Today is the 100th birthday of one of the most remarkable creators of cartoon characters, Georges Remi, better known as Hergé. The intrepid Belgian reporter Tintin is known as Tintin in French and English, Kuifje in Dutch, Dingding in Chinese and many other names in altogether 70 languages.
The boy reporter first appeared in print in January 1929 with a bit of an anti-communist attitude visiting the Soviet Union. He raced through many adventures till 1983, when his creator died, after decreeing that no other cartoonist would continue to invent and design new Tintin books. On the one hand, this is unfortunate, because a capable successor could have created many more inspiring adventures, depicting Tintin at the keyboard of a laptop or talking on a cellphone. It was not to be. Hergé's heirs saw to it that Tintin would die together with his creator, but on the other hand also become immortal.
In her wildest dreams, Hergé's widow Fanny could not have imagined at her husband's funeral how popular Tintin would still be in 2007. And unlike Bush's, Tintin popularity is still rising, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson starting to work on new movies to be screened in 2009.
In one of the most popular episodes, The Blue Lotus, published in 1936, Tintin travels to China and steadfastly opposes the Japanese aggressors. During and after World War II, Hergé has been criticized for not opposing the Nazi occupation with the same vigor, as he continued working and publishing. That was no doubt a mistake, which nonetheless didn't affect his work, as millions today still enjoy and appreciate Tintin.
Three movies are in the planning stage, the first brick of a new Tintin museum has been laid and an exhibition is ongoing in Paris. Hergé could never have imagined such a lavish centennial. The Blue Lotus will flourish forever. (Tintin)
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