Nevertheless, this series was far more faithful to the books than Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, which had been made from 1959 to 1963. The series' original production language was English, but all visuals (road signs, posters, and settings) remained in French.Ĭertain areas of the stories posed difficulties for the producers, who had to adapt features of the books to a more modern young audience. However, later televised episodes, such as the "Moon" story and "Tintin in America", clearly demonstrated the artists' development during the course of the production of the television series. In the books, the images had been drawn over the course of 47 years, during which Hergé's style developed considerably. The rocket seen in the title sequence is animated using the same 3D techniques.Īrtistically, the series chose a constant style, unlike in the books. Each frame of the animation was then printed and recopied onto celluloid, hand painted in gouache, and then laid onto a painted background. In the episodes "Destination Moon" and "Explorers on the Moon", 3D animation was used for the moon rocket-an unusual step in 1989. The series used traditional animation techniques and adhered closely to the original books, going so far as to transpose some frames from the original books directly to screen. The series' writers included: Toby Mullally, Eric Rondeaux, Martin Brossolet, Amelie Aubert, Dennise Fordham, and Alex Boon. Philippe Goddin, an expert on Hergé and Tintin, acted as a consultant to the producers. It was the first television adaptation of Hergé's books since the Belgian animation company Belvision was responsible for Hergé's Adventures of Tintin, 20 years earlier.
It was produced by Ellipse (France) and Nelvana (Canada) on behalf of the Hergé Foundation. Hudecki was the primary director, but could not be credited as such due to co-production restrictions. The television series was directed by French director Stephen Bernasconi, with Peter Hudecki as the Canadian unit director.