Adventures of Tintin: Season Two

I got turned on to The Adventures of Tintin in fifth grade, which was about 20 years ago. I remember that alot of kids in my class wanted to read the books, which were available to check out in the school library. And there never were any copies available when i wanted to check one out. It used to make me mad, I'm laughing right now thinking about it. We were all so obsessed with wanting to read those books that year.

And now, they have made a Tintin movie. I'll have to see it sometime. This DVD set here is the second series of episodes they released for the cartoon series, from the early 90's.

The episodes in this set are: The Shooting Star, The Broken Ear, King Ottokar's Sceptre, Tintin in Tibet, Tintin and the Picaros, Land of Black Gold, and Flight 714. Six of those are two-part episodes, which makes a total of 13 episodes in this set.

Being American, I have very little nostalgia for Tintin. I never read the books growing up, never watched the cartoon series. Over the years I have picked a few books up and learned to love Belgian artist Herge's most famous creation, but I am watching these episodes of The Adventures of Tintin for the first time.

Obviously, it is the big-budget The Adventures of Tintin (which I also haven't seen) that prompted the release of these season box-sets of the 1991 Canadian production. Despite their worldwide popularity, adaptations of Tintin are fairly rare. The only previous series was a 1960 Belgian animation Hergé's Adventures of Tintin that is somewhat despised for re-writing and re-working Herge's stories. By contrast, this Canadian series is said to be so faithful to the source material that the animators actually transposed pages from the book directly onto the screen. There were a few cuts made here and there--mostly cutting down on Captain Haddock's taste for whiskey or softening the violence and death--but even then these cartoons have a harder edge than your average American animation from the same era.

Even if you know nothing about Tintin these stories are still good fun. You will soon become familiar with the characters; Tintin himself is a brave boy adventurer in the tradition of Johnny Quest and Rusty Venture. Tintin never really steals the show or makes himself the star, but is instead a somewhat blank character that allows all of the wild personalities around him to shine. Thomson and Thompson, the two bumbling yet oblivious detectives, were my favorites in the series. They could always be counted on to do something ridiculous to get the story moving. Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus were excellent when played off of each other.

There are thirteen episodes in all, most of which are two-parters telling a continued story over two episodes.

The stories are:
* The Shooting Star
* The Broken Ear - Parts 1 & 2
* King Ottokar's Scepter - Parts 1 &2
* Tintin in Tibet - Parts 1 & 2
* Tintin and the Picaros - Parts 1 & 2
* Land of the Black Gold - Parts 1 & 2
* Flight 714 - Parts 1 & 2

I can't say that I really had a favorite episode; I loved them all. Everyone is a classic adventure tale, taking Tintin all over the world. I am a sucker for desert adventures, so seeing Tintin in full Bedouin garb for Land of the Black Gold was cool. The stories don't follow the order that Herge wrote them in, which means you get the cynical Tintin of later episodes like Tintin and the Picaros mixed with the young fresh Tintin of The Broken Ear. Even though I haven't read all of the books, I noticed the difference in characterization--Tintin refusing an adventure? Unheard of! It wasn't until I read a bit more about Tintin that I knew that his personality changed over time.

The one complaint I have is that these DVDs are completely barebones. There is nothing here but the episodes. I realize that these were probably made for a quick sale to capture parents whose kids enjoyed the movie, but a bit about the original books, or something about Herge himself, would have been appreciated.

I never watched these as a kid--and to be honest, I wasn't what people would call a "kid" in 1991 when they were originally released--but I am watching them all as an adult. There are three seasons in all, for a total of 39 episodes, and you can bet that all three box-sets are going to be in my collection.

The adventures of the young journalist and adventurer Tintin have been thrilling European and American audiences in many languages for over half a century in graphic novel format, yet the stories remain fresh and exciting for each new generation of fans. The release of the big screen production "The Adventures of Tintin" has prompted the release on DVD of this early 1990's animated Tintin television adaptation. Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy are joined in some of the adventures by Tintin's good friend Captain Haddock, the bumbling detectives Thompson and Thomson, and the absent-minded Professor Calculus.

Season Two contains seven stories, six of them arranged in two parts, for a total of 13 episodes. The episodes average just over 20 minutes, just right for the attention span of fans too young for the movie. The animation style very closely imitates that of the original comics, while the stories have been minimally edited for the episode length. The voice actors were British, but this should not be a distraction for viewers. Tintin's boy scout ethics are TV-safe for any age.

Season Two contains "The Shooting Star", "The Broken Ear", "King Ottokar's Sceptre", "Tintin in Tibet", "Tintin and the Picaros", "Land of Black Gold", and "Flight 714". "Tintin in Tibet" in particular is considered one of the very best Tintin stories. It and Season Two are very highly recommended to fans of Tintin of any age, including those fans wishing to introduce Tintin to their younger children.

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