Tintin Books To Be Made Into Feature Film

By: Jimmy li Click author's name for more of his/her articles

1929 saw the debut of a French cartoon series as a children's supplement in Belgian Le Vingtieme Siecle. From the creative mind of Belgian artist Hergé, the world was introduced to a skinny boy reporter named Tintin. Tintin's adventures would carry him around the world and bring him in contact with colorful cast of characters including Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and the Thompson Twins. The stories infused swashbuckling adventure and comedy with real world events(such as the moon landings). Although Hergé may not have known it his beautiful art style and knack for adventure storytelling ensured that on January 10 1929, a star was born.

My earliest memories of Tintin come from reading the comic series as a child in the library. My parents would leave me for hours at a time at the local library while they went grocery shopping and I quickly became familiar with Tintin's adventures. The books possessed a swashbuckling adventure quality similar to Indiana Joenes which would translate quite well into film.

Recently it was announced that Tintin would be made into a feature film to be released in 2011. Spielberg first acquired the rights to Tintin after Hergé's death in 1983 and re-optioned them in 2002. The film was to be made into a motion capture 3-D feature (think Beowulf and Monster House) with live actors recording movement and audio to be translated into a digital model. The film is set to be a collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson with hopes to become a trilogy. The first film tells of the tale of Tintin's first encounter with Captain Haddock as told in "The Crab with the Golden Claws" and "The Secret of The Unicorn.". Through a long development cycle and a delay in release date, the film has survived principle shooting and is currently in post production.

I have mixed feelings about the Tintin books receiving the Hollywood treatment. Part of me is interested in seeing how Tintin is translated on the big screen. Another part of me fears that those same childhood memories will be sullied by another big budget Hollywood feature. The fear is that Hollywood will change the source material to make it more marketable to the masses. Tintin will be a relatively new character to the majority of moviegoers who see it in 2011 and I wonder if the original source material will be as charming in the 21st century. It is often tempting for filmmakers to alter characters, plot points and narratives to make it more stylized and appealing to the young demographic it wants to cater to.

With heavy star power behind the production and within the cast, I cannot see Tintin being anything but a commercial success. As Hollywood struggles to find original property to film, more and more source material will be mined from classic cartoon, comics, and literature. I realize I am being naive but sometimes I wish Hollywood would ask us for permission before filming our childhood properties. I may not have millions invested but I do have an emotional one. With movie technology as advanced as it now is, Hollywood can now make a movie out of just about anything they want. The question is, should they?

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About The Author: Jimmy Li is a fan of The Tintin series. Further information on The Adventures Of Tintin can be found at www.tintin-books.com