Rating: Not Rated
Starring:
Colin O’Meara as Tintin
David Fox as Captain Haddock
Wayne Robson as Professor Calculus
John Stocker as Thompson
Dan Hennessey as Thomson
Susan Roman as Snowy
Special Features:
None
Other Info:
Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Spanish Language
Running Time: 5 Hours
The Details:
The following is the official description of the series:
“One of the most popular European classic comic strips of all time tells stories of the heroic escapades of youthful reporter Tintin and his loyal canine companion Snowy. From a comic that first appeared in 1929 by Belgian artist Herge, these delightful adventures were spun into books, magazines, TV series, radio programs and theater productions. The television series ‘The Adventures Of Tintin’ (1991 1993) follows Tintin and Snowy in solving mysteries closely related to the much-loved original stories. A colorful cast of characters is along for the ride, including the salty Captain Haddock, handy Professor Calculus and clumsy Thomson & Thompson. Exploring the globe, solving mysteries and searching for truth and justice, Tintin and crew inspire the adventurer in all of us!
Now featured in a major motion picture that intertwines elements of two episodes included here (‘The Secret Of The Unicorn’ and ‘Red Rackham’s Treasure’), the complete first season of the award-winning series is now available for your enjoyment on DVD for the first time!”
“The Adventures of Tintin: Season One” is not rated.
Mini-Review:
In anticipation of the Spielberg and Jackson Tintin movie, episodes of the 1991 cartoon series are being re-released on DVD. I was actually unfamiliar with the European comic character, so I was eager to see what all of the fuss was about before the film version was released here in the US. Fortunately, this DVD features two of the comic stories that the movie is based on. So when we popped in the DVD, those are the ones my kids and I watched first.
Tintin is kind of an odd mix of things. It’s geared towards kids as we have a youthful and innocent hero, dopey authority figures, and a cute dog that acts human-like at times. Yet there’s more mature things happening at the same time. You see a character shoot and kill another character who dies in Tintin’s arms. You see Tintin kidnapped. You see a variety of things that you don’t typically see in American children’s cartoons. So it’s rather mixed in tone.
As “The Secret of the Unicorn” started, my kids and I were pretty engaged by the plot. We learned about the intrigue involving the ship models, the conspiracies to steal the models, and then the history of the treasure. We got to the end of the first episode and then dove right into the second episode. However, the plot then ground to a bit of a halt and by the end of it, both of my kids had wandered off. They got bored with the cartoon and honestly, so did I. But we stopped short of watching “Red Rackham’s Treasure” because we wanted to have some surprises left in the movie. That being said, I expect this is where the story will pick up as they go on the road looking for treasure. So maybe we didn’t give it the fair shake it deserved just yet.
Now having had a small taste of the Tintin universe, I can see the appeal. He’s kind of a “Johnny Quest” type of adventurer, dog and all. I love those pulp adventures and I see how Tintin could have inspired so many of the stories that came later… even Indiana Jones. But at the same time, I think having some nostalgia for the European comic would make this enjoyable on an entirely different level than for American audiences. I’m hoping that Spielberg and Jackson have made a film that takes the best elements of Tintin while making it accessible to a global audience.
If you see the movie and want to get more Tintin adventures, this cartoon series is something you’ll want to pick up… along with the comics, of course.
