Spielberg on Tintin:

[skull_bearer]

So, the latest Tintin trailer came out recently, and I'm not too sure what to expect. It looks like they got two stories (crab with the golden claws and sercet of the unicorn), and smashed them together in a haywire fashion. I hope they're not going to combine the two because I don't think it could possible work. One is a drug-busting adventure sent in 1930s Middle East, to other is a crime thriller and treasure hunt set in Begium (or wherever Tintin lives). Maybe its trying to be a trailer for two movies, I know they were planning to adapt both, but it's a weird choice.

The problem with making anything Tintin related today is similar to the problems faced by anyone trying to adapt the Sherlock Holmes stories. Someone got there first and did it better than you ever could. In the case of Holmes, it was the Granada adaptations (whose Watson died recently, much sadness). In the case of Tintin it was the long-running animated series, which remained so close to the book they actually used the illustrations directly on film on some occasions. I'm not sure what the voice acting was like for the Brit version, because I only ever saw the original French - No, wait, I did see one English ep, and the voices were all but identical.
They also did every book except three: Tintin and Alpha Art, which was never finished because the author died. Tintin and the Soviets, which would not have translated well and wasn't any good anyway (even Herge admitted that). And Tintin in the Congo because... just no. There is some fiddling, particualrly in the adaptation of the earlier books, and in getting rid of Herge's occasional 'racist hiccups' (he got a lot better later, but there are still some episodes (like Red Sea Sharks) which Fail in a very uncomfortable way.)

Anyway the animated series is really good, so naturally any new production is going to be compared to it unless they try and do something new (writing a new Tintin story comes to mind) but as they seem to be going for a straightforward adaptation... well, I wish them luck. I know I'm going to have problems because I grew up with these books and know them backwards, so it'll be a nit-picking frenzy from hell.

Comments

[foldingstar.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love Tintin, and like you grew up with them. I am very very skeptical about these remakes and the trailer has not satisfied me that they are doing a good job!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

I wonder how he'll get round the uncomfortable fact that the Tintin of that era was written very much from a pro Fascist perpective- indeed, he's often porrayed in Rexist uniform. Hergé certainly had some explaining away to do after WW2!

[arkan2.livejournal.com]

I used to watch the animated series a lot when I was a kid, and I read several of the books as well. In English of course, though my mom read a couple of them to me in French.

Ah, nostalgia.

This movie looks ... well, maybe it'll do all right. We'll see.

the Tintin of that era was written very much from a pro Fascist perspective

Oh, wow, I never realized. I guess it really has been a long time.

[skull-bearer.livejournal.com]

What, living under coccupation? Migth just be me, but the only objective thing i found about that era's Tintin (Shooting Star, Secret of the Unicorn and Red Racham's Treasure) was the Jewish bad guy in Shooting Star, who was later changed and recoloured to be a banana republic dictator.