Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin is the first animated movie he directed despite being involved with animation for decades by that point. No matter the case, the movie was a success even though right now it feels a bit forgotten and could rightfully be considered an underrated masterpiece from the 2010s.
Luckily, the animated movie has developed a dedicated fanbase--many of whom were originally fans of the iconic comics series about Tintin's adventures. To really feel the full extent of this movie, however, it's worth looking behind the scenes.
10 It Was Adapted From Three Different Volumes From The Tintin Comics Series
The movie was adapted from three volumes from The Adventures of Tintin comics series by the Belgian cartoonist Herge. All three (The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure) were published during the German occupation of Belgium.
The Crab with the Golden Claws was the first Tintin book to be published in the United States and was the first to be adapted into a motion picture (in fact, it was adapted several times before Spielberg did it). The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure had been also adapted previously.
9 Spielberg & Herge Admired Each Other's Work
Back in 1981, a critic compared Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark to Tintin which led to Spielberg becoming a fan of The Adventures of Tintin comics series. At the same time, Herge wasn't a fan of the existing adaptations of his work and, incidentally, became an admirer of Spielberg's work.
In 1983, while filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg was scheduled to meet Herge while in London, but the comic artist unfortunately died that week with his widow agreeing to give the rights to Spielberg anyway.
8 The Movie Got Into A Mess During Development
It's easy to put two and two together and realize just how much the movie had to go through to get to the big screens considering that Spielberg got the rights in 1984 but the animated movie only came out in 2011.
In fact, because Spielberg wasn't satisfied with the script he had originally commissioned, he went back to filming Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade which led to the rights reverting to the Herge Foundation. He would only come back to the idea of adapting Tintin in 2001 when he decided to use computer animation for it.
7 The Idea To Use Motion-Capture Came From Peter Jackson
After deciding to use computer animation, Spielberg went back to his original idea of doing a live-action adaptation. However, Peter Jackson suggested that live-action wouldn't do the comics justice while using motion-capture could work much better.
Jackson was a fan of the comics himself and had previously used motion capture in The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. In November 2006, a week of filming took place where Andy Serkis played Haddock and Jackson stood in for Tintin. James Cameron and Robert Zemeckis were also present at the shoot. A test reel with photorealistic characters was then produced to see if the idea would actually work.
6 It Has Some Big Names Attached To It
Director Steven Spielberg is not the only big name attached to The Adventures of Tintin. The animated movie was actually co-produced by Peter Jackson and Kathleen Kennedy, while Edgar Wright was the co-writer of the screenplay.
Moreover, the cast is absolutely stellar. Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, and Toby Jones were among others.
5 The Movie Is Actually Different From The Source Material
Despite being faithful in its look, The Adventures of Tintin is only inspired by the three comics volumes rather than completely based on them.
The main antagonist of the movie, Ivan Sakharine, is only a minor character in the book - and he isn't even a villain or a descendant of Red Rackham. The book villains, the Bird brothers, only make a small cameo in one scene. There are also many events happening that don't actually transpire in the book.
4 Belgian Royalty Attended The World Premiere In Brussels
The world premiere on The Adventures of Tintin was held in Brussels, Belgium on 22 October 2011. Interestingly, it was attended by Princess Astrid who is the younger sister of King Philippe, the current Belgian monarch. Princess Astrid brought two of her daughters to the premiere - Princess Luisa Maria and Princess Laetitia Maria.
3 It Was Big Success In Many Aspects
Along with performing well at the box office and becoming Paramount's highest-grossing animated feature, The Adventures of Tintin was praised by critics, especially for its unique stylization of motion capture and faithfulness to the look of Herge's works.
The animated movie also became the first motion-captured animated movie and the first non-Pixar animated movie to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature. Composer John Williams also received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
2 There Have Been Talks Of Possible Sequels
Back in the 2000s, Spielberg intended the adaptation to be a trilogy, but even financing the first movie was problematic due to the box office failure of some other motion-capture movies at the time.
After the movie's release, both Spielberg and Jackson, along with other cast and crew members involved, would comment about the development here and there, but up until this point, production hasn't started. It seems unclear whether or not any sequels will actually happen, but there is still hope that they will.
1 The Painter At The Beginning Of The Movie Looks Like Herge
A small but delightful detail is that the painter creating Tintin's portrait at the beginning of the movie actually bears Herge's likeness.
This was something the comic artist liked doing himself by using his friends to create characters in his comics. In a way, it's a nice little inside joke that fits so well here as a simple cameo.