Belvision: "The Calculus Case" General discussion

There didn't seem to be any info on this on the site. It was one of the 3 broadcast on five last year. I'd guess it was a 1960s adaptation with fairly crude animation. Quite an entertaining adaptation running to about an hour altogether, with the actors all performing in beautiful BBC English.

r.

It was part of the Belvision series. I think it was called “The Calculus Case” in English.

A couple of links from our guides/links section:

https://www.tintinologist.org/guides/screen/movies.html

https://www.tintinologist.org/guides/screen/index.html

I see, so it was cut together from that series, then... I wonder why five chose to show that one.

Sorry to bring it up by the way - I hadn't noticed it was mentioned on the second page...

r.

Actually you raise a good point - I think you're right in that “The Calculus Case/Affair” was conceived as a film.

I was doing some research into the Belvision cartoons last year for a possible article (which never got finished!) but this is what I think happened...

Belvision stopped production of the Tintin cartoons 1962-63. The Belvision team then made a full length feature - “Pinnochio in Outer Space” - then returned to make a Tintin film animation in '65 with “The Calculus Case”. However I think the screen rights had been acquired by the director of the two live action pics (Golden Fleece and Blue Oranges) and so, to avoid any legal wrangles, the cartoon was split up into a series.

Wow ! I never knew any of this ! That would explain the difference in style between 'The Calculus Case' and the other Belvision cartoons ...

That’s interesting, Chris. The question then remains, a) did the live-action producer imagine that he would do another movie?, and b) had BelVision to recover the rights before embarking on “Temple of the Sun” and “Lake of Sharks”?

I Just looked back over my old notes and the only other info I have regarding this is that the director of the two live-action
films later lost the rights which is how Belvision came to make “Temple of the Sun” and “Lake of Sharks” in the late 60s/early 70s.

Some other info I found; Up until they ended production in 62-63 Belvision had made 98 episodes of Tintin (counting the ones done by Harmon in Hollywood which they bought from him). After “The Calculus Case/Affair” it totalled 105 episodes in all.

If I ever get time I must try to pick up the old threads and finish that article. I think a lot of the info is still quite interesting and hasn't (to my knowledge) been published yet.

I know this is a little off-topic, but I'll ask it anyway and hopefully get away with it - in the Screen guide, listed is On a marché sur la Lune from 1959, by Yvan Szücs. Is this the same cartoon as the one listed under the Belvision episodes, since it looks noticeably different (better, in my view) to the rest of the Belvisions, in the same way that The Calculus Case was made as a film but is grouped into the main series ?

No, the Yvan Szücs On a marché sur la Lune is different. It's made in black and white and uses a crude paper cut-out technique. There are a few clips of it shown in the documentary Belvision: Le mine d'or... It does have a certain charm, IMO, which is perhaps missing from the later Belvisions. The Yvan Szücs Lune also has one very catchy theme tune (so catchy that the documatary makers even made an updated version of it for their closing theme!)

The one you're referring to is probably Objective Moon which is one of the few (or perhaps even the only one?) actually made by Larry Harmon and his studio. That might also explain the slightly better animation as Harmon was soon phased out although they carried on imitating his style with a new team.

I've got a copy of 'The Calculus Affair' on tape. It was on around last Christmas when, to my delight and everyone else's amused bemusement, at least four Tintin features were showing on three consecutive days. Oh, happy time!

I don't know if this is the one you're thinking about, but it's definitely a film. I think it's originally French (the dubbing is really bad), and isn't close to the story at all. Poor Archie is in captivity for a good part of it, with the Thom(p)sons meeting Castafiore in his stead. Sponsz for some reason is renamed Brutel, and if I remember rightly, it was in this film I learned the correct pronounciation of the flighty diva's name. For years I'd called her Cass-ta-fure, when it's really Cast-a-fure-ai.

The animation's really choppy, and there's a whole thing with an escape onto the roof in a helicopter that was NOT in the book. Weirdest thing of all- they've maintained that Tintin and Co live in Syldavia, rather than Marlinshire.

If this isn't the film you mean, has anyone else seen it?