Please Give Tintin a Chance

The new Tintin movie is due out in the US on December 21 and I have decided it was time for me to write an impassioned plea - ahead of its release - to all my American followers so that they might give this wonderful and quirky European character a chance.

I am sure you have by now guessed that I am rather fond of this old cartoon character. I recently wrote a piece in our UK blog about him; giving lots of background about his creator, his roots and his influence on children of my generation who grew up in Europe. Some say though, that the character might not be suited to American audiences. That's why I have decided to write about him, so that I might convince you otherwise.

Tintin is not at all like the cartoon strip heroes that have been 'reinvented' in big block buster movies over the past few years. In fact come to think of it, he is not a hero at all. He is awfully serious, a bit boring in fact, and he has no super powers. He has a dog though! A beguiling, funny, clever and mischievous white Fox Terrier: Snowy. And he has a drunken sailor for a best friend. They make quite an unlikely trio, but by god do they go on exciting adventures! The sort of adventures that kids invent every day in their back yards when they play pirates with wooden sticks for swords. Roller coaster adventures, when you feel you are running a million miles an hour with them, but with no sign of gruesome fight scenes with blood and gore. Just pure, unadulterated child like fun. The stuff all childhoods should be made of.

Was that impassioned enough for you? 

I am doing my damnedest to make you want to go and see him. To get your kids along too, so that they can fall under the spell.

And if my over emotional plea is not enough to sway you, then just go for the beauty and for the incredible technical skills at play in the effects. The motion capture used in this movie makes it something quite special. It gives it a unique 'life like' quality that manages to remain faithful to the style Hergé created in the cartoon strips. I think this is the sort of technology that inspires young creative people to work in this industry.