Tintin Forums

I pulled out the old video tape of "Tintin in America" today. I must say,
I was impressed with the opening minutes of the particular episode, since Hergé did seem to leave a lot up to the imagination in the opening pages; however, things soon went downhill when, of course, they left out the whole Indian thing (which, I feel, was the backbone of the book).

Most of the Tintin books are in two episodes, but this one isn't, yet it could have been longer. In the animation, Tintin spends all of five minutes west of Chicago. Does anyone have any comment on this episode?
I understand that in the comic, the Indians were parodied, however, the cartoons always seemed to have censored other things (and at the same time, keep the storyline in a similar scenario).

I really enjoy Nelvana's version of America. I'm not really into cowboys and indians and never was. I've been into gangster movies for awhile though so America was well done in my opinon and I don't feel any remorse for what was left out. This is the only Tintin book I feel they improved on. It seemed to flow more as a story than a number of events.

I agree about the flow of the cartoon - less confusing, with Bobby Smiles working for Capone, not against him, plus the art was much better for a change - Hergé's depiction of Chicago in the book was depressing.

Less confusing, but to me that was an important thing to have him against Capone, and the fact that they changed just said to me that they were cutting too many corners.
And in the book Capone doesn't appear again; only at the start; yet in the film he appears throughout.

I didn't like this one that much simply because it diverted far too much from the original story; they could have at least put in the Red Indians.
I also don't really see why they couldn't have done it as a double episode cos they could have had it more epic, as it is in the book. And at the point where Tintin's about to be run over by the train they could have been mean and put in a cliffhanger. That could have been quite good.

Otoh it is kinda refreshing to have it in one episode, instead of having to wait for the next one (even if the next one is just run together on the video :P....)

In an attempt to sell the series to the American market they probably thought portraying the Indians was no longer PC and felt that keeping the story to a purely gangster plot was easier

Rik

I like the updated scenes from Chicago and the gangster theme. Also, it might be worth noting that the episode originally started life in "Petit Vingtieme" as "Tintin, reporter en Chicago".

On the other hand, the sequence when oil is found in the Indian territory shows a wonderful satirical sense which is sadly lost in the TV-version.

On the other hand, the sequence when oil is found in the Indian territory shows a wonderful satirical sense which is sadly lost in the TV-version.

I might edit this post later, but I think that that episode reflects how many Native Americans were forced out of their land. It essentially shows Herge as a commentator, describing the cruelty of such expulsions. Of course, the actual scenes of the Americans slaughtering the Natives would not have appeared because Herge ultimately tries to keep his stories from appearing too violent. In all, this scene should never have been deleted!

I agree with finlay, "Tintin in America" would have been better as a two-parter. They did improve on the décor and flow of the story with regard to the Chicago parts, especially the hideout at the end replacing the distinctly out-of-place castle in the original book. If the Indians had been included, and Tintin being tied to the railway (the woman stopping the 'Flyer' because of the animal attack was brilliant), it would have made a great cartoon, possibly better than the original book in a few respects.

I don't like the end of the episode -- Tintin gets a phone call, says "oh, no!", and then rushes out. It's kind of frustrating we don't find out what the problem is...

That used to puzzle me when I was little - I always thought it was a dreadful ending !