The Belgian Connection..

What connects this kid

to this guy

this guy

and him

Think a little young Belgian reporter and his faithful fox terrier whose exploits have taken him to wee little corners of the world. He's met Al Capone in Chicago, wrestled gorilla's off the coast of Scotland, gets acquainted with a perpetually inebriated Captain in the sands of the Sahara, encounters the Yeti while looking for lost friends in Tibet and even manage to land on the moon.

Thomas Sangster (that kid from Love Actually) plays Tintin in a forthcoming motion capture version of the Adventures of Tintin in a series of films to be directed by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Spielberg directs the first, which is based on The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, while Peter Jackson directs the second installment. It is speculated that the two will co-direct the third. In Spielberg's own words in favor of 3D motion capture,

"We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live action film and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live action format would simply not honour the distinctive look of the characters and world that Hergé created.

"The idea is that the films will look neither like cartoons nor like computer-generated animation. We're making them look photo-realistic, the fibres of their clothing, the pores of their skin and each individual hair. They look exactly like real people - but real Hergé people."

Andy Serkis would say Aye to that, for he is no stranger to that art of film making. His antics coupled with computer animation created one of the most memorable fiend of middle earth and celluloid history- a certain creature which went GOLLUM GOLLUM. He's plays Captain Haddock in the Tintin series.

Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles!!!!

Here's a little bit of Tintin trivia:

"The Castafiore Emerald" is the only book which contains a wee bit of profanity, wherein a character uses the word "DAMN"

In June 2006, Tintin became the first fictional character to be offered the Dalai Lama's "Truth of Light" award because " For many people around the world Tintin in Tibet was their first introduction to Tibet, the beauty of its landscape and its culture. And that is something that has passed down the generations".