#belvision

I'd been meaning to write this post since Monday as a follow-up to my last Belvision Tintin viewing update, but it's been hard to put into words how I feel about this show. When @fourthdslip and I first started watching, it was with Destination Moon (Called Objective Moon in the Belvision adaptation), and we actually had some decent expectations going into the series with the first impression it made; Sure, Objective Moon wasn't as faithful as NE Tintin's adaptation and the animation looked a bit rougher in comparison to NE, but it was still pretty interesting, and the changes weren't too obtrusive to the story.

I think I would've liked it more if it had stayed that way, but after Destination Moon... it only went downhill from there. While the missed story bits were a part of my disdain, it was not the only reason why I felt dread near the end just to finish the show. I had already finished NE Tintin and figured this would just be different, and not worse...

It was worse, and now that I've recovered from the slight fatigue that was watching this every day for the past week, I'm here, adding to this post gradually.

For the sake of simplicity, here are some things that I simply didn't enjoy about Belvision Tintin:

The changes in the story: While they weren't the most out there in Objective Moon, later episodes would have changes that completely derail the plot from the original source material. This wouldn't be a problem if these story changes were actually interesting, but they aren't. For the most part, they just serve to quickly heighten the tension in some way. I understand they had to keep the viewers hooked to watch the next 5-minute episode, but when putting all the pieces together, it's full of pointless happenings that don't move the story or highlight aspects of the characters, all wrapped up by an ending that's less satisfying than the original and really, just makes you glad that it's over.

The character adaptations: They weren't that great.

This version of Tintin could've been anybody, and felt like a watered down version of him in comparison to how he is in other media. Not as clever, curious, investigative, etc... just any ol' Boy Scout could've filled the role in this one, to be honest. Haddock for the most part remained about the same, though it also felt like he was flattened for the sake of action and didn't display the same range of emotions that he does in the original comics. Out of everyone though, the Thompsons had it rough in terms of character adaptations. They're clumsy and a little foolish sometimes, yeah, but in this version I have zero clue how they are still alive as they simply do not think, ever... except in the final story, The Calculus Case, where they suddenly lock in and are the funniest characters in that entire saga.

Somehow even more stereotypical than the source material: I have no clue how they did it, but they managed to do it. Not only that, but there's scenes that actively focus on a racial or ethnic stereotype that didn't exist in the source material or weren't as blatant, all to add tension to the story, and they're pretty hard to watch. Red Rackham's Treasure and Crab with the Golden Claws were the worst offenders.

The best episode was probably Objective Moon, and probably the only one I would recommend watching. The rest of it, I can't recommend it personally. It's not worth it. If you've already watched the Nelvana adaptation, you're set. That's the best one.

I can at least say one good thing about Belvision Tintin:

There are goofy screenshots you can get out of it.

The best for last: