Tintin Forums

Which character from a Tintin book appears to have been the inspiration for a villain's sidekick in a Disney animated feature film, with whom he shares the same distinctive name and a very similar physical appearance?

Would it be Iago, the feathered fiend given to the Captain in The Castafiore Emerald, who shares his name - and species - with Iago, Jafar's sidekick in Aladdin?

Yep, you've got it, Richard. Well done!

I have no evidence or proof that the writers of Disney's Aladdin ever read The Castafoire Emerald but it seems to me that the chances of them coming up with the name Iago for a parrot completely coincidentally are slim - though it's possible, of course.

I'm not sure whether the two Iagos belong to exactly the same species of parrot, though they're pretty similar, so could do. Wikipedia reckons Jafar's Iago is something close to a scarlet macaw and I think the captain's Iago looks fairly similar to one of them too, albeit with slightly greener wings maybe. Perhaps a parrot expert could pin it down more precisely.

Anyway, a point to you Richard, and the next question.