The Adventures of Tintin (TV Series) - Changes From The Books

Changes From The Books

Inevitably, certain areas of the stories posed difficulties for the producers, who had to adapt features of the books to a more modern young audience. Nevertheless, this series was far more faithful to the books than Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, which had been made from 1959 to 1963.

Smaller changes were made due to the necessity for simplification or audience requirements. The high amount of violence, death and the use of firearms were toned down or removed completely.

Haddock's penchant for whisky posed a problem for audience sensitivities. While the original books did not promote alcohol, they featured it heavily, with much humor based around it and the results of drinking. However, in many countries where the producers hoped to sell the series, alcoholism is a sensitive issue. Therefore, international versions of the series had some alterations. Haddock is seen drinking, but not as heavily as in the books. The Crab with the Golden Claws is the only adventure where Haddock's drunken state is not reduced. In Tintin in Tibet, Haddock is seen taking a nip from a flask of whisky in order to set up a scene in which Snowy is tempted to lap up some spilled whisky and subsequently falls over a cliff. In Tintin and the Picaros, Haddock is the only person taking wine with dinner, foreshadowing the use of Calculus' tablets to "cure" the drunken Picaros. Haddock is also seen drinking in The Calculus Affair and in Explorers on the Moon, setting up the scene where he leaves the rocket in a drunken state. It should be noted that he does not hide the bottle in a book of Astronomy, like he did in the book, but keeps the bottle in the refrigerator, making it less obvious for young viewers that it's alcohol.

Tintin in America was the most altered episode, amounting to almost a completely new story. The Native American aspect was completely removed, and the gangster element given the main focus. Bobby Smiles, in the book the head of a rival gang to Al Capone, becomes an "employee" of Capone's in the televised episode. All the criminals are led by Al Capone, who is captured at the end. Artistically, the episode was produced to the same standard as the others, with backgrounds having greater detail and more cinematic shots.

In Cigars of the Pharaoh, the mental hospital cell is a padded cell; in the book it has a bed. Also, Dr. Finney is a member of the gang so he wrote a letter saying that Tintin was mad. In the book, the fakir copied the doctor's handwriting and wrote the letter. In the book, an unnamed Japanese person is a member of the gang. In the TV series, the unnamed Japanese is replaced by Allan Thompson, whom Tintin recognizes. Following the chronology of the books, Tintin does not see Allan until The Crab with the Golden Claws, but as the TV series episodes of The Crab with the Golden Claws aired before Cigars of the Pharaoh, Tintin's recognition of Allan is credible when the episodes are viewed in that order. Furthermore, there could exist the possibility that in the series Tintin had briefly seen Allan when he was inside the sarcophagus, in Allan's boat, though in the book he's unconscious all along. In the TV episode when Thompson and Thomson come into Tintin's cabin, Tintin already knows them; in the book he does not. Tintin is not recaptured by the asylum; instead the maharaja's son finds him. Also,the poet Zloty is absent in the episode. In the book, Tintin goes to the hospital by car. In the TV Series, Tintin and Sarcophagus walk.

In The Blue Lotus, Mitsuhirato's manservant is shown to be a double agent in the service of the Sons of the Dragon, and it is he who replaces the Raijajah poison with a harmless substitute and delivers the real poison to his employers. In the book, this was done by another agent. Gibbons is not shown at all, and Dawson's role is much reduced, as he is only shown as the police commissioner who calls in Thompson and Thomson, and does not appear to be in league with Mitsuhirato (this creates a subsequent continuity error in The Red Sea Sharks, as Tintin mentions having a "run-in" with Dawson despite not encountering him in this story). Also in the book, Chang's parents were killed in the flood but in the TV episode, Chang had an orphanage which was washed away by the flood. At the end of the storyline, Rastapopoulos tries to flee through the Blue Lotus club when the other villains are apprehended, but is himself caught by Thompson and Thomson. In the book, Rastapopoulos was apprehended along with Mitsuhirato. Also, this episode, unlike the book, does not reveal Mitsuhirato's fate.

In The Broken Ear, Tortilla is completely missing from the plot, and is replaced by Walker's aide, Lopez (who is not mentioned as a half-caste). Further, Colonel-turned-Corporal Diaz is completely absent from the story, as are the numerous assassination attempts perpetrated by himself and R.W. Trickler. The entire subplot involving the rivaling petroleum companies is removed, and accordingly, Tintin never falls out of favour with General Alcazar, and Alonzo and Ramon never find Tintin in the Amazon. Instead, they disappear from the storyline after Tintin escapes from them in San Theodoros, and do not appear again until the climax. Also in the book, Tintin disguises himself as a blackfaced African to spy on Ramon and Alonzo, while in the episode, Tintin's disguise is that of a steward wearing a false moustache, glasses, and a black wig. While in the book, Tintin walks back to Sanfacion, Nuevo Rico, alone, after being caught by Alonzo and Ramon, he is instead escorted (off screen) by Ridgewell and the Arumbayas to San Theodoros. At the end of the episode, Tintin saves Ramon and Alonzo, whereas in the book they drown and disappear into Hell, though it is speculated this may be an imaginary scene or hallucination.

In The Black Island, the gorilla Ranko crushes the rock Tintin throws at him, something he did not do in the book. Also, the counterfeiting gang based in the castle comprises just Puschov, Dr. Muller, and Ivan, whereas in the book, it was made of two more anonymous members, and Ivan was portrayed as Puschov's unnamed assistant.

In King Ottokar's Sceptre, the impostor of the professor smokes while the latter does not; the reverse is true in the book. And in the book, Tintin got chased by border guards and accidentally crossed the border because he got hungry while the latter Tintin accidentally crossed the border because he found a Bordurian airfield, and Tintin did not get hungry and got chased by border guards. In the book, Tintin got the clue that the camera was faked from a toy store while the latter Tintin got the clue by looking outside Krowpow Castle and found some cannons.

In The Crab with the Golden Claws, the episode starts with a scene of a meeting between Bunji Kuraki and Herbert Dawes which is only referred to in the book. Tintin later encounters an imprisoned Kuraki which is not depicted in the book. Captain Haddock does not start a fire on the life boat that he, Tintin and Snowy use to escape the Karaboudjan on.

In The Shooting Star, the part of Philippulus the Prophet is severely reduced. He is seen at the start of the episode when Tintin reaches the observatory and when Tintin is having a 'nightmare'. These appearances were reduced and others, such as Philippulus' "occupation" of the Aurora's crow's nest, are completely missing. The Aurora's fuel stop in Akureyri, Iceland was likewise left out and Captain Chester is absent in the episode.

In The Secret of the Unicorn, the Great Dane, Brutus, is not shown. Also, when Haddock takes Tintin out of the latter's apartment to show him the painting of the Unicorn, someone is shown watching them and then breaking into Tintin's apartment, whereas in the book it is only revealed that there was a robbery when Tintin arrives home and finds his model Unicorn missing. Finally, a change was made to the scene in which Tintin is kidnapped and taken to Marlinspike Hall: rather than two unknown "delivery men", as depicted in the book, it is the Bird brothers (Max and Gustav) themselves who kidnap him.

In Red Rackham's Treasure, the changes are made solely for time such as the only consequence of the press exposure is their meeting with Calculus. In addition, Tintin has a smooth voyage in the shark submarine as opposed to the book where Tintin is in peril when the vehicle is snarled with seaweed. Furthermore, the treasure hunters never return to the island to dig around a large wooden cross on a mistaken idea of where the treasure could be.

In The Seven Crystal Balls, the episode begins with the Seven Explorers of the Sanders-Hardiman Expedition finding the Mummy of Rascar Capac. Following the Chronology of the Books, Jolyon Wagg doesn't appear until The Calculus Affair, but as the TV series Episodes of The Calculus Affair, which aired before The Seven Crystal Balls, Jolyon's appearance is credible when the Episodes are viewed in that order.

In Land of Black Gold, Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab was given a more sympathetic and caring role and lets Tintin and Captain Haddock take his car whereas in the book, he doesn't let them take it. The role of Abdullah was downplayed, and doesn't seem to cry as much as he does in the book.

In The Calculus Affair, the Syldavian group who tries to snatch Professor Calculus from the Bordurians in the original book is removed for simplicity. Also, in the original book, Calculus was kidnapped earlier in the story.

In The Red Sea Sharks, the original book dealt with the topic of modern slavery, but the television episode was centered around smuggling of refugees. Surprisingly, they are Arabs instead of Africans. They were not meant to be sold, but killed after handing over all their money. Furthermore, while the Africans in the book volunteered to be simply stokers for the ship that Captain Haddock has command of, the television version makes a point of having the characters doing more sophisticated work on the ship. Also, Piotr Skut has already known Tintin and Captain Haddock when they saved him while they have not met each other in the original story because the episode aired after "Flight 714". Doctor Müller's role is expanded, and he becomes the leader of the attempted coup d'état rather than just being one of Bab El Ehr's military commanders. Bab El Ehr himself is entirely deleted from the storyline. Also, the scene in which the Mosquitoes bomb the armored cars is rewritten – in the book, Muller is safely inside the command quarters and talks to the General via telephone, whereas in the TV version, Muller is in one of the vehicles and communicates via walkie-talkie.

In Tintin in Tibet, one notable omission from this episode is the stopover in New Dehli, India during the quest to save Chang.

In The Castafiore Emerald, unlike the book, when Castafiore arrives she still gifts Captain Haddock with the parrot Iago, but the parrot's part is significantly downplayed. As such, the bird does not manage to pick up much of the Haddock’s verbal slang, sparing the Captain from further annoyance.

In Flight 714, Rastapopolous and his gang use dynamite instead of explosives to destroy the statue as in the book. Also, Rastapopolous says that he was planning to shoot Doctor Krollspell, whereas in the book he merely says "eliminate", and does not reveal plans for the other crew members or the Sondinesians. In the end, the astroship drops Krollspell off in India; in the book it drops him off in Cairo. The group is hypnotized after they get on the spaceship, this is perhaps more believable as the volcano was about to explode.

In Tintin and the Picaros, Hergé presents a less naive Tintin who refuses to go with Haddock and Calculus to rescue Castafiore and the detectives, knowing it's a setup. He only joins them later, after his conscience gets the better of him. Many fans felt it was out of character for Tintin to refuse to go to South America. In the series however, Tintin is all for rescuing his friends and goes with Haddock and Calculus early in the adventure. In the original comic, Tintin wore jeans throughout the book, which was in contrast with the plus-fours he had always worn previously. In the episode, his plus-fours have returned.

Tintin in America, The Shooting Star and Red Rackham's Treasure are the only stories to be told in one part instead of two.

Throughout the books, Snowy is frequently seen to be "talking". It is understood that his voice is only heard through the "fourth wall", but this verbal commentary is completely absent in the television series. The only time it's maintained is in the ending of Flight 714 and he "speaks" with Tintin's voice.