Tintin (character) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tintin |
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Tintin and his dog Snowy, by Hergé
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Casterman (Belgium) |
| First appearance | Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929) in The Adventures of Tintin |
| Created by | Hergé |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Human |
| Partnerships | List of main characters |
Tintin is the main hero of The Adventures of Tintin, a famous comic series made by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. He was created in 1929 and first appeared in a kids' newspaper section called Le Petit Vingtième in Belgium. Tintin looks like a young man with a round face and a cool hairstyle called a quiff. He's shown as a smart, talented reporter who travels all over the world with his loyal dog, Snowy.
Since he first appeared, Tintin has been a very popular character. You can see statues and murals of him all over Belgium. Besides the original comic books, Tintin has also been in plays, radio shows, TV shows, and movies. This includes the 2011 film The Adventures of Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg.
In the United States, Tintin and other characters from the 1929 comic strips became part of the public domain on January 1, 2025. This means their copyright has ended there. However, they are still protected by copyright in Hergé's home country, Belgium.
Contents
How Tintin Was Created
Who Inspired Tintin?
Hergé's friend and writer Pierre Assouline said that Tintin had a "prehistory." This means many things Hergé saw and did in his life influenced the character. Hergé remembered drawing pictures in his school books during World War I. Belgium was under German control then. He drew a young, unnamed boy fighting the Boches (a slang term for Germans). Hergé said these drawings showed a brave, smart, and adventurous character. None of these early drawings still exist.
Hergé was also inspired by his younger brother, Paul. Paul had a round face and a quiff hairstyle, just like Tintin. Paul later joined the Belgian Army. Other officers made fun of him when they realized he was the inspiration for Tintin. Hergé said, "I watched him a lot; he entertained me and fascinated me... It makes sense that Tintin took on his character, gestures, poses."
When Hergé was young, he joined the Scouting movement. He became the artist for his Scout troop. He drew a Boy Scout character for a magazine called Le Boy Scout Belge. This character, named Totor, traveled the world and helped people. Hergé later said that Tintin was "the little brother of Totor... keeping the spirit of a Boy Scout." Writers have called Totor a "trial run" or a "metamorphosis" for Tintin.
Other stories also influenced Tintin. In 1898, Benjamin Rabier and Fred Isly published a story called Tintin-Lutin ("Tintin the Goblin"). It featured a small goblin boy named Tintin with a round face and a quiff. Hergé said Rabier's animal drawings influenced him. But he didn't know about Tintin-Lutin until a reader told him later. In 1907, Gaston Leroux created a young journalist and detective named Joseph Rouletabille.
Hergé loved reading the news. He knew about famous journalists in Belgium, like Joseph Kessel and Albert Londres. Londres was one of the first investigative journalists. Another big influence was Palle Huld, a 15-year-old Danish Boy Scout. He traveled around the world in 1928 and wrote about it. Robert Sexé, a French photojournalist, also traveled and wrote about places like the Soviet Union and the United States. Tintin's first adventures took place in these same locations. Years later, when asked who inspired Tintin, Hergé said, "Tintin c'est moi" (Tintin is me).
Hergé saw the new style of American comics. He wanted to try it. Tintin's comic would be a strip cartoon with words in speech bubbles. Tintin would be a young reporter with the smarts of Londres, the travel skills of Huld, and the good morals of Totor. He was the Boy Scout reporter Hergé wished he could have been.
How Tintin Started
The idea for the character of Tintin and the sort of adventures that would befall him came to me, I believe, in five minutes, the moment I first made a sketch of the figure of this hero: that is to say, he had not haunted my youth nor even my dreams. Although it's possible that as a child I imagined myself in the role of a sort of Tintin.
Tintin first appeared after Hergé got a job at a Catholic newspaper called Le Vingtième Siècle. The director asked him to create a new comic series for the kids' section, Le Petit Vingtième. On December 30, 1928, Hergé drew two cartoons with speech bubbles. They showed a boy and a small white dog. The director thought these characters could be used for an adventure story. Hergé agreed.
An image of Tintin and Snowy first appeared in the kids' section on January 4, 1929. It was an advertisement for the new series. Hergé later said Tintin was truly "born" on January 10, 1929. That's when the first part of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets was published.
Hergé admitted he didn't take Tintin seriously at first. He said he created Tintin "as a joke between friends, forgotten the next day." Writer Benoît Peeters said Tintin was "supremely Belgian" in his traits. Hergé himself said, "my early works are books by a young Belgian filled with the prejudices and ideas of a Catholic... they are 'Belgian' books." Peeters also noted that early Tintin was "incoherent." He was just a way to tell the story, with "no surname, no family, hardly anything of a face."
About Tintin
What Tintin Looks Like
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The image of Tintin, a young man with a round face running with his white fox terrier, is very famous. Hergé created Tintin as a young, blonde Belgian from Brussels. Tintin showed Hergé's traditional values. In his first appearance, Tintin wore a long coat and hat. Soon after, he started wearing his famous plus fours, a check suit, black socks, and an Eton collar.
At first, his famous quiff hairstyle was flat on his forehead. But during a fast car chase, it popped up and stayed that way. By his third adventure, Tintin's look didn't change much. Hergé was once asked how Tintin developed. He said, "He practically did not evolve. Graphically, he remained an outline." Assouline agreed, saying, "Tintin was as uncomplicated as the story line."
Hergé never said why he chose the name Tintin. He said it had no special meaning. He had used similar sounding names before, like Totor. Some think "Tintin" is his last name because his landlady sometimes called him Mr. Tintin. But Assouline believes it can't be his last name since he has no family. He thinks Hergé chose it because "it sounded heroic, clear, and cheerful."
Tintin's age is never stated. He stays young throughout the Adventures, which were published for over 50 years. Assouline said, "Tintin was born at fifteen." Hergé commented, "For me, Tintin hasn't aged... 17? In my judgement, he was 14 or 15 when I created him, Boy Scout, and he has practically not moved on."
What Tintin Does
From his first adventure, Tintin lives as a campaigning reporter. He goes to the Soviet Union and sends a report to his editor. He travels to the Belgian Congo and takes pictures for news stories. When he goes to China, the Shanghai News has a headline: "Tintin's Own Story." In The Broken Ear, he questions a museum director about a theft. Sometimes, Tintin is even interviewed by other reporters. But usually, we don't see him talking to his editor or writing a story.
As his adventures continue, Tintin acts less like a reporter and more like a detective. He solves mysteries from his apartment at 26 Labrador Street. Other characters sometimes call him Sherlock Holmes. This is because he is very smart, notices small details, and can figure things out. Like Holmes, he sometimes uses disguises. He even has an archenemy named Rastapopoulos.
In later adventures, Tintin stops pretending to be a news reporter. He becomes more of an explorer. He doesn't seem to worry about money. After Red Rackham's Treasure, he lives at the big house Marlinspike Hall with his friends, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus. Tintin spends his time exploring the bottom of the sea, the tops of mountains, and even the Moon. He went to the Moon sixteen years before real astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Through it all, Tintin becomes an international hero. He stands up for people who are treated unfairly and helps those in need.
Tintin's Skills
From the very first book, Hergé showed Tintin as someone who can drive or fix almost any vehicle. Tintin is good at driving cars, has driven a moon tank, and knows a lot about flying. He is also a skilled radio operator and knows Morse code. He can punch a bad guy when needed, swims well, and is a great shot. He proves to be a good engineer and scientist during his trip to the Moon. He is also a strong athlete, able to walk, run, and swim long distances. Hergé said Tintin was "a hero without fear and beyond reproach." Most of all, Tintin is a quick thinker and good at solving problems peacefully. He is simply good at almost everything, which is what Hergé himself wanted to be.
Tintin's Personality
Tintin's personality changed as Hergé wrote the series. In the early Adventures, Tintin's personality was "incoherent." He was "sometimes foolish and sometimes omniscient, pious... and then unacceptably aggressive." He mostly served as a way to move the story forward. Writer Pierre Assouline noted that early Tintin showed "little sympathy for humanity." Assouline described him as "excessively virtuous, chivalrous, brave, a defender of the weak and oppressed." He "never looks for trouble but always finds it."
Writer Michael Farr sees Tintin as a brave young man with strong morals. Readers can easily relate to him. His neutral personality helps show the bad things, mistakes, and foolishness around him. This lets the reader imagine themselves in Tintin's place. Tintin's simple look helps with this. Comics expert Scott McCloud noted that Tintin's iconic, neutral personality and Hergé's realistic drawing style, called ligne claire ("clear line"), let readers "mask themselves in a character." This allows them to "safely enter a sensually stimulating world."
To other characters, Tintin is honest, kind, and caring. He is also humble and modest, just like Hergé. He is a very loyal friend. Tintin does have some flaws. He gets too tipsy before facing a firing squad in The Broken Ear. He also gets very angry when Captain Haddock almost causes them to die in Explorers on the Moon. However, as Michael Farr says, Tintin has "tremendous spirit." In Tintin in Tibet, he is fittingly given the name Great Heart. Tintin is sometimes innocent, sometimes fights for causes, sometimes escapes reality, and finally becomes a bit cynical. If he is sometimes too much of a "goody-goody," at least he is not stuck-up. Hergé said, "If Tintin is a moralist, he's a moralist who doesn't take things too seriously, so humour is never far away from his stories." This sense of humor is what makes Tintin popular all over the world.
Tintin in Real Life and Movies
Tintin Comes to Life
Publishers sometimes had real-life events with Tintin for publicity. Tintin's first live appearance was at the Gare du Nord station in Brussels on May 8, 1930. This was near the end of the first adventure, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. Fifteen-year-old Lucien Pepermans dressed up as Tintin and traveled with Hergé to the station. They expected only a few readers. Instead, they were surrounded by a huge crowd of fans. Other young actors also played Tintin returning from adventures like Tintin in the Congo, Tintin in America, and The Blue Lotus.
Tintin on Stage and Screen
Actress Jane Rubens was the first to play Tintin on stage in April 1941. The plays included Tintin in India: The Mystery of the Blue Diamond. Later, 11-year-old Roland Ravez took over the role. He also voiced Tintin in recordings of Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus. Jean-Pierre Talbot played Tintin in two live-action movies: Tintin and the Golden Fleece (1961) and Tintin and the Blue Oranges (1964).
Canadian actor Colin O'Meara voiced Tintin in the 1991 Canadian animated TV series The Adventures of Tintin. This show first aired on HBO and later on Nickelodeon. At the same time, actor Richard Pearce voiced Tintin for a radio drama series made by the BBC. In 2005, English actor Russell Tovey played Tintin in a play of Tintin in Tibet in London.
Before Hergé passed away in 1983, he admired the work of Steven Spielberg. He felt Spielberg was the only director who could bring Tintin to the big screen successfully. This led to the 2011 motion capture movie The Adventures of Tintin. This film combines stories from three different Tintin books.
Tintin Movies and TV Shows
- 1961: Tintin and the Golden Fleece (Tintin et le Mystère de la Toison d'or) by Jean-Jacques Vierne
- 1964: Tintin and the Blue Oranges (Tintin et les Oranges bleues) by Philippe Condroyer
- 1947: The Crab with the Golden Claws (Le Crabe aux pinces d'or) by Claude Misonne
- 1964: The Calculus Case by Ray Goossens
- 1969: Tintin et la SGM by Raymond Leblanc
- 1969: Tintin and the Temple of the Sun (Tintin et le Temple du Soleil) by Eddie Lateste
- 1972: Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (Tintin et le lac aux requins) by Raymond Leblanc
- 2011: The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin: Le Secret de La Licorne) by Steven Spielberg
- 1957-1961: Hergé's Adventures of Tintin (animated series)
- 1992: The Adventures of Tintin (animated series with 3 seasons, 13 episodes each)
Images for kids
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Tintin as he appears in Steven Spielberg's 2011 motion capture feature film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn as portrayed by Jamie Bell
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See also
In Spanish: Tintín (Las aventuras de Tintín) para niños
- List of The Adventures of Tintin characters
