Well what do you know - the eternally young cartoon reporter Tintin turns 80 today!
The morning paper reports, however, that Tintin is hardly known in Britain and the US. Well friends, then you have something to look forward to!
I grew up reading Tintin, and yes, Tintin himself is admittedly a bit bland, but the company he keeps is grand! One is the most lovable of alcoholics, Captain Haddock with the creative expletives. He really takes swearing to a new level!
In Sweden, a new translation was published recently where they tried to get closer to the french language original (Hergé, the creator, was Belgian), but some of Haddock's curses have become mainstay in Swedish, so the translators admitted they could not change all of them - I hope "anfäkta och anamma" survived! He is also famous for his alliterative skills, like "billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!"
Eager for more examples? Check this site:
One favourite sequence is (I believe in The Calculus Affair /Det hemliga vapnet), where Captain Haddock tries to get rid of a plaster (bandaid) sticking to his fingers. The sequence has nothing to do with the plot, but is a great visual gag!
I am also very found of Tintin's terrier Milou (Snowy in English). He has a knack for getting Tintin out of trouble, as well as a fondness for whisky, like Captain Haddock. Then there is the absent-minded, hard-of-hearing Professor Calculus, and the bumbling detectives Dupond and Dupont (Thomson and Thompson in English) who must be thouroughly hated by the French police corps for their portrayal of incompetence!
I could go on, but don't take my word for it, read them yourself! And now Steven Spielberg is going to make a film of him (planned for release in 2010): I'm a bit sceptical of how he will translate into the film medium, but at least it will make Tintin better known in the Anglo-Saxon world, and hopefully more people will read him as well.
(According to http://www.imdb.com/, the role of Tintin has not been cast yet, but I think Andy Serkis will be a great Captain Haddock!)
For the interested, here is a link to a long article in The Economist, "Tintin - A very European hero", where they try to provide "the key to Tintin":
Who is your favourite Tintin character, or Haddocksian expletive?
/Kris C
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