Tintin Forums

I know it may sound funny, but I want to work towards Tintin's body build.

I've read that he isn't very huge in size, but he has a very strong punch.

Is he physically built? And what's his waistline like, can anyone help?

That's actually quite an interesting question. Overall he doesn't look that different to most people, and yet he does seem capable of doing thing that suggest he is perhaps a bit stronger than he makes out.

Whether it is crossing a river by rope, as in Prisoners of the Sun, or (as you point out) holding his own in a fight, I think it's fair to say that he keeps fit in the general sense of the term, but he's not a musclebound hunk if that's what you mean.

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I really don't know. He's rather short, probably no taller than 5 foot, 5 inches. He's thin but muscular. I'm not sure what his waist size is, that's rather specific and not something explored in the albums (and probably not even considered by Herge).

Tintinrulz
Hmm, thanks, but can you predict some numbers of his waistline? Just a lucky guess?

Jean-Pierre Talbot played Tintin in the live action films "Mystery of the Goldent Fleece" and "The Blue Oranges" in the 1960s. Herge would mention Tintin as being in his late teens, and Talbot was about 17-18 when the first film was made.

From his pictures he's not exactly muscle bound but by all accounts he was a keen sportsman and there are scenes in "Goldent Fleece" in which he takes on opponents on what looks very much like Judo. Thus it follows that the comic Tintin may also have been fit and strong for his physique.

Jean-Pierre Talbot had a bit more muscle than I pictured Tintin with but not so much that he looked ridiculous. I thought he did a great job with the physical action (what little there was) but found him rather dull and not a terribly good actor.

For the simple reason that he was not an actor. He was spotted on the beach by people who were involved in the film's production and they cast him simply because he looked so much like Tintin. Even Herge felt that he was the nearest there was to an actual Tintin - so there you are.

After just the two Tintin films, Talbot returned to teaching, which was the career he had always intended for himself anyway.

Tintin is quite short & he looks lean. But his physical fitness is simply mind blowing!!! His power of concentration is also great. I feel he's got a Bruce Lee sort of physique (remember the movie "Enter the Dragon"?), short, lean but athletic, without an ounce of fat in his body...also he's extremely agile...

You’re not the first person to have noticed this, Shubho_1990!

You might want to check out:
Tintin: is he super human?
where a team of our resident experts, armed with only their native wit, and too much time on their hands, put Tintin through his paces under laboratory conditions… (or something!)!

There's a good shot of Tintin dressed in nothing but his undershorts in Cigars of the Pharaoh (when the elephant is giving him a shower.)

I figure he's like an acrobat or a dancer in that he isn't muscle bound, but he's very strong. I watch Dancing with the Stars and the professional dancer, Derek Hough, seems like he could play Tintin.