The Adverntures of Tintin image
If you read my previous post on the subject, you know I was a bit skeptical of Steven Spielberg's plans to make a (presumably) live-action Tintin movie. But now it looks like I'm gonna have to eat some crow because both Comics2Film and Variety are reporting that not only will the forthcoming trilogy of Tintin movies be animated, but they will be animated in 3-D by Peter Jackson's own WETA Digital, co-produced by Jackson and Spielberg...and Jackson will direct one of the films himself! (Spielberg will direct one too, with the third director TBA--hopefully not chosen via an On the Lot-style reality show).

Now say what you will about King Kong, or Lord of the Rings even, but if nothing else you've got to admit that those were loving tributes to the original source material. And even if you think those films were too long, there was a lot of material to cram in (especially in LotR). Luckily the source material for Tintin is in the form of 62-page graphic novels, of which a few are two-parters (still only 124 pages). I'm dying to see which books they choose to adapt.

'The Adventures of Tintin: The Calculus Affair' cover artI'm personally hoping for The Calculus Affair or Flight 714 or if they do a twofer, maybe Destination: Moon & Explorers on the Moon. Or maybe they can do a finished version of Tintin and Alph-Art, the book Herge scripted and did breakdowns for before he died.

It occurs to me as I write this that some of you may have never read the adventures of Tintin, the world's favorite reporter. If you haven't, I cannot recommend highly enough that you do so--really soon. These are great all-ages action/adventure stories, with the emphasis on all-ages. Think Raiders of the Lost Ark without the Spielberg scare/gore factor. So get down to your local graphic novel vendor, and get yourself a copy of The Calculus Affair or Destination: Moon and find out why there are over 200 million Tintin books in print in over 30 languages worldwide.

And then you can join me in hoping that Jackson, Spielberg, et al, can deliver the goods--the way I've been dreaming of since Spielberg first optioned Tintin 25 years ago. I guess I'm glad he waited....

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