Tintin Forums

Tintin in the Congo:
Snowy gnawing the tail off a lion
Tintin shooting sixteen antelope
Tintin hitting a leopard with a yardstick and later kicking it
Tintin knocking a water buffalo out with a slingshot
Tintin's blowing-up of a fine specimen of rhinoceros

The Broken Ear:
Ramon trying to kill the parrot
Snowy's tail being shot twice

The Black Island:
Tintin hitting Snowy after Snowy drank alcohol

Crab With The Golden Claws:
Shopkeeper chasing Snowy with a stick

Red Rackham's Treasure:
Haddock trying to kill sharks and parrots

Prisoners Of The Sun:
Tintin and Haddock massacring crocodiles
Haddock slapping a llama in the face

As you may be able to tell, I am an animal rights enforcer. Vent your feelings out.

Pure carnage miloumuttmitt, pure carnage! However, I'm sure the author would point out that no actual animals were harmed in the making of these books...

I've never thought of the adventures of Tintin as significantly violent towards animals - with the exception of Congo - so I'm not really sure where this is leading. Granted, there was certainly a different view toward animal welfare when some of the books were made.

But how about in Cigars where Tintin cures an elephant of fever by giving him quinine and then learns to speak their language. Or The Black Island where Ranko turns out to be a misunderstood but deep down very friendly gorillla - ditto the Yeti in Tibet.

Overall I'd say that Hergé's use of animals is varied and quite sympathetic. Congo is really the exception to this. I don't think anyone can justify today the callous way in which people used to hunt game in Africa. Congo is really just a document of those times but in a lot of ways quite an educational one.

There, that's my feelings vented!

Let me also point out that Tintin and Haddock massacring crocodiles (they're alligators, but that's beside the point) in "Prisoners of the Sun" is purely for self defense.

Once they reach the other bank, Tintin asks the captain to stop shooting because it is a waste of ammunition.

We see a complete flip side to Tintin's Animal cruelty in 'Picaros', when he slips an electric eel safely back into the water after it had been giving Haddock a shock! Very different from his 'Congo' days.

Hi,

Yes, I agree with Harishankar and Rastapopoulos. The shooting of alligators in "Prisoners of the Sun" is for self defence. Tintin would'nt harm even his enemies. I don't know the story of "Congo" (since it is not available here, atleast till now), but one can be sure that Tintin series never has extreme violence - neither on humans, nor on animals.

Cheers,
Maximus

Not sure if this counts in the list, as it's completely unintentional on any of the character's behalfs, but at the end of "The Red Sea Sharks" the shark swallows the limpet mine and is blown up.

I would say that the books are never intentionally violent toward animals, and certainly do not advocate cruelty to animals. Also, let's not forget that the characters themselves get harmed far more than any animals do !

From Entretiens avec Hergé, pp.201-2:

"[On "The Red Sea Sharks"] I was also accused once more (and for the last time, I hope!) of gratuitous cruelty towards an animal: the poor shark I blew up without hesitation... I had always believed that sharks were great brutish creatures. I had this rather naive and human idea: that sharks were "bad". Perhaps it's because you never see a shark guarding a flock of sheep..."

Ed

And don't forget Jorgen knocking out Snowy!

(Good thing he was kicked out of the story soon after, the fiend...)

Oh, yes. Well, the crocodile thing was indeed for self-defense.

The only one on the list that I would agree is wrong is the stuff from Congo. That was very early Hergé, and he was really only going on how he knew others behaved.

Tintin smacking Snowy in Black Island really is no big deal- sometimes it's necessary to show your disapproval. He does not hurt Snowy, and it's really no different to smacking your young child.

As for Snowy's tail being shot in Broken Ear, and Jorgen knocking him out in Explorers, these are only the actions of either primitive tribes or 'bad guys', and it's pretty realistic. Unfortunately, there are people in life who would act like this. This makes the stories more realistic, but it is clear that they don't condone the actions. For example, didn't Wolff or someone say to Jorgen "how can you do that to a poor, defenseless animal?" or something like that?