Season 3 of “The Adventures Of Tintin” arrives on DVD and with it a bittersweet feeling. This is the ending of the animated television adventures of the perennially young investigative reporter, and while the series did a few things wrong, it ultimately did so much right that it’s a shame to see it end.
Interestingly, the last episode, “Tintin In America” is the only “stand-alone” episode this season. Every episode save for this last one, is a two-parter. Not only that, but this was the episode that was the most altered, story-wise, from the source material. This isn’t to imply that is the reason this is the final season. Only a few of Herge’s comics didn’t get adapted for this series run – the first two (for content reason) and the final one, which was unfinished at the time of production. What is so odd is that “Tintin In America” is the last episode in the series, but was the first comic (baring the actual first two which did not get adapted) in the timeline. Are these all faithful adaptations of the original comics No, but they are much more faithful that the recent theatrical film.
Speaking (virtually) of film, the four episodes leading up to the final one play out like a film. “Destination Moon” and Explorers On The Moon” are four tw-poart episodes that are based on comics of the same name written well over a decade before we landed on the moon – released even before the space race. Sit down and watch these four episodes strung together and see if you don’t agree this isn’t an adventure worthy of Jules Verne. That it came out before we explored space, the animated adaptation created well after we actually did land on the moon, then, years later watching those episodes and getting enjoyment out of them says a lot to the quality of the storytelling. Having grown up reading Herge’s adventures, I was eager to share them with my own kids as they got older.
Now in this age of instant access to virtually all forms of entertainment and high speed action with rapid-fire pacing, it’s nice to have “The Adventures Of Tintin” on hand. My 9 year old son enjoys this immensely (he has read most of the comics). I too, enjoy these episodes and they hold a well deserved place on my self – granted, it’s a shelf that holds “Space Academy” and “Ultra-Man”.