The creator of Tintin, Herge, was responsible for drawing and writing all the adventures of Tintin. He created all of the characters in the series and breathed life into them. So when continuing his great legacy comes up as an issue in the world of Tintin, one must respect his last wish to preserve the integrity of Tintin by not continuing the series after his death. Yet before and after the passing of Herge, Tintin has continued his adventures, in different formats.

The first attempt to remake Tintin for the cinema is quite unknown. It was in 1947, when Films Claude Misonne released a version of The Crab With The Golden Claws. The actors were puppets and the film itself was unworthy of a Tintin book. In 1948, Herge wrote to Walt Disney suggesting that he create an animated cartoon film based on his stories, but the proposition was ignored.

Ten years later, a young French producer by name of Andre Barret proposed to adapt Tintin for the cinema. Real-life actors were used and Jean Pierre Talbot played Tintin in the flesh. In 1960, the film was made as Tintin And The Golden Fleece. Yet despite the fame of Tintin, it was not a success. A further film also starring Talbot, Tintin And The Blue Oranges, was released four years later. Neither of these films managed to match any of Herge's works. Later, the director Philippe de Broca released L'Homme De Rio (The Man From Rio), a successful semi-adaptation of The Broken Ear.

Raymond LeBlanc, the editor of Tintin Magazine, began working with Belvision Studios in 1969. The same year, they produced a film cartoon Le Temple Du Soleil. The film paled in comparison to the book because of a changed and weaker plot, and less emphasis on the events that happened in The Seven Crystal Balls. Also, fashion updates for Tintin made the film more dated (i.e. Ascot, etc.) Three years later, the same partnership produced another cartoon,  Tintin And The Lake Of Sharks. The plot and the graphics were inferior to those of Herge, and the film failed to capture the spirit of Herge's Tintin.

Herge leaned towards live-action movies in the 1970s. He also said "such movies should be produced with budgets equivalent to a James Bond movie." In 1982, Steven Spielberg bought the rights to a Tintin film. Unconvinced by the first script written by Melissa Matheson (E.T.), Spielberg took on the role of a producer and the search for a European director began. Eventually, it fell to Roman Polanski, who wanted to do King Ottokar's Sceptre. However, the project was eventually abandoned and hopes of seeing Tintin returning to the movies went cold.

Yet in November 2002, it was announced that Steven Spielberg would produce a Tintin film with Kathleen Kennedy for Universal Pictures and DreamWorks. Yet the issue of what format the film will be in continues and not much is known. Some say the film could begin casting as early as 2004, yet others say it will definitely not be released until 2006 at the earliest. Nick Rodwell, President of Moulinsart S.A., says that "the magic lies in the albums". Mr. Rodwell's interview in English can be accessed at www.tintin.com.uk  

Georges Wilson, Milou, and Jean-Pierre Talbot in La mystere de la toison d'or (1961)

Still from scene shot on location in Istanbul, Turkey

Film poster drawn by Herge personally in 1964 for the second film. Despite the artistic effort in the advertisting department put through by Tintin's creator, the film had an unspeakable plot, and acting and characterization was poor, among direction, production, and many other things. It still was a colossal failure. The Spanish setting and location filming, as well as Jean Pierre-Talbot, are said to be the only consolations.

Television, first pioneered in 1925 by Scotsman John Logie Baird, was aired regularly by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the late 1930s, but did not begin airing in Belgium until November 1953. Six years later, the television company Belvision acquired the rights to reproduce Tintin for TV. Over the next four years they made 104 episodes, but they each lasted only 5 minutes. The artwork and storylines were completely different from those of Herge and Belvision took little care to faithfully adapt the original work. These are the stories that they adapted into episodes:

The Crab With The Golden Claws (made as Mystery In Morocco)

The Black Island

The Secret Of The Unicorn

Red Rackham's Treasure

Destination Moon and Explorers On The Moon (made as Objective Moon Espionage)

Belvision also produced two films: The Broken Ear and King Ottokar's Sceptre.

Tintin did not return to the TV medium until 1988, when Ellipse (Paris) and Nelvana (Toronto) produced a TV cartoon series. This was extremely faithful to Herge's artwork and storylines and were often seen as comparable with the books. All the stories from Tintin In America to Tintin And The Picaros were adapted into 39 half-hour episodes directed by Stephane Bernasconi. In fact, I first discovered Tintin through watching the series. The show was produced simultaneously in French and English so no cheap dubbing was used. Colin O'Meara played the voice of Tintin in English. The show aired on France 3 and Channel Four in the UK. It took three years to produce the series and it made its debut in 1991. It was and still is a major success in the world of animation. The series has been dubbed into several languages and is aired in more than 50 countries. The television series was released on DVD in Europe by Anchor Bay Entertainment, but is not available on DVD or VHS in America.

Screenshot from Episode 10 (1988)

In 1997, a computer game, Prisoners Of The Sun, was released by Infogrames Europe. It was based on the original story and featured levels relating to events that occured in the book's precursor, The Seven Crystal Balls. Afterwards, a second game, Tintin In Tibet, was released. Both of these were for PCs only. In 2002, Infogrames released the first Tintin videogame, for Playstation 2. It was called Destination Adventure, and featured a series of levels, based on The Black Island, Red Rackham's Treasure, Land Of Black Gold, Explorers On The Moon, and Flight 714. It was a major success and was released in several languages before a PC version was made. Since then there have been no new developments in Tintin multimedia, but more are sure to come.

With the popularity of Tintin, the issue of merchandising the character and creating memorabilia has come up many times before. The first Tintin memorabilia was a series of color prints drawn by Herge in the 1950s at the demand of Raymond Leblanc, successful entrepreneur, and Herge's boss. However, they are no longer available and today, there are a number of Tintin items available to buy on the web, but they are often extremely expensive. A variety of official and legal Tintin products on the market today include:

Plushes, toys, puzzles, books, albums, quilts, memo pads, rubik cubes, videos, DVDs, CDs, watches, statues, model cars, keyrings, mobile phone covers, mousepads, scarfs, carpets, stationery, ties, umbrellas, statuettes, figurines, model figures, greeting cards, and shirts. That may sound like a lot, but it Tintin is actually one of the most protected icons from merchandising and commercialism in the world.  

In 1984, London added a unique kind of retailer to its lengthy list of shops. This boutique was located on 34 Floral Street, Covent Garden, and was called, quite simply, The Tintin Shop. It was a success and several other shops have been opened around the world. The largest is the Boutique Tintin in Brussels. The Tintin Shop in London is the only one in the UK. Other stores have been opened in Bruges, Antwerp, Johannesburg, Dubai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Kyoto, among other places. Another kind of Tintin Shop, called Espaces Tintin, has also been opened by Moulinsart S.A. It is a small area within a "multi-brand retailer" where Tintin products are sold. (like a store within a shopping mall) This is the list of countries where one can find Tintin Boutiques and Espaces. The number of them is listed in parentheses.

Belgium (52)

Japan (2)

Taiwan (1)

France (160)

Monaco (1)

Luxembourg (1)

Germany (3)

Netherlands (5)

Sweden (1)

Portugal (1)

New Zealand (1)

Spain (9)

Switzerland (3)

Denmark (1)

United Kingdom (1)

That brings the total to 242 retailers in 15 countries on 4 continents.

The work of Herge has fascinated critics for decades. More books have been written about him than any other person in the history of the comic strip. The realism of Tintin has provided many points for speculation and museum exhibits have been opened to study various focal points of Herge's work.

Tintin, 60 Years Of Adventure

This exhibit was inaugurated in Brussels to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Tintin's creation. It featured various items, particularly those from the early days of Tintin, including many black and white original drawings. This exhibit was a major success, a high point in Tintin history, and toured the world with success.

In 1994, His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Spiritual Leader Of Tibet, opened the Au Tibet Avec Tintin (In Tibet With Tintin) exhibit in Brussels. It was showcased in French and Dutch and examined Herge's own favorite work, Tintin In Tibet. A similar exhibit, Au Perou Avec Tintin (In Peru With Tintin) was opened in 2002 at the Belgian Musee du Cinquantenaire.

The same year, an exhibit, The Adventures Of Tintin, was opened in Tokyo, Japan, where Tintin has enjoyed large success for many years. 6 albums were subject to speculation at the exhibit, and it featured a life-size model of Calculus' submarine and the moon rocket. The exhibit, held at the Bunkamura Museum of Art, was a major success, attracting 50,000 visitors and even the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan. It toured Japan from July to September.

In 2002, the Chateau Cheverny in the Loire Valley, France, the mansion which visually inspired Herge for Marlinspike Hall, opened an exhibit based on the adventures of Tintin. Models relating to the adventures were put in particular areas of the house, pretending as though it were Marlinspike Hall. These include Abdullah's intrusion in The Red Sea Sharks, the Super-Calcacolor testing from The Castafiore Emerald, and much more. You even get a glimpse of Tintin's bedroom!!!

Yet another exhibit, Mille Sabords! (Blistering Barnacles!) premiered in France in 2001. It covered the long-lasting relationship between Tintin and the sea, whether it be travel-related, or regarding his friends. The exhibit was so successful that it was prolonged and toured France. Now, a version of the exhibit in Catalan in being showcased in Barcelona.

The Fondation Herge, run by the creator's widow Fanny, is working on a project to open up a Herge Museum. It will be in Belgium in a quiet area, but will no doubt attract Tintin fans and be of interest to those who follow the current events regarding Herge.

There have been numerous adaptations for Tintin on the stage. Yet they have not been as significantly recognized as adaptations of Herge's work through other mediums.

At the Theatre des Galeries

The first was in the spring of 1941, when on April 15, the Theatre des Galeries showcased La Mystere de la Diamante Bleu, (The Mystery Of The Blue Diamond), the first ever adaptation of Herge's work. A young actress, Jeanne Rubens, has the distinction of being the first actor ever to play Tintin in an adaptation for entertainment. The programme also claims that she played Snowy, although how this is possible is not known. The Thompsons are known as Durant and Durand.

The story deals with the loss of a blue diamond, the only one of it's kind, the treasure of the Maharajah of Padakore, a wealthy Indian prince. Tintin leaves India after the theft onboard the steamship SS Ranpura, and the play concludes in its third act, which is set in a Syldavian castle. This play was also called Tintin aux Indes (Tintin In India).

Soon afterwards, another play, M. Boullock A Disparu! (The Disappearance Of Mr. Boullock) was staged. The script was written by Herge and Jacques van Melkebeke. A 9-year old, Roland Ravez, played both Tintin and Snowy.  The story involved the mysterious circumstances in which a Belgian man vanished and took Tintin on a worldwide search, accompanied by the Thompsons. The play moves from Brussels to Morocco to Argentina to China and Tibet, and finally back to where it all started.

In the autumn of 1943, a story, written by Paul Kinnet, and illustrated by Herge was released in Le Soir. It was called Thomson and Thompson, Detectives, and shed light on just how the pair of prime bowler-hatted idiots actually manage to be the best the Brussels Police Force has to offer. The story dealt with an apparent kidnapping. This was not in comic strip form.

Recent Events

In 2001, a major theatre in Geneva, Switzerland, showcased a French stage musical of The Castafiore Emerald. It was a major success and much publicity involving Moulinsart was circulated. It was the first stage adaptation of Tintin in 60 years. The play only ran in French, but still attracted widespread attention amongst Swiss theatrical connoiseurs, as well as Tintinologists.

The same team produced a second musical the following year, based on Prisoners Of The Sun. It was initially in Dutch and ran for several months in Antwerp, Belgium. Now the text of the musical has been translated into French and a version of it, highly recommended by critics, is playing at theatres in Paris. It is due to tour Holland, Great Britain, Germany, and Canada, and thus be translated into 4 languages.

The Stedsschouwbur Theatre in Antwerp, where the second musical, De Zonnetempel, premiered, in Dutch.