Tintin Forums

Hi folks,

I finally came by a copy of the book Hergé and Tintin - Reporters, by Philippe Goddin.

Inside is a segment dealing with the animated film of Prisoners of the Sun, made by Belvision and released in 1969.

According to the book, this film is "a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, with the exception of a few cuts and insertions".

It seems Hergé was closely involved with the film project, unlike Tintin and the Lake of Sharks, which followed three years later in 1972.

In the book there is a nice illustration, I believe used as part of an advertising poster for the film; our hero is clinging for dear life to the talons of a great condor, just like in the book version of the story, but to my surprise Tintin is seen to be wearing long trousers, which I'd always thought made their first appearance in Lake of Sharks, but not so!

If there's anyone out there who has seen the Prisoners of the Sun film, I'd be interested to hear their impressions of it.

And finally, how about this for a wild idea?
Whoever owns the rights to this property could take stills from the film and put together a "book of the film", like they did with Lake of Sharks (only better perhaps).
It would be a re-telling (a re-imagining?) of the Prisoners adventure, and a new Tintin book for our Christmas stockings!

A guy can dream, can't he?

-Harry

Sorry to say I doubt such a book would be popular compared to the truly brilliant Hergé drawn effort.

Prisoners of the Sun was on not so long ago on Channel 5 on Saturday morning (maybe six months or so) so it appears they have the rights to show it on UK TV.

Keep a look-out in the listings for a repeat, and if it is, I'm sure it'll be pointed out on here.

It was also released on video, and copies pop up on eBay all the time if you're really interested.

Rik

I think there might even have been a story-book version of it in French?

With the less than happy response by many to the Lake of Sharks book (so strong is the feeling about it that it doesn't even feature in the book list on this site!), I doubt that many would be looking for a copy at Christmas.

I don't think Hergé was that closely involved, either: given he started as an animator, duties for this and Lake largely fell to Bob de Moor, Hergé's long-time associate.

jock123 :
I think there might even have been a story-book version of it in French?

There was a magazine edition from 1969, with screenshots (actually redrawn images - very much like Lake of Sharks) with a short description of the story underneath each. The boxes were rounded, so they looked rather like television screens. It wasn't awful, but not really the sort of thing that could be published in 2005 and expect to sell.

Hmmm... I've never seen that. It sounds interesting, but it's based on a film not rated that highly by me! ;o) I really wouldn't expect that to sell, or even be published in the first place, as it's look very dated and the movie isn't even released on DVD or video ...

I saw this film once when I was a little kid but I've never seen it since.

Here in Australia Lake of Sharks was released a couple of months back under the title The Adventures of Tintin Volume 1. The distribution of the series was done by another publisher, so all that could really leave for a Volume 2 is the movie based on the Prisoners book.

Unfortunately, there has been no Volume 2 announced thus far.

Hello again,

jockosjungle:
Sorry to say I doubt such a book would be popular compared to the truly brilliant Hergé drawn effort.

I guess it’s the ‘collector’ in me that always wants more… the urge to find new Tintin material, even the Belvision stuff, is strong. The quality of the artwork shown in the scanned sample page looks quite good.

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know why the books title was translated as Prisoners instead of the more obvious Temple of the Sun?


jock123:
With the less than happy response by many to the Lake of Sharks book...

Unpopular with the fans, I know – but for some reason Lake of Sharks is always in stock and on the shelves here in New Zealand – for as long as I can remember. Go figure!

-Harry

derdup
does anyone know why the books title was translated as Prisoners instead of the more obvious Temple of the Sun?

Just to make the title more exciting! I hesitate to toot my own trumpet, but the subject comes up in my World of Tintin conference report.

I have seen an excerpt of The Temple of the Sun film, and of the musical too!

I'm hoping that one of the upcoming Tintin films will be the Prisoners of the Sun saga!

I watched this earlier it's a guilty pleasure of mine love it, but a few things...

The bloke who gives the introduction to the film - is it meant to be Hergé?
Why does Tarragon say "Ah it's the lightning of Rappercapack!" instead of "Rascar Capac".
Calculus puts on the mummy's bracelet, then asks the Captain to look, and the Captain replies, "Later, Nestor,later."
It keeps being referred to as the mummy's arm-band - surely it would be a wrist-band?
The poster for the film offers 90 minutes of adventure - but it's on for one hour and 15 minutes.
The funny French man at the dock who sings that Calculus is on board The Pachacamac - what's going on with him?
Chiquito (I presume it's him in the film) says, "Shame, really - I was just thinking what a nice guy you were", after the train leaves the station. Bit of an odd thing to say...?
The theme for the film is amazing: I hope its used for the upcoming film.
Please, if this film comes out again, edit the Zorrino song - however, it's not as bad as the "I Love my Donkey" song in Lake of Sharks.