Director Steven Spielberg discovered the The Adventures of Tintin comic books after he made Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, and had longed to make a film adaptation of the famous French comic series. Thirty years later, he got his wish.
In the comics, Tintin is a young reporter who embarks on a series of adventures, but what makes the series significant for dog lovers is the boy’s dog, a white Wire Fox Terrier named Snowy. The pooch is always at his owner’s side, and the two have a symbiotic relationship by saving each other’s hides – often in the nick of time. The Adventures of Tintin put the protagonists on the trail of a sunken ship and the treasure it was carrying.
Released in December of last year, Tintin was Spielberg’s first time directing a full-length animated feature, and Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) served as one of the producers, so talent and know-how was hardly in short supply. Yet the computer-generated 3D film was not a success in the U.S. (even Spielberg can’t win ‘em all), but it did huge business internationally. Today Tintin gets a second chance in America, as the movie’s available on DVD, Blu-ray, and 3D (MSRP $29.99, $44.99, and $54.00, respectively), but it costs less at Amazon, Best Buy, and other online or big-box retailers.
Watch the trailer for The Adventures of Tintin (overseas, the movie’s full title is The Adventures: The Secret of the Unicorn):