As is probably well-known by now, Stephen Spielberg managed to successfully turn Tintin into a movie. Alan Baran, an intimate friend of Hergé’s and his last private secretary, was also the man who conducted the first negotiations with Spielberg. And he liked what he saw. UK and European audiences have already enjoyed the film and with the US release imminent we present a very special feature today courtesy of our friends at Stripgids, who have kindly allowed us to translate their original article:
December, 1982. A telephone call from our publisher, Casterman from Tournai, tells me that a request has arrived for information about the movie rights to the Tintin books. The letter is signed by Kathleen Kennedy. She was writing to us on behalf of Stephen Spielberg. Tintin’s spiritual father, who was a great fan of the Spielberg who did Duel, Indiana Jones and ET, was very excited about the news.
Sadly, Hergé was not able to accept the invitation to come to Los Angeles for a first meeting with the American director. His health does not allow a long an tiring journey. But he asks me to take the trip in his place, to hear from Spielberg himself how he wants to bring Tintin to life on the silver screen. Of our first meeting, I’ll always remember how he said, “Tintin, that’s Indiana Jones for children”, as well as his eagerness to find out everything about Hergé, for whom he had enormous admiration.
At the end of my stay in California I delivered a draft to Spielberg with a summary of our expectations for the project. And a little later we received a declaration of intent which broadly sketched the particulars of the future contract.
Tuesday, February 22, 1983, at about 11 AM in the Studios Hergé in Brussels. This would turn out to be my very last professional conversation with Hergé, and it only has one subject : Steven Spielberg’s proposal for turning Tintin into a movie. Hergé and I discuss the letter from America at length, and in great detail. To me one item in the proposal was quite fundamental : it stated that, in accordance with Californian laws, Hergé would have no right to veto in any case of artistic difference. In my opinion, that was unacceptable. However, Hergé immediately had an answer, and it was clear as day : “I know I’m running the risk that I will not be able to recognize my own characters, but Spielberg is a creative artist himself, and I want to give him my confidence.”
The two men were to meet each other a couple of weeks later in Brussels. However, Hergé’s death decided differently. Nevertheless, the contract was signed one year later in New York, with a personal commitment from Spielberg : “I’ll do anything to make you proud of my work…”
Saturday, October 22, 2011, at about 8 PM in the UGC Cinemas in Brussels. I have just attended an advance performance of The Secret of the Unicorn. Almost thirty years have gone by since we first spoke with Spielberg. I feel like a child who is finally allowed to open a long-awaited present. I feel relief when I say that Spielberg has ket all his promises : this is indeed an ‘Indiana Jones for children’, and the film testifies of the enormous respect that Spielberg felt for Hergé. The homage to Hergé at the beginning of the movie was very moving in that respect (* possible slight spoiler warning, don’t read italics if you don’t want to know! * If you haven’t seen it yet, watch in one of the very first scenes for a street caricaturist drawing our hero in a cartoon style in a marketplace, the street artist’s face modelled after the great Hergé himself in a lovely, subtle touch – Joe) .
Die hard Tintin aficionados will probably have some difficulty with recognizing him on the silver screen, in 3D no less. Yes, the film unmistakably bears the Spielberg brand. Yes, the script allows itself numerous liberties vis-a-vis the books it is loosely based on. Yes, some of the chase scenes are bound to become Hollywood classics. And indeed, an enormous promotional machinery has been set in motion in order for the producers to earn back their investments.
And still, above all I feel immense joy. Because Tintin has found the way to adventure again. I have no doubt that he will be able to excite children all over the world again. Their expectations, their demands even, have changed over the years, and Spielberg really gets that. He succeeds in overwhelming them with all the magic of the world of Tintin, to which he adds a new dimension.
Hergé, an artistic genius from the twentieth century who did not want Tintin to survive him in new adventures, knew damn well what he was doing when he put his trust in Spielberg, an artistic genius of the twenty-first century. Tintin is still alive and kicking, and he divides his time these days between his fatherland, Belgium, and Hollywood : two worlds that are different in so many ways, but also both are the birthplace of modern visual culture.
Long live Hergé’s Tintin books !
Long live Steven Spielberg’s Tintin movies !
Originally published in Stripgids – reproduced with kind permission. With thanks to Stripgids’ Toon Horsten and special thanks to Marcel Wilmet.
December 15th, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Found this really interesting – probably as close to knowing what Hergé himself would have thought of the final film as we can get. Personally I enjoyed the film – it does have some Hollywood moments, but to be fair it is a Hollywood film and has to appeal to that wider audience and not just the readers of the comic albums if it is to succeed enough to warrant a second one being released. And the touch with Hergé as the street artist was a lovely, moving wee idea.