The Adventures of Tintin (TV series)


The Adventures of Tintin is a 1991-1992 animated TV show co-produced by France and Canada, based on The Adventures of Tintin by Belgian comic artist Georges Prosper Remi, more commonly known by his pen name Hergé. Thirty-nine half-hour episodes were produced over the course of its three seasons.

History

The television series was directed by French director Stephen Bernasconi, with Peter Hudecki as the Canadian unit director.. It was produced by Ellipse and Nelvana on behalf of the Hergé Foundation. It was the first television adaptation of Hergé's books since the Belgian animation company Belvision was responsible for Hergé's Adventures of Tintin twenty years earlier. Philippe Goddin, an expert on Hergé and Tintin, acted as a consultant to the producers. The series' writers included: Toby Mullally, Eric Rondeaux, Martin Brossolet, Amelie Aubert, Dennise Fordham, and Alex Boon.

Production

The series used traditional animation techniques and adhered closely to the original books, going so far as to transpose some frames from the original books directly to screen. In the episodes "Destination Moon" and "Explorers on the Moon", 3D animation was used for the moon rocket—an unusual step in 1989. Each frame of the animation was then printed and recopied onto celluloid, hand painted in gouache, and then laid onto a painted background. The rocket seen in the title sequence is animated using the same 3D techniques.
Artistically, the series chose a constant style, unlike in the books. In the books, the images had been drawn over the course of 47 years, during which Hergé's style developed considerably. However, later televised episodes, such as the "Moon Story" and "Tintin in America," clearly demonstrated the artists' development during the course of the production of the television series. It was filmed with English language narration, but all visuals remained in French.

Changes from the books

Certain aspects of the stories posed difficulties for the producers, who had to adapt features of the books for a younger audience. Nevertheless, this series was far more faithful to the books than the earlier Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, which was made from 1959 to 1963.
Some examples of these changes included toning down the high amount of violence, death, and the use of firearms in many adventures. Tintin's role was slightly downplayed and he scolded his dog Snowy less often than he did in the books. Twice in the series, Tintin is portrayed as knowing various characters already, when it was the first time they had met in the book version. On these occasions Tintin had already interacted with these characters in the TV series, as stories were shown in a sequence different from the books.
Haddock's penchant for whiskey posed a problem for audience sensitivities. While the original books did not promote alcohol, they featured it heavily, with much humor based around it and the results of drinking. However, in many countries where the producers hoped to sell the series, alcoholism was a sensitive issue. Therefore, international versions of the series had some alterations. Specifically, Haddock is often seen drinking, but not as heavily as in the books. "The Crab with the Golden Claws" is the only adventure where Haddock's drunken state is not downplayed. In "Tintin in Tibet", Haddock is seen taking a sip from a whiskey flask in order to set up a scene in which Snowy is tempted to lap up some spilled whiskey and subsequently falls over a cliff. In "Tintin and the Picaros", Haddock is the only person taking wine with dinner, foreshadowing the use of Calculus' tablets to cure the drunken Picaros. Haddock is also seen drinking in "The Calculus Affair" and in "Explorers on the Moon", setting up the scene where he leaves the rocket in a drunken state. However, he keeps the bottle in the refrigerator, making it less obvious for young viewers that it is alcohol.
Tintin in America, The Shooting Star and Red Rackham's Treasure are the only stories to be told in one part instead of two. In the second part of the stories, Tintin narrates some of the events of the first part at the beginning.
Throughout the books, Snowy is frequently seen to be "talking". It is understood that his voice is only heard through the "fourth wall", but this verbal commentary is completely absent in the television series.

Stories not adapted

Three of the Tintin books were not included in the animated series. These were the first two Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and Tintin in the Congo and the final Tintin and Alph-Art.

Music

The underscore music and the main title theme for the series were written by composers Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak. The music was recorded by engineer James Morgan. Excerpts from the score were released by Lé Studio Ellipse on CD and cassette in conjunction with Universal Music Group, on the StudioCanal label. It is now out of print in both formats.

Hergé's cameo appearances

, the creator of Tintin, makes a number of Hitchcock-like cameo appearances in the cartoon series—as he often did in the original books. Most of the time he is just a passing figure in the street, such as when he is checking his watch in The Blue Lotus or a reporter or a technician. These brief appearances, however, are not sporadic as he is featured in all of the TV episodes. His letter box can even be seen next to Tintin's in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Other cameos are less flattering: he is a gangster in Tintin in America and an inmate at the lunatic asylum in Cigars of the Pharaoh, along with his fellow artist and collaborator Edgar P. Jacobs.

Broadcasts and releases

Broadcasts

In France, the series originally aired on May 5, 1992 on France 3 with reruns on M6.
In Canada, the series originally aired on Global, Family Channel, and on Radio-Canada in Quebec, with reruns subsequently aired on YTV, Teletoon, CBC, and Teletoon Retro.
In the United States, the series originally aired on HBO. Reruns subsequently aired on several channels' programming blocks, including Nickelodeon.
In Germany, the series was aired on ZDF with reruns subsequently aired on KIKA.
In the United Kingdom, the series aired on Channel 4, The Family Channel and Sky One.
In Israel, the series was dubbed into Hebrew by Elrom Studios and broadcast on the Israeli Channel 2, then later on the Israel Broadcasting Authority. Tintin became very popular among kids and adults in Israel, and the show was aired for several years rerunning many times.
In Australia, the series was broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as part of their ABC Kids programming block, as well as on the ABC2 digital channel. Its complete run has been shown at least twice, leading to screenings of the Belvision Hergé's Adventures of Tintin. In October 2010, it was being aired on Boomerang. Later, it stopped airing on TV in Australia. In New Zealand, the series was originally aired on TV2 of Television New Zealand and TV3. It continued to be rerun on TV2 and TV3 for a few years, and was then featured on Cartoon Network.
In South Africa, the series was broadcast by KTV, a daily children's program, on M-Net.
In India, the series was broadcast by Cartoon Network in the summer of 2000 with a Hindi dub by Sound and Vision India. The original run was followed by many reruns. Doordarshan's DD National and Zee Alpha Bangla also showed the series with the original Hindi dubbing. Gemini TV aired the series in Telugu around the same time as Sabash Tintin. In 2013, it returned on Discovery Kids during Republic Day 2013, but with a new Hindi dubbing voice cast and produced by a different dubbing studio.
In the Philippines, it was aired in GMA-7 in the mid-1990s as part of the afternoon cartoon schedule.
In Brazil, the series was aired in state-owned TV Cultura and TVE Brasil in 1996 and early 2010s.
In Sri Lanka, the series was aired multiple times on Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, first in late 1990s and the last time it was broadcast was in 2012 by the popular TV channel called "Sirasa TV".
In Indonesia, the series was aired on B-Channel in the 2010s with Indonesian dubbing.
In Latin America, was aired first on Cartoon Network LATAM during 1995, Then in Nickelodeon LATAM in 1996 to 2001, and later returns to Cartoon Network LATAM during 2002 to 2004, and later, the show reruns on Cartoon Network's sister channel Boomerang LATAM
In the Republic of Ireland, the series aired on RTÉ Two from 5 July 1993 in the mid-1990s on The Den.
In the Russia, it was aired in Fox Kids and Jetix from February 1999-August 9, 2010

Online platforms

The series is now available on Amazon Prime and Netflix having been remastered into 1080p widescreen high definition.

Home video

Voice artists

English

Running order of the TV series as per original broadcast schedule.

Season 1

  1. "The Crab with the Golden Claws": Part 1
  2. "The Crab with the Golden Claws": Part 2
  3. "The Secret of the Unicorn": Part 1
  4. "The Secret of the Unicorn": Part 2
  5. "Red Rackham's Treasure"
  6. "Cigars of the Pharaoh": Part 1
  7. "Cigars of the Pharaoh": Part 2
  8. "The Blue Lotus": Part 1
  9. "The Blue Lotus": Part 2
  10. "The Black Island": Part 1
  11. "The Black Island": Part 2
  12. "The Calculus Affair": Part 1
  13. "The Calculus Affair": Part 2

    Season 2

  14. "The Shooting Star"
  15. "The Broken Ear": Part 1
  16. "The Broken Ear": Part 2
  17. "King Ottokar's Sceptre": Part 1
  18. "King Ottokar's Sceptre": Part 2
  19. "Tintin in Tibet": Part 1
  20. "Tintin in Tibet": Part 2
  21. "Tintin and the Picaros": Part 1
  22. "Tintin and the Picaros": Part 2
  23. "Land of Black Gold": Part 1
  24. "Land of Black Gold": Part 2
  25. "Flight 714": Part 1
  26. "Flight 714": Part 2

    Season 3

  27. "The Red Sea Sharks": Part 1
  28. "The Red Sea Sharks": Part 2
  29. "The Seven Crystal Balls": Part 1
  30. "The Seven Crystal Balls": Part 2
  31. "Prisoners of the Sun": Part 1
  32. "Prisoners of the Sun": Part 2
  33. "The Castafiore Emerald": Part 1
  34. "The Castafiore Emerald": Part 2
  35. "Destination Moon": Part 1
  36. "Destination Moon": Part 2
  37. "Explorers on the Moon": Part 1
  38. "Explorers on the Moon": Part 2
  39. "Tintin in America"

    Reception

Along with fans, critics have praised the series for being "generally faithful" to the originals, with compositions having been actually taken directly from the panels in the original comic books.