Tintin aims to win over America
Source: Agencies |
December 6, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
HIS adventures have taken him around the world, captured hearts across Europe and courted controversy, but can a computer animated 3D Hollywood blockbuster about a boy journalist from Belgium win over American audiences?
Belgians have flocked to see "The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn," a new film by US director Stephen Spielberg which brings to life the fictional exploits of a cartoon character who is a household name in Europe.
Many in a country where several museums and cafes are dedicated to Tintin's exploits hope that the silver screen treatment from the director who brought us "Indiana Jones," "Jurassic Park" and "E.T." will spread the cartoon hero's fanbase across America when it opens there on December 21.
"Perhaps, since it is Spielberg the reception will be good," said Daniile Van der Schueren, 65, from Brussels.
Brussels-born author Georges Remi, who is better known as Herge, first sent the fictional boy journalist with the tufted ginger hair on adventures in a 1929 comic strip series.
From then until Herge's death in 1983, Tintin and his faithful little white dog Snowy solved some of the cartoon world's most befuddling mysteries and thwarted a series of diabolical criminals with the help of their friends, Captain Haddock, the professor and policemen Thomson and Thompson.
Not surprisingly, more than three quarters of a million Belgians went to see the new film in the first five weeks after its October 26 release, according to Sony Pictures.
Belgians hope the movie inspires Americans to delve into the books, and to discover more about Belgium.
"I hope now, when people think about Belgium they don't think only about chocolate, about French fries, about mussels, but also about Tintin," said Julien Van Noppen, 22, from Brussels.
Adult fans say Tintin provides an excellent role model for children. "There is a kind of moral lesson - you have to be brave and you have to be sincere," said Brussels bookseller Anne de Bardzki.
Tintin also teaches restraint. He gets into fist fights and sometimes picks up the bad guy's gun, but never shoots first.
While the reception of Spielberg's movie has been generally positive, there has been some criticism in Europe about the Americanization of action sequences and extensive use of special effects.
Some hope the movie will help the image of Belgium, a country that has become the butt of jokes for taking more than 500 days to form a national government after elections in June 2010.
"Tintin is friendly and welcoming, but also a clever man," said Francoise Steux, 65. "We don't always see the Belgians as clever, but we are."
But Herge's comic books are not without controversy and show a darker side to Belgian history. "Tintin in the Congo" has been criticized by many as racist.
Belgians have flocked to see "The Adventures of Tintin - The Secret of the Unicorn," a new film by US director Stephen Spielberg which brings to life the fictional exploits of a cartoon character who is a household name in Europe.
Many in a country where several museums and cafes are dedicated to Tintin's exploits hope that the silver screen treatment from the director who brought us "Indiana Jones," "Jurassic Park" and "E.T." will spread the cartoon hero's fanbase across America when it opens there on December 21.
"Perhaps, since it is Spielberg the reception will be good," said Daniile Van der Schueren, 65, from Brussels.
Brussels-born author Georges Remi, who is better known as Herge, first sent the fictional boy journalist with the tufted ginger hair on adventures in a 1929 comic strip series.
From then until Herge's death in 1983, Tintin and his faithful little white dog Snowy solved some of the cartoon world's most befuddling mysteries and thwarted a series of diabolical criminals with the help of their friends, Captain Haddock, the professor and policemen Thomson and Thompson.
Not surprisingly, more than three quarters of a million Belgians went to see the new film in the first five weeks after its October 26 release, according to Sony Pictures.
Belgians hope the movie inspires Americans to delve into the books, and to discover more about Belgium.
"I hope now, when people think about Belgium they don't think only about chocolate, about French fries, about mussels, but also about Tintin," said Julien Van Noppen, 22, from Brussels.
Adult fans say Tintin provides an excellent role model for children. "There is a kind of moral lesson - you have to be brave and you have to be sincere," said Brussels bookseller Anne de Bardzki.
Tintin also teaches restraint. He gets into fist fights and sometimes picks up the bad guy's gun, but never shoots first.
While the reception of Spielberg's movie has been generally positive, there has been some criticism in Europe about the Americanization of action sequences and extensive use of special effects.
Some hope the movie will help the image of Belgium, a country that has become the butt of jokes for taking more than 500 days to form a national government after elections in June 2010.
"Tintin is friendly and welcoming, but also a clever man," said Francoise Steux, 65. "We don't always see the Belgians as clever, but we are."
But Herge's comic books are not without controversy and show a darker side to Belgian history. "Tintin in the Congo" has been criticized by many as racist.
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