Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

I'm glad that Peter Jackson is also involved, but 3D? I'm not very happy with that. I want a Tintin movie with the realism of LOTR!

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

Very intriguing.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

I'm glad that they are not doing this as a live action film. It would have been awful. I also would like to see that 20 minute test reel.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

Interesting Indeed. Still, Tintin (one word!) is a household name on the other side of the Atlantic, but relatively unknown here, no? I find that a curious move from an investment point of view.

I've seen a live action Tintin ages ago. Don't remember liking it much, and remember next to nothing of it, but the cast was gold. Here is a cover of the ensuying album:

http://www.gorianet.it/tintin/dessins/toison_g.jpg

I hope hope hope they adapt the The Seven Crystal Balls / Prisoners of the Sun two-parter, my favorites of the series. Some epic stuff.

--
H

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

I wanna see on the poster "From the Creators of Jaws, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park".

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

Interesting. I know relatively little about the character, but it sounds pretty cool. The 3-D approach sounds a little funny to me though. The way Jackson explains it sounds odd:


So how do they make this lot look photoreal, especially without it looking creepy?



Actually, I can sort of picture what they may be going for, but I'm a bit skeptical. I don't see the advantage of doing it this way over, say, what Pixar traditionally does.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

With: "TINTIN - THE NEW HERO!"

Well on film anyways.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

I had never heard of Tintin until Spielberg got involved with it a while back.

I think they are co-directing aren't they?

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

According to the article, they were each gonna direct one film in the trilogy, with the third film being directed by someone else.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

Oh man! I REALLY don't like this one damn bit! A beloved Belgian comic strip from my childhood being "Hollywood-ized"!

One more thing. "Performance capture technology" = "Rotoscope".

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

There already have been animated versions of (almost?) all books. I think it was a Canadian/French/Belgian production.

Unfortunately , they were cut, some of it desastrously. (In my opinion each and every picture in the book should at least be present in the film, IYKWIM).

But what was worse: Captain Haddock's drinking habits had been severely toned down (almost non-existing), his swearing diminished, violence removed and other "childifying" was performed.

I'm afraid some of that will happen to this new movie too. Especially Hergé's (dated) ideas on some countries will be mellowed away.

As for the 3D-animation process...

But, of course, I'm willing to wait and see, and then judge.


Cees

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

While I'm sure they'll be going more politically correct (as in removing racism, etc.), I'm sure they'll keep the Captain's swearing and drinking. After all, how else will they appeal to an audience? Nobody except the kids will want to see something that wholesome.

But then again, it will be an animated film, so I don't know how much appeal there will be for adults who aren't Tintin fans.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "Tin Tin"

Actually it's still wrong, that second "t" must not be capitalized... (SpielBerg?) It's just Tintin .

--
H

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

Cees, I agree. I've seen those cartoon adaptations. Ick. It really killed the series. And I'm very worried it won't stop there.

BTW, have you ever read this one?

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

So what are you saying? That animated films have no appeal to adults? If these Tintin films were done right -meaning intact characters, stories, and good animation- then they could find an audience among adults.....at least in every part of the world except North America, where every adult has been conditioned to expect nothing more than comedy hijinks and talking animals from animated films. Not that there is anything wrong with those concepts, since some of the finest animated films ever made are built on those conventions; however, animated films are capable of more. The Japanese have shown that. North American audiences are just too damned ignorant, prejudiced, and snobbish to accept animated films as a legitimate medium for telling stories that are not outright comedies. That is why we keep getting one shitty live action film after another of Superman. Instead of one decent, well animated film that could actually make the character look like he does in the comics. Okay....I'm taking a breath now.


I think Nelvana was the Canadian company involved in this production. Looking at them now, it is hard to believe that at one time they were actually a good animation studio. As far as I'm concerned, they ruined the REDWALL series of books as well, with their low rent animation and watered down stories.


Herge', himself, recanted a lot of the views depicted in his books, from what I have read. Also, I'm not sure some of those ideas would find a receptive audience nowadays.


I'm not sure that I care for the idea of rotoscoping and creating photorealistic characters. A good part of the visual strength of Herge's books was the "cartooned" characters against realistically depicted locations. Carl Barks was very good at doing similar stuff in the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics.....minus the political views, of course.

I do not see why these films could not be successfully done using Pixar style computer animation. In fact, I wish Pixar was doing these. I think they could have successfully translated Herge's clear line style to film.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

François, no I haven't. What is it?
(I own all "regular" albums, both in French and Dutch, even an older, 1951 edition of "L'île noir" - you'd be surprised how many differences there are in the same drawings - but I don't know that one!)


Cees

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

I was thinking aloud with my comment. I was thinking that they could potentially use something like "Pirates of the Caribbean" as a model in some regards, which is a huge blockbuster series with drinking, darker tones, and some more adult behavior that still appeals to kids. But then I realized you can probably get away with more if it was live action since animated films are generally expected to be a bit more wholesome depending on who they're marketed to. I was trying to think of examples of films that used the photorealistic look that they're trying to achieve and only "The Polar Express" and "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" came to mind. The Final Fantasy movie was geared more towards teen audiences with an adventure story, but it did pretty badly here at the box office. "The Polar Express" on the other hand was more kid friendly and was more successful. I wasn't trying to imply that animated films were only for kids (I have quite a few in my collection), just that people might expect something a little more juvenile since, despite some darker subject matter, Tintin visually looks like the light and fluffy adventures of a guy and his cute dog. Heck, knowing relatively little about Tintin and only seeing a few images here and there, some may come to expect something along the lines of the Curious George movie.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

Cees, you disappoint me! You know about the various edits over the years, but you've never heard of the various attempts to "complete" Hergé's unfinished album "L'alph-Art?"

The one pictured here was originally drawn by French Canadian Yves Rodier who based most of the story on the drawings that were published by Casterman long after Hergé's death. Since Hergé passed away right in the middle of a dramatic moment in the story, Rodier had to deduce what followed next and fill in the blanks. He was surprisingly successful in his attempt despite being a bit embarrassed at the final result. Even Hergé's assistant, Bob De Moor, was highly impressed with it. Later, various people on the Internet decided to complete the black & white original by coloring it. I have a printed copy of this version.

You can find more information on the subject at "Tintin est Vivant!" at http://perso.orange.fr/prad/index.htm .

I figured it may interest you since in a way, Spielberg and Jackson would be attempting to accomplish the same result but with a brand new story.

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

Has it been confirmed that they are creating a new story, rather than adapting an existing one?

Man, the volume I wish they would adapt matches magnificently with both filmmakers sensibilities.

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H

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

My mistake! From the Variety link:
But still, how closely will they follow the plot of the chosen stories along with the underlying message they usually deliver? As one film critic has said, Hollywood makes movies targeted to fourteen year old boys i.e. dumbed-down beyond belief. The Tintin series is nowhere near dumbed-down. In fact, some books go way beyond the comprehension level of many adults!

Re: Spielberg and Peter Jackson present "TinTin"

François,

Yes, I heard about it (forgot it) and never saw the album. Thanks for the info (and the link!)

My brothers and sisters and I (and my wife as well) swallowed these albums in our youth. We quote from them very often (like "Such a dedication even of the least important extra", "Don't call me during a thunderstorm", "Hello Trifonius, going on a vacation? No, for I'm going on a vacation" - my English translations probably not accurate).

Did you know that some foreign sentences (e.g. in Syldavia) can be pronounced to sound like appropriate Flemish (= Dutch) lines?


Cees

I did a search but couldn't find any other threads. Surprised there are no more comments on this since its now on general release in Europe.

Spoiler free review... this was a fantastic film, the first I have truly enjoyed both as a film and for the 3D experience, since I wasn't too fond of Avatar or Transformers 3. This film felt like Spielberg in pure adventure mode and it was just fun to watch. Its also the first film I have felt when I watched it that I would ilke to own it in 3D - very immersive. I don't think it would spoil it in 2D at all since the film stands on it own as a great adventure film, but the 3D here has been done really well both with some in your face moments that still felt natural within the film as well as the depth that it provided to the whole screen. There is so much going on in the backgrounds and the actions sequences are very well done - particularly one sequence involving a motorbike/truck chase through a town.

Standout characters are Snowy and Captain Haddock and the story moves along at a great pace that it flew by. Tintin is a bit anonymous, though he isn't just a passive character, but he seems to be simply there to lead the audience through the mystery but I hear thats very similar to the original character.

Recommended and I think I will be going back again for a second viewing which is rare these days.

****1/2 out of *****

I totally agree, great entertaining movie. I especially love the soundtrack by John Williams.

I just got back from seeing this tonight. I thought it was pretty well done for the most part. The characters where excellent. The 3D was pretty decent. 

I'm an American so my knowledge of Tintin is non-existent so I have no clue if they captured the character or tone of the comics but I thought it was a fun movie. While it moved from one adventure sequence to the next (much like the Indiana Jones movies), it might be a little slow for younger children. Overall, a fun movie and it was interesting to see Spielberg and Jackson getting started in 3-D and animation.

Saw it today. I liked it a lot, really took me by surprise. The first act is slow going but once a major character is introduced it really takes off. This flick has some of the most thrilling action sequences I've seen in a long time. Supremely inventive, effortless, and fun...there is no one today who can pull off these setpieces the way Spielberg can.

I remembered the television series that played here several years ago.  I didn't watch it much so my memory of it isn't much except for Snowy and the Captain.