HISTORY - 12/03/2022Is Tintin made for children, teenagers, a specified public, or perhaps everybody? Rather, the creator and artist Hergé probably just lived within his figures, in enthusiasm or in crisis. Maybe he just extracted the reply from his emotions in spite of the events of the World from January 10, 1929 when Tintin and Snowy were "born" in Le Petit Vingtième, till Hergés death 1983.
“Tintin is me wanting to be heroic and perfect…” “Tintin is me… my eyes, my feelings, my lungs, my guts!... I believe I am the only person able to animate him, the only person able to give him a soul.” (Hergé Tintin is Modern History).
In Tintin, Hergé distilled 50 years of politics, wars and daily life. Cars, trains and planes. Businessmen, dictators, scientists. Discovery of ancient history and space program. You can trace the history of the 20th century from Tintins adventures. You´ll find strange things too. Paranormal experiences, dreams, frightening things. Things that have to do with the inner life.
About some characters :
Dupond and Dupont, or Thomson and Thompson.
Their origins: Hergé's father, Alexis Remi, had a twin brother, Léon. They were identical twins, and both had moustaches and dressed alike. They always wore a boater or bowler hat, and never went out without their walking canes or umbrellas. At the beginning of the 20th century French and Belgian policemen dressed in civilian clothes, always in black suits, white shirt and black tie, bowler hat, hobnailed boots and armed with a walking stick.
Haddock is by nature emotional and irrational, the very opposite of Tintin who is sober and sensible, but he has a heart of gold. Just like Tintin, he is always willing to help people in trouble. A composite mix of quick-temper, roughness and tenderness.
The dog
Snowy is a rough-haired Fox Terrier of an atypical whiteness. In French, Snowy is called Milou. The name came about thanks to a girlfriend of Hergé, Marie-Louise Van Cutsem, who was called "Milou".
The professor
The Professor's first name in French is Tryphon, and was based on a carpenter whom Hergé knew. His French surname, Tournesol, means sunflower. The combination of the two names sums up the Professor's character, as does the English version, Cuthbert Calculus. Both his appearance and his manner are an anachronism, and there is a subtle contrast between his behaviour and his highly advanced inventions. To create Tournesol, Hergé had a very precise model in mind: Auguste Piccard (1884-1962), an eminent Swiss scientist, holder of a chair at the University of Brussels and familiar with the Belgian capital. He remembered seeing his slender silhouette in the streets of Brussels in the 1930s.
Some notable inventions by the Professor Tryphon Tournesol:
The pocket submarine in the form of shark - Red Rackham's Treasure.
A collapsible wall-bed of Red Rackham's Treasure.
The model rocket X-FLR6 - Destination moon.
The nuclear - powered moon rocket - Explorers of the moon.
The ultrasonic instrument + The Calculus Affair.
The pill which makes alcohol distasteful - Tintin and the Picaros.
The motorized roller-skates - The red sea sharks.
A collapsible wall-bed - Red Rackham's Treasure.
The antidote to Dr. Muller's Formula Fourteen - Land of Black Gold.
The spacesuit - Explorers of the Moon.
The spacetank - Explorers of the Moon.
