Tintin Forums

I finally saw the movie yesterday (7th January) and thought it was fantastic! (I've been a Tintin fan for 40 years.) It looked much better than the stills suggested it would. The motion capture CGI was excellent (I can see the day approaching when Spielberg will be able to make Indiana Jones 5 with a motion capture CGI Indy and Harrrison Ford's voice). I would have preferred to watch it in 2D, but only 3D was available.

I was trying to work out where it was set at the beginning and end: the architecture suggested Belgium or France but Tintin offered £1 for the Unicorn model. Were there any other clues?

I recall reading that the film's artists spent some time in Brussels (and maybe other parts of Belgium) researching the architecture and details such as old doorways, shutters, wall textures, etc. But they seem to have taken a deliberate decision to internationalise things like money. That newspaper the Thom[p]sons are hiding behind is full of old-style adverts with prices in a variety of currencies, including dollars.

I wonder if the currency Tintin buys the Unicorn with is a British pound wherever the film's shown, or if they recorded different versions of that line for different parts of the world, with the local currency inserted.

Hi Balthazar, I saw it in New York City and it was a pound in the soundtrack.

Ahhhh, I can say that it is definitely in Brussels and the market place is actually very similar to one I was in last year called Place d'Or. The architecture is simply marvelous. This is what is called a "marché aux puces" or “flea market” and like the one I was in it is very much so, with people selling all sorts of old wares.

I also noticed in the movie that some of the streets and shop signs are in French and also look very much like Brussels.

The fact that they mentioned pounds I would say has no relevance and would only be for the international market and it actually felt right as would Francs.

My question is why has Captain Haddock a Scottish accent? I thought it a bit strange as I never in my life ever saw him as a Scot...

Moderator Note: The question of the Captain’s nationality (including the possibility that he is Scottish) has been discussed at length here:
Captain Haddock: His nationality?
The Inter-linking Tintinologist Team

Thanks for the clarification. Then it looks like they thought a pound would match the British accents in the film. Or maybe they felt that it sounded sufficiently foreign and European compared to dollars, and didn't want to go as far as having Belgian Francs for fear of confusing a young post-Euro audience! Who knows?

I was surprised by that, too, when I saw the first trailers and previews, but between the Scottish accent and the motorcycle/sidecar scene being amusingly reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I assumed it was just Andy Serkis channeling Sean Connery. I think it worked; it didn't sound too awkward. And I do love what Andy put into his portrayal of the Captain.

Though, when I looked back at the Nelvana edition, it turned out that David Fox gave Sir Francis a Scottish accent (but not the Captain). I half-wonder if that was a factor, too?

I am sorry to say I do not like the film. Steven strayed of course and decided to mix at least 3 of the books in one film. Another thing is they did not mention the fact the Herge wrote it in the advertisement.

Herge wrote what in the advertisement?

Also, yes, they use material from 3 different books but most of the scenes are from Unicorn. They also use about half of Crab and the last few pages of Rackham. Then they tied it all together with their own plot.

I am starting to think that the biggest mistake was to call this movie The Secret of The Unicorn.
If it had been given a different name it would not have been compared to the books, and treated as a new adventure story.

In America and Australia, it was simply called The Adventures of Tintin.