Tintin Forums

Has anyone else noticed that Snowy tends to keep schtum in adaptations (other than the radio plays, where he's brilliantly played by Andrew Sachs), thus surprising first-time readers when they realise he talks?

What are your thoughts- do you prefer him as written, passing cynical commentary on all that transpires, or do you feel this is slightly corny, and prefer this omission? Would you rather he didn't speak in the upcoming films? And do you think there's ever a possibility of his master hearing him (there seems to be minor confusion over this in 'Tintin in America', at least)?

I never consider Snowy as a “talking” animal at all, to be honest; his comments are just an interpretation of a dog’s emotions, I think, as well as indulging some of Hergé’s comic talent. When Tintin “hears” Snowy, well I think that’s just a bit of artistic license; after all, dog and cat owners often treat animals as if they have “said” something.

I wouldn’t want him to talk in a future live-action movie, anymore than I would have stars appear when someone is hurt, or put little squiggles behind a cars wheels to show their passing: to me it is a purely comic-book conceit, and can be easily dispensed with.

I would tend to focus on the more realistic action/ adventure side of things, and just have Snowy as a hyper-intelligent, ultra-faithful companion.

Tintin does seem to know what Snowy is saying in some scenes; he replies directly to him in "Tintin In America" when Snowy asks, "Any idea what happened Tintin?" and Tintin replies, "None at all, all I know is we've managed to acquire floating dumbbells." (Apologies if the dialog isn't exact, I haven't read the book in awhile.) Or perhaps it was artistic license, so Tintin wouldn't have to talk to himself in scenes like that.

In the early adventures Snowy was the only entity Tintin had to talk to, this changed later on as the adventures got more serious and also Tintin began to find allies such as Chang and the Captain.

I like some of Snowy's sarcastic comments in later acventures but I would say that nobody can understand him but the reader

Rik

If you check in Tintin in Tibet I think you can find an answer to the question.

Actually in the later adventures, Snowy cannot talk, or at least the speech is not recognizable by human beings. Otherwise the Tibetan monks should have easily understood the message that Snowy took to them. Also Tintin wouldn't have bothered writing an SOS note and sent it along...

I think that Snowy's role continues varying across adventures. He appears both as an invaluable, live-saving companion (as in America for example) to TIntin as well as a mere appendage and in some adventures acts totally like a real dog should do (chasing cats, coveting forbidden bones, burrowing in the garbage and so on)

Snowy started 'talking' in thought bubbles later on as well didn't he... as if Herge was saying "hey, did I say the dog talked? I mean he...er... thinks things!"

My favourite being that he's the only one not brainwashed at the end of Flight 714 of course... ("I could tell them a thing or two, but no one would believe me...!)

I don't know if Snowy is really supposed to closely represent any animal. Until I learned the story about the bear who passed out on a campground lawn after taking 36 cans of a specially-brewed beer (but left the remaining mass-produced cans untouched), I thought that Snowy would be the only animal to have a thing for alcohol!

I wouldn't be surprised if Snowy continued talking. At the same time, however, given that Tintin is finally settled at Marlinspike (and not living alone at 26 Labrador with the occasional visit from the Thompsons) with strong relationships with human friends, it is not unimaginable for him to naturally shift his orientation away from Snowy.

Didn't most of us eventually turn our backs to our Teddy Bears when we started developing friendships with human beings? Same logic with Tintin and Snowy.

I like the way Herge makes a joke of it in The Castafiore Emerald, when Snowy, irritated by the parrot, remarks "I can't stand animals who talk!" to his old enemy, the Captain's cat. Later on, when hidden in the attic, he appears to talk to Tintin on a couple of occasions: "Phoo! It's only a rat, or a mouse. Shall I catch it?" As Tintin just shushes him both times, I think we can assume that he only hears "Grrrr" or "Wooah!"

As time went on, Snowy started behaving more and more like a real dog, even though he carried on speaking. In the early B&W stories he's at his most anthropomorphic, somehow managing to don a pith helmet or vainly giving his beard a quick comb. Humanised animals are pretty common in childrens' literature, which is probably why Tintin seems to take it as read that Snowy can talk, and can reply to him! By Picaros, his response to being sat on by Cuthbert is much more doglike (and having co-habited for a while with a girl who owned an annoying poodle, I can speak from almost identical experience!) In Alph-Art, I think he only speaks when he tries to chat up Castafiore's snooty lapdog ("Hello, beautiful!), but maybe Herge might have added a few more characteristic asides - wonder what Snowy's reaction to Haddock's perxpex 'H' would have been?

Bearing in mind what everyone else said: "But what is it FOR?"

Snowy started 'talking' in thought bubbles later on as well didn't he... as if Herge was saying "hey, did I say the dog talked? I mean he...er... thinks things!"

My favourite being that he's the only one not brainwashed at the end of Flight 714 of course... ("I could tell them a thing or two, but no one would believe me...!)

That kinda ruined it for me; it's only in Flight 714 and Picaros. Part of the reason why I don't like those ones so much.
I like Snowy as a talking dog, but it seems weird when it's taken too far and Tintin responds; iirc only in America... here there's also the bit where Snowy recounts the story of his fight with the gangsters near the start and Tintin replies: "you're a very brave dog, Snowy."

I noticed, however, that in the radio play he's used as a sort of narrator when there's no other obvious way of portraying something, especially the things that are purely visual, eg. when Tarragon lifts Calculus off the floor Snowy has to say that he's done that so that listeners know.