterations to
   localized British words such as gaol, tyre, saloon and spanner.
   Currently, they are being published under the Joy Street imprint of
   Little, Brown and Company.

   Due in part to the large amount of language-specific wordplay (such as
   punning) in the series, especially the jokes which played on Professor
   Calculus’ partial deafness, it was always the intention not to
   translate literally, instead striving to sculpt a work whose idioms and
   jokes would be meritorious in their own right; however, in spite of the
   free hand Hergé afforded the two, they worked closely to the original
   text, asking for regular assistance to understand Hergé's intentions.

   More than simply translating, however, the English versions were
   anglicised to appeal to British customs and values. Milou, for example,
   was renamed Snowy at the translators’ discretion. Moreover, the
   translation process served to colour the imagery within the book; the
   opportunity was taken to make scenes set in Britain more true-to-life,
   such as ensuring that the British police were free from firearms, and
   ensuring scenes of the British countryside were more accurate for
   discerning British readers. Because the translated text was placed into
   the original speech balloons without alteration to their original
   dimensions, the linguistic differences between the two languages
   (meaning that certain phrases were either significantly shorter or
   longer in the English language) led to the unexpectedly empty or full
   balloons which can often be seen in the English versions of the book.

Legacy

   Tintin and his creator Hergé have inspired many artists within comics.
   Most notably, Hergé's ligne claire style has proven influential.
   Contributors to the Tintin magazine have employed ligne claire and,
   more recently, Jacques Tardi, Yves Chaland, Jason Little, Phil Elliott,
   Martin Handford, Geoff Darrow and Garen Ewing have produced works
   utilising it.

   Tintin's legacy includes the establishment of a market for comic strip
   collections; the serialisation followed by collection model has been
   adopted by creators and publishers in France and Belgium. This system
   allows for greater financial stability, as creators receive money
   whilst working. This rivals the American and British model of work for
   hire. Roger Sabin has argued that this model allowed for "in theory ...
   a better quality product." Paul Gravett has also noted that the use of
   detailed reference material and a picture archive, which Hergé
   implemented from The Blue Lotus onwards, was as "a turning point ... in
   the maturing of the medium as a whole."

   In the wider art world, both Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein claim
   Hergé as one of their most important influences. Lichtenstein made
   paintings based on fragments from Tintin's comics, whilst Warhol
   utilised the ligne claire and even made a series of paintings with
   Hergé as subject. He declared: "Herge has influenced my work in the
   same way as Walt Disney. For me, Herge was more than a comic strip
   artist."

   In music, Tintin has been the inspiration to a number of bands and
   musicians. A British technopop band of the 1980s took the name The
   Thompson Twins after the Tintin characters. Stephen Duffy, a former
   member of Duran Duran, performed the minor hit single "Kiss Me" under
   the name "Tintin"; he had to drop the name under pressure of a
   copyright infringement suit. Duffy would later release the album
   Designer Beatnik under the name "Doctor Calculus" in reference to
   Professor Calculus. An Australian psychedelic rock band and an American
   independent progressive rock band have used the name " Tin Tin", and
   British electronic dance music duo Tin Tin Out were similarly inspired
   by the character. South African singer/songwriter Gert Vlok Nel
   compares Tintin to God in his Afrikaans song "Waarom ek roep na jou
   vanaand", presumably because Tintin is such a morally pure character.

   Hergé has been lauded as "creating in art a powerful graphic record of
   the 20th century's tortured history" through his work on Tintin. whilst
   Maurice Horn's Encyclopaedia of World Comics declares him to have
   "spear-headed the post World War II renaissance of European comic art"
   French philosopher Michel Serres noted that the 23 Tintin albums
   constituted a "chef-d'oeuvre" to which "the work of no French novelist
   is comparable in importance or greatness".

   On June 1, 2006, the Dalai Lama bestowed the International Campaign for
   Tibet's Light of Truth award upon the character of Tintin, along with
   the Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The award was in recognition of Hergé's
   book Tintin in Tibet, which the Executive Director of ICT Europe
   Tsering Jampa noted was "(f)or many ... their introduction to the
   awe-inspiring landscape and culture of Tibet". In 2001 the Hergé
   Foundation demanded the recall of the Chinese translation of the work,
   which had been released with the title "Tintin in China's Tibet". The
   work was subsequently published with the correct translation of the
   title. Accepting on behalf of the Hergé Foundation, Hergé's widow Fanny
   Rodwell declared: "We never thought that this story of friendship would
   have a resonance more than 40 years later".

Quotations

     * Charles de Gaulle once said "My only international rival is
       Tintin."

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